28/04/2024
Community activist and Buddhist practitioner Doctor G writes in the pages of the Buddhist magazine Lion's Roar on how progressive activists can learn from Buddhist teaching in striving for collective liberation. Doctor G writes "Intersectional Black activists have been part of and at the forefront of many liberation movements. From Black Lives Matter to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Black activism has addressed issues such as Black mental health, trans rights, voting rights, ending mass incarceration, disability rights, and more. All these causes work to recognize the injustice or suffering of Black intersectional identities and alleviate that suffering through social and political change. I work with many activists whose hearts are loving, tender, and ablaze with the dedication to liberate others. In many ways, their goals are similar to the motivations of a bodhisattva, or “spiritual warrior,” whose action is directed to freeing all beings from suffering. However, these activists struggle to find time to rest, feed themselves well, or know what they’re experiencing and how their emotions affect their mind-body. We cannot guide people to liberation if we ourselves do not know our own experience. The path of activism, just like meditation, is a practice, not a destination. Our commitment to practice strengthens the view. We are practicing to end the cycle of separateness (of self from self, from others, from the divine). We do this by connecting regularly with the body, emotional landscape, and mind. In doing this we are becoming familiar with ourselves, and this increases our capacity to be with others. As Lama Rod Owens tells us, “there is no ultimate liberation without a commitment to social liberation” and that revolution begins with the self. It begins with learning that when we work with all of the confusion of our complex identities and bodies, discomforts, traumas, and dramas, we can gain the clarity to guide others who are suffering. Individual change is for all of humanity. We are all uniquely placed to liberate ourselves and others." For the full essay and more inspirational articles from Buddhist perspectives, visit Lion's Roar online, available via all good search engines.
