Black & Buddhist : what Buddhism can teach us about race, resilience, transformation & freedom

Black & Buddhist What Buddhism can teach us about race, resilience, transformation & freedom

Book - 2020

"Leading African American Buddhist teachers offer lessons on racism, resilience, spiritual freedom, and the possibility of a truly representative American Buddhism. What does it mean to be black and Buddhist? In this powerful collection of writings, African American teachers from all the major Buddhist traditions tell their stories of how race and Buddhist practice have intersected in their lives. The resulting explorations display not only the promise of Buddhist teachings to empower those facing racial discrimination but also the way that black Buddhist voices are enriching the Dharma for all practitioners. As the first anthology comprised solely of writings by African-descended Buddhist practitioners, this book is an important contr...ibution to the development of the Dharma in the West"--

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294.34/Black
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Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor 294.34/Black Checked In
Subjects
Buddhism > United States.
African Americans > Religion.
Published
Boulder, Colorado : Shambhala Publications, Inc [2020]
Language
English
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
xxxii, 189 pages ; 22 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN
9781611808650
  • In Honor of George Floyd
  • Foreword
  • Acknowledgments
  • Editors' Introduction
  • 1. They Say the People Could Fly
  • Disrupting the Legacy of Sexual Violence through Myth, Memory, and Connection
  • 2. The Dharma of Trauma
  • Blackness, Buddhism, and Transhistorical Trauma Narrated through Three Ayahuasca Ceremonies
  • 3. Turning Toward Myself
  • 4. Belonging
  • 5. Voluntary Segregation
  • The Paradox, Promise, and Peril of People of Color Sanghas
  • 6. From Butcher to Zen Priest
  • Radical Transformation through Bloodletting
  • 7. On Being Lailah's Daughter
  • Blessons from Umieversity on Actualizing Enlightenment
  • 8. Wholeness is No Trifling Matter
  • Race, Faith, and Refuge
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • About the Editors
  • Contributor Bios
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In this excellent anthology, meditation instructor Yetunde (The Inheritance) and psychologist Giles (The Arts of Contemplative Care) collect works by Black Buddhist practitioners that explore racial trauma and resilience through the practices of Buddhism. The eight authors cover such diverse Buddhist traditions as Zen, Shambhala, Tibetan, and Theravadan--framed by Yetunde and Giles's assertion that Buddhism is "a path to de-caste or decolonize one's mind" while nurturing resilience despite trauma. The Black experience is the centerpiece in this text, and all of the volume's authors grapple with the suffering tied to their racialization. Giles opens with an essay on how the Black American experience parallels the Buddha's own journey: "The legacy of black enslaved bodies is a powerful example of the enduring spirit of resistance and love that serves as a reminder that freedom is possible." Sebene Selassie explores how Western "exoticizing and patronizing tropes" toward Asian religions have distorted their true meaning and often caused disconnection from one's heritage. This timely exploration brings a much-needed contribution of Black voices to Buddhist popular literature. (Dec.)

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