Reflecting on liberation & the Dharma of Black Lives Matter, Juneteenth - June 19th 2020
Some of us have been drawn to meditation seeking stress relief and greater well-being, something the modern "mindfulness revolution" has promised. Indeed, its benefits are well known and documented, in our lives and in increasing bodies of science. Yet, the Buddhist tradition offers so much more, both in terms of practice and teachings, and in terms of the communal framework for liberation.
On this day of Juneteenth, and in the midst of a pandemic and a great global uprising for racial justice, we consider the Four Noble Truths in light of #BlackLivesMatter. The Buddha’s teachings on Four Noble Truths address the reality of suffering, the cause of the suffering, the end of suffering, and the a path to emancipation from suffering. How can this help us make sense of systemic racism? We also consider the Bodhisattva Vow, and how it relates to the understanding that no one is free until we are all free. Thus we cannot be liberated until Black Lives Matter.
Our conversation on this day was sparked by article written several years ago by Pamela Ayo Yetunde, an Insight Meditation teacher who is also a professor of pastoral and spiritual care at the Theological Seminary in the Twin Cities. Her article challenges the way in which dominant culture tends to tell the story of the Buddha's life, his famous Four Sights, and the resulting Four Noble Truths he articulated. In the tradition of liberation theology, Pamela Ayo Yetunde deconstructs this frame, and reconstructs a new set of Noble Truths from the perspective of Black Liberation. We found this to be both incredibly challenging and inspiring.
Together, as two people who have been racialized as white in our society, we considered how we might draw upon the Four Noble Truths as a methodology to examine and uproot the suffering of whiteness and racial injustice.
More about Pamela Ayo Yetunde here.
