America's Racial Karma

“In this taut, fearless, and well-argued manifesto, Larry Ward offers us a deeply insightful analysis of America’s racial karma—of how it operates individually and collectively—and how it can be worked with and transformed. Drawing on Buddhist psychology, trauma theory, neuroscience, and years of practice … the result is a searing, liberative, and tender work.” —Jan Willis, author of Dharma Matters: Women, Race, and Tantra

“America’s Racial Karma doesn’t just add to the essential conversation around race, racialization, and discrimination, but rather redefines the very conversation itself from the inside out.” —Brother Phap Hai, author of Nothing to It “I know Larry Ward’s teachings, first-hand, to have come from his humble, dedicated, devoted, long and steady practice. Wise, clear, heartfelt, and based on his own authentic transformative experience … sure to be a classic among those who are serious about awakening.” —Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, author of The Deepest Peace

“Dr. Larry Ward is an elder in American Buddhism, using his decades of heart-centered practice to guide our community into a deeper and more relevant exploration of America’s struggle with racism in order to support us in our healing. This healing is an invitation for us to tend to our own hearts as we disrupt deeply ingrained thoughts and actions that have perpetuated the violence of America’s racial karma. We will all be much freer because of Dr. Ward’s teaching.” —Lama Rod Owen, author of Love and Rage and coauthor of Radical Dharma “Welcome medicine for today’s generation of decolonial, spirit-led seekers and activists.” —Katie Loncke, codirector of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship “Rich in practice in the Plum Village Buddhist tradition, poetry, and history, America’s Racial Karma is a must-read book to understand our individual and collective legacy and to walk the long path toward reconciliation and awakening.” —Valerie Brown, coauthor of The Mindful School Leader

“Accessible to those experienced in meditation practices and beginners alike, Larry Ward offers us a way to bring clear intention and compassionate action to our path of racial healing with concrete practices to help us come back again and again to healing ever-deeper layers of our embodied, psychological racial traumas. America’s Racial Karma is a refuge for today and future generations.” —Marisela B. Gomez, MD/PhD, author of Race, Class, Power, and Organizing in East Baltimore

“Buddhism is syncretic and malleable and has always mingled with whatever culture it has landed within, whether in Tibet, Japan, or China. So why not in America? More importantly for us, Larry Ward is able to relate Buddhism to the experience of people of color in America. We need this.” —Rajeev Balasubramanyum, author of Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss

"Toward the project of national healing, Larry Ward brings to bear his decades of experience as a spiritual guide to instruct us on locating the seeds of racialization within us all, pressing forward in the realization of Beloved Community. Brimming with aphorisms of wisdom, Ward engages the reader directly with spiritual practice, showing us how to recognize the other in ourselves and build a society of belonging.” —John A. Powell, director of the Othering and Belonging Institute and author of Racing to Justice

“Our collective consciousness will only progress if it reflects and includes the diversity of insight and experiences from a spectrum of teachers. Dr. Larry Ward is an important voice for our continual awareness and awakening.” —Denise Nguyen, executive director of the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation

“In clear, courageous words, the author identifies the depth and complexity of America’s racial karma, revealing its linkages to unbridled greed for wealth and power. Dr. Ward shows how Buddhist psychology can help us confront racism and transform both individual consciousness and social systems … and offers simple, profound practices for healing this trauma within our own body-mind. Thank you, Larry, from the depth of my broken heart, for this gift.” —Robertson Work, author of The Compassionate Civilization