Color/s of the Dharma: Help the Blogisattvas

Friday, June 18, 2010

Help the Blogisattvas

Hey everyone,

Just a quick announcement. The Blogisattvas: http://www.blogisattva.org/ (an award for various creative activities in Buddhist Blogging) have been revived and need some judges. Some concerns have been raised about bringing as much diversity into the judging process as possible. Please contact them via the link above if you can serve.

Sadhu!

Justin

1 comment:

KyleJune 19, 2010 at 6:02 AM
Please contact me at krlovett at gmail.com if you are intereted, or at the blogisattva email address. We have one spot open.
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Introduction

Discussions about race, gender, sexuality and class are often uncomfortable, difficult and contentious both on a societal and personal level. The social structures that oppress, discriminate and silence are manifested on a daily and personal level, making identification of individuals and individual acts necessary yet inherently subjective and conflict prone.

As Buddhists, how different are we than the society we live in? Are we immune from replicating the same dynamics that exclude, limit, and silence those different than the dominant segments of society?

Have we applied skillful means including mindfulness to these issues and looked carefully and deeply at ourselves, the communities we practice in, the teachers who guide us and the teachings themselves?

We often hear how difficult these issues are to discuss. That people get emotional and angry, wind up feeling accused or excluded, and that the issues are never resolved. Or that these are "political" issues only of concern to a small number of people.

This is true.

Yet as Buddhists this is where our practice is or should be. Anger, fear, aversion. These are things we are trained to be mindful of. Being present for uncomfortable and often painful emotions that arise is how we actualize and mature in our practice. How our communities are inclusive or exclusive is at the heart of what a community is.

Let's engage in a conversation, sharing stories of how we have found ourselves accepted or excluded, listened to or silenced, welcomed or shunned within the multitude of communities and places where the Dharma is practiced.

Let's try and understand how intentional and unintentional practices and structures impede or facilitate people from joining us in practice and in our communities.

Let's apply skillful means using mindfulness and compassion to be present for those who have been hurt or silenced, for those who have not been aware of these issues and are now trying to learn and understand, because knowledge and understanding is something we can reach together, not separately.

Most of all let's engage each other in a conversation that includes not only past hurts and wounds but also a vision of a diverse and inclusive present, sharing ways large and small of how we as individuals and communities can broaden our vision, our hearts and minds and practices to the benefit of ourselves and those we come in contact with.

Round 1

1. Share a true story from your own experience (not someone else's experience) about a time when difference resulted in a negative impact on you within your Buddhist community (sangha) / or in some other community.

2. Whoever wants can also/instead respond to specific story/s within their own story using “practice of deep listening and recognizing the linkages among our experiences around a similar topic, no matter how different our lives or identities may seem.”

3. Time period for round 1 will be from now until April 5 (2weeks from now)

Color/s of the Dharma

Friday, June 18, 2010

Help the Blogisattvas

1 comment:

Introduction

Round 1

Dimensions of Diversity Wheel

Followers

Blog Archive