Photo from plumvillage.org
This Monday May 22, we will meet in person and online (hybrid).
Need Zoom tech support? Email Phyllis here.
(support available before sangha starts)
Address for the OHMC meditation space:
3812 Northampton St. NW
Washington DC 20015
This Monday evening we will meet in person in our meditation space at 3812 Northampton Street NW, DC 20015, and Annie will facilitate.
We will read the Five Mindfulness Trainings together and focus our dharma conversation on the Third Mindfulness Training, specifically one of the additions to this training that were finalized in 2022:
Recognizing the diversity of human experience, I am committed not to discriminate against any form of gender identity or sexual orientation.
These changes to the Third Mindfulness Training came about as a result of input from the worldwide sangha, especially the LGBTQIA+ community and allies. The new text helps us become more aware of our discriminating/fearful mind and sets an intention not to discriminate based on forms of gender identity or sexual orientation.
We know that some 1 in 6 Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQIA+, and we know that this number has been growing. Queerness has given everyone more freedom to be beautiful just as we are. And yet discrimination and harm remains inside (and outside) of our sanghas.
It is sad to see that over 400 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills have been introduced into state legislatures so far this year, more than twice the number introduced in all of 2022. Many of these bills involve making education and health care impossible for queer people.
We know that we cannot eliminate all discriminative thinking, so our practice is to notice and identify when we have discriminating thoughts or beliefs and make the choice to act in ways that are more in alignment with our Buddha nature.
I have heard the Five Mindfulness Trainings described as the three “A”’s: we become Aware of suffering; we have an Aspiration to move in the direction of healing; and we Act to support justice and well-being.
This week we will listen to Brother Troi Bao Tang speak about discrimination and how our commitment to not discriminating and to supporting affinity groups can help provide the healing space needed to heal ourselves and the world.
From Br. Bao Tang’s talk:
The nature of our mind is discrimination. If I don't have discrimination then I don't know that this is the flower and this is the glass and this is the floor, and table; this is a beautiful person. I cannot see that if I don’t have discrimination. But also we have ignorance that brings whole things into and out of context. And out of insecurity, out of uncomfortable feeling, out of fear, we search for something else and we react from that base – from the base of anger, fear, and anxiety. And therefore the violence manifests.
I think in the world there are many crises at the moment. If we want to deal with all of that without joy we will be put out in one day – not even – in one hour even when you read the news you feel depressed directly. There is almost no hope because there are so many things that happen at the same time and yet our life is so limited as a human being. If you live 100 years that is long enough but still very short...
…So that everyone can come back themselves and take a look at the situation – how can we do it better?
Community I think is one of the biggest support for any movement – the affinity. When we are in the affinity and in the community we know that we have support, we know that we have freedom, we know that we can be fully there. So the affinity is not to separate things into boxes, not to discriminate between one boxes to the other boxes but it is just to give a space that we feel safe. As soon as we feel safe, we are healed.
After our meditation period, we will listen to Brother Bao Tang and then have time to share our own experiences with this training or any of the five mindfulness trainings.
We might consider our experience of discrimination as someone receiving discrimination, someone acting with discrimination, or someone observing an act of discrimination. Some questions to ponder:
How has my understanding of the diversity of human experience grown as a result of my practice of the third mindfulness training?
When have I or a loved one experienced discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation?
When have I found myself thinking and/or acting in discriminative ways toward someone because of their gender identity or sexual orientation?
with love,
annie.
Two more relevance texts below:
Brother Bao Tang also writes on the Plum Village site:
Among much suffering that is happening in the world, people who are identified as LGBTQIA+, until today, still live with many different degrees of suffering and discrimination; from unconscious judgements of family and society to living under a death threat by law in many countries. This suffering is simply because they are doing their best to be beautiful, to be themselves, and because of the way they love each other. As a rainbow monastic, at the beginning, it was also very hard for me to practice “to be beautiful, to be myself” because this has not yet been accepted fully in the collective consciousness of humans. Seeing all the suffering happening in the rainbow community, I felt the urge to come out and engage with the community, to offer my practice, my presence, with my aspiration to learn together and to understand more deeply.
And from the ARISE sangha’s Contemplation of the Third Mindfulness Training: Cherishment as True Love we are reminded:
I am aware that narrowly constructed, prevalent interpretations of intimate relationships constrain how we cherish each other in our expression of love, leaving many further isolated and alienated. I am committed to looking tenderly at my suffering, knowing that I am not separate from others and that the seeds of suffering contain the seeds of joy. I am not afraid of bold love that fosters justice and belonging and tender love that seeks peace and connection. I cherish myself and my suffering without discrimination. I cherish this body and mind as an act of healing for myself and for others. I cherish this breath. I cherish this moment. I cherish the liberation of all beings guided by the wisdom and solidity of the sangha. This is my path of true love.
Third Mindfulness Training: True Love
Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct, I am committed to cultivating responsibility and learning ways to protect the safety and integrity of individuals, couples, families, and society. Knowing that sexual desire is not love, and that sexual activity motivated by craving always harms myself as well as others, I am determined not to engage in sexual relations without mutual consent, true love, and a deep, long-term commitment. I resolve to find spiritual support for the integrity of my relationship from family members, friends, and sangha with whom there is support and trust.
I will do everything in my power to protect children from sexual abuse and to prevent couples and families from being broken by sexual misconduct. Seeing that body and mind are interrelated, I am committed to learn appropriate ways to take care of my sexual energy and to cultivate the four basic elements of true love – loving kindness, compassion, joy, and inclusiveness – for the greater happiness of myself and others. Recognizing the diversity of human experience, I am committed not to discriminate against any form of gender identity or sexual orientation. Practicing true love, we know that we will continue beautifully into the future.