Our commitment to practice in situations of injustice.

Dear Friends,

We are so grateful for you and the Opening Heart Mindfulness Community where we sit together in silence and share from our hearts.

As we write this, protests in the Washington DC area are growing in size every day, and similar actions are happening in all 50 states and across the world. Many of us have been actively engaged. Some have been out marching in solidarity with the calls for justice, demilitarizing the police and racial equality. Some are providing supplies, connecting virtually and writing letters, and some are practicing deeply and keeping those who are suffering in our hearts and prayers.

As a community, we always aim to take a stand against injustice. So, we want to say clearly that we stand in solidarity with the families of those killed by police violence and the resulting protests. This includes, and extends far beyond, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.

We believe that Black Lives Matter and that all of us must help transform the individual and societal conditioning which created and maintains inequitable economic conditions and unjust structures of racist violence in our country.

We commit to continue to practice to “do our best to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may make difficulties for us or threaten our safety… As members of a spiritual community, we should nonetheless take a clear stand against oppression and injustice.” (Thich Nhat Hanh)

We hope that you, our community, will continue to act in ways consistent with this statement and with the teachings of the Buddha and Thich Nhat Hanh.

With love,

Andy, Annie, Camille, Julie, and Marie

(The OHMC Board of Directors)