Black and Buddhist
What Buddhism Can Teach Us about Race, Resilience, Transformation, and Freedom
by Edited by Pamela Ayo Yetunde and Cheryl A. Giles
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
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Pub Date 08 Dec 2020 | Archive Date 08 Dec 2020
Shambhala Publications, Inc. | Shambhala
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Description
Leading African American Buddhist teachers offer lessons on racism, resilience, spiritual freedom, and the possibility of a truly representative American Buddhism. With contributions by Acharya Gaylon Ferguson, Cheryl A. Giles, Gyōzan Royce Andrew Johnson, Ruth King, Kamilah Majied, Lama Rod Owens, Lama Dawa Tarchin Phillips, Sebene Selassie, and Pamela Ayo Yetunde.
What does it mean to be Black and Buddhist? In this powerful collection of writings, African American teachers from all the major Buddhist traditions tell their stories of how race and Buddhist practice have intersected in their lives. The resulting explorations display not only the promise of Buddhist teachings to empower those facing racial discrimination but also the way that Black Buddhist voices are enriching the Dharma for all practitioners. As the first anthology comprised solely of writings by African-descended Buddhist practitioners, this book is an important contribution to the development of the Dharma in the West.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781611808650 |
| PRICE | $19.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 224 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Misse J, Reviewer
“Recognizing our deepest feelings, we cannot know live fully with suffering, invisibility, and dehumanization. Our resistance to oppression is our right to breathe fully, without the force of a hand or foot or knee on our throats constantly draining the life out of us. By watching Black and brown bodies die by police violence without resistance, we slowly die too. We take in resignation, despair, depression, self-denial, and self-effacement, and out bodies become bloated with powerlessness. And perhaps by not resisting, we unwittingly make a choice to allow ourselves to be silenced because we are too afraid to claim and honor the most precious gift we hold, the breath. In the honor of George Floyd and countless others, we vow to breathe. We breathe for the well-being of all sentient beings.”
While I was drawn to this book by its title, cover and synopsis, I could not have foreseen the BEAUTIFUL dedication to George Floyd.
I found this book to be a very necessary exploration of what it means to be Black and Buddhist especially in the face of racism, sexism and an undying effort to transform suffering into freedom. Each of the contributing authors do a great job earmarking how race and Buddhist practice have forged together and are a lasting impact in their work and life. Using anecdotal evidence and personal examples, they explore the overarching theme that there is to be no true freedom until we support one another in being free.
It took me awhile to read this one and yet it was worth the ride! Superb content.
Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Publication date: 12/8/2020
Matthew R, Educator
This was a well-written collection that steers away from the stereotypical book on Buddhism, full of plaudits and images of one attaining inner peace under a bodhi tree. This was a collection that hit hard for me, as a Buddhist who teaches in an urban school district. The insightful perspectives add depth and introspection to a blend of both lived experience and religion.
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