It All Comes Down to Ending Suffering

Several weeks ago, zhana26 posted a question on the Black Buddhists Yahoo! group inspired by an article that attempts to explain why Black people are turning to Buddhism. Her question:

How did you come to Buddhism?

This prompted a great deal of discussion, which I encourage you to read first-hand. The article suggests that Black people come to Buddhism through Tina Turner and pop culture. It even gets more insulting:

Turner's story of going from poverty to selling 50 million albums worldwide inspires a population entrapped by poverty and abusive relationships.

Let me preface this by saying that I love Tina Turner. I admire her courage and am moved by her story. My goal is not to diss her. I guess I just feel the need to point out a few facts for the clueless journalist that threw this article together...

• The entire African-American population is not entrapped by poverty or abusive relationships
• The entire African-American population is not spiritually moved by an artist's ability to sell 50 million albums
• Black people really do have depth and self-awareness... the underlying reason for our actions is not "the Celebrity made me do it"
• African-Americans have deep spiritual roots that reach back generations... I take issue with being labeled a "culture groping for spiritual understanding"

Unfortunately, this is not the only journalist spouting nonsense about Black Buddhists. While surfing Zen Unbound, I read Tom Armstrong's article Tricycle Gets Ugly. He quotes an article from one of Tricycle's back issues that suggests that a river of subtle racism runs through Buddhist sanghas in the West.

I'm not going to sit here and pretend I can speak for the entire community of Black Buddhists, so I'm not going to speak to whether or not individuals within the African-American Buddhist community have or have not had negative experiences while seeking a Sangha due to racism (blatant or otherwise). I can only speak to my own experience. What I will say is that I think the journalists that have chosen to write about the issue of race/racism in Buddhist communities found a few glowing embers and tried to make a fire. The cynic in me believes that there is a capitalistic urge that drives all of this attention to Black Buddhists... Acknowledge us, and maybe we'll buy more of your publications. I digress...

Black people come to Buddhism for the same reasons that others come to Buddhism in the West. It is often a deeply personal choice inspired by the desire to end deeply personal suffering.

Our country is still plagued by a racial divide. Personally, I believe Buddhist communities and other integrated places of worship are part of the solution not part of the problem. Instead of trying to advocate for the comfort and acceptance of Black Buddhists in predominantly white sanghas, I wish these journalists would attack the larger issue and advocate for the comfort and acceptance of Black people (and all other people) in the world.

Comments

[dazamaru]

As a Buddhist (African-American), I find this rant kinda distasteful. Yes, your goal was to diss her, and you did. Shame.
Allow others their experience. The journalist was expressing a opinion.
Its' sad you went thru all that trouble to basically denigrate someone's personal view, but tried to preface it with premature applogies.
We are all different. And some of us have had "racist" experiences in Sanghas.
But being the "cynic" that you are, you seem too quick to dismiss that issue, without understanding that it is a actual experience for some, maybe not you..but for some of us.
Amazing you went thru all of this to basically "diss" someone on in another thread.
Seems "troll-ish"
Showing out for "massa"...perhaps?

[chalip]

Well dazamaru, I hope you feel better having shamed me.

Perhaps when I posted this I might have been poised and ready to engage you on all of your points. I might have been ready to defend my position.

Today, I don't think it matters. I expressed an opinion in a moment and that moment has passed--nearly three years have passed.

While I think you have taken much of what I said out of context, I'm not invested enough to re-hash it with you. You're entitled to your opinions.

bow,
chalip

[dazamaru]

bow.
3 years? It does seem a bit empty here....
I wonder why....

[Serendipity]

I've just come across this post. I was impressed by the writer's maturity and the quiet exposition of ideas.

I didn't see any 'dissing' - or a rant - just rationality and clarity. Makes you feel good about the world to read such calm wisdom.

It's a shame this post has attracted trolls, stirrers, and nastiness. Namaste

[Thailand Breeze]

I also agree that people come to religion to find a way out of sufferings.

The nature of humans' minds is identifying with emotions that constantly arise and subside. This is the cause of suffering if we get carried away with them and also build up on them. Our mind can be trapped in these emotions and we become even more unhappy.

By being aware of any emotions that comes in our mind and let it subside by itself, we can be awakened to the pure dhamma.