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13 reviews for:
Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us about Race, Resilience, Transformation, and Freedom
4.28 AVERAGE
13 reviews for:
Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us about Race, Resilience, Transformation, and Freedom
4.28 AVERAGE
A very interesting read. Even though I’m neither black nor Buddhist, I really feel like I’ve learned a lot about the transformative effect practicing mindfulness can bring to induce healing.
Looking within to resolve generational trauma and internalized racism gives one the power to overcome actual racist people and events. I think if we all practiced mindfulness and meditated deeply, we would find out who we really are and racism would cease to exist.
While I am not religious, the essays in this book have inspired me to go and check out my local Buddhist temple to see about learning proper meditation techniques. I’m also still determined to go to Peru and take Ayahuasca with a Shaman.
In the essay, “The Dharma of Trauma” Lama Rod Owens’ description of his healing experience while on an Ayahuasca journey was riveting. His description of the healing hallucinations created by his mind were so vivid and moving, I actually got teary eyed while reading.
The essay, “Turning Toward Myself” by Sebene Selassie was also excellent. I felt her insight was particularly brilliant and it was also enjoyable to read.
“Belonging” by Lama Dawa Tarchin Phillips was excellent and “From Butcher to Zen Priest” by Gyozan Royce Andrew Johnson was fun to read.
While all of the essays were good, those were my most favorite.
I’m really glad I read this book, though it did take longer to read than I thought it would. The book took me a while to read not because it was particularly long, but because it was dense in information and thought provoking.
I do very much know now that meditation is our key to freedom and the way to transform wrong thinking. I’m excited to begin a journey that will make me more aware of who I am as an individual, dissolving wrong thinking and old programming to learn to know myself for who I AM and how I fit in with the collective whole that is ALL THAT IS.
Looking within to resolve generational trauma and internalized racism gives one the power to overcome actual racist people and events. I think if we all practiced mindfulness and meditated deeply, we would find out who we really are and racism would cease to exist.
While I am not religious, the essays in this book have inspired me to go and check out my local Buddhist temple to see about learning proper meditation techniques. I’m also still determined to go to Peru and take Ayahuasca with a Shaman.
In the essay, “The Dharma of Trauma” Lama Rod Owens’ description of his healing experience while on an Ayahuasca journey was riveting. His description of the healing hallucinations created by his mind were so vivid and moving, I actually got teary eyed while reading.
The essay, “Turning Toward Myself” by Sebene Selassie was also excellent. I felt her insight was particularly brilliant and it was also enjoyable to read.
“Belonging” by Lama Dawa Tarchin Phillips was excellent and “From Butcher to Zen Priest” by Gyozan Royce Andrew Johnson was fun to read.
While all of the essays were good, those were my most favorite.
I’m really glad I read this book, though it did take longer to read than I thought it would. The book took me a while to read not because it was particularly long, but because it was dense in information and thought provoking.
I do very much know now that meditation is our key to freedom and the way to transform wrong thinking. I’m excited to begin a journey that will make me more aware of who I am as an individual, dissolving wrong thinking and old programming to learn to know myself for who I AM and how I fit in with the collective whole that is ALL THAT IS.
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Collection of essays from Black Buddhists sharing their journey. As with all collections, there are hits and misses. I appreciated the essays that focused on mental liberation, issues that may arise in a POC Sanga, and recommended personal practices. Especially the idea to practice metta meditation for a benefactor, even if it’s a famous person that you admire but have never met.
I overall loved the book, it was a good read from both perspectives of being black and being a Buddhist. I don’t know why I always felt like I couldn’t practice Buddhism because I’m black myself. I love how the author put real life issues and problems into the book, making it more realistic.
The introduction is one of the best I’ve ever read. Took me days to just finish the intro because it made me sit back and think. Grateful to have access to works like this.
This book belongs beside angel Kyodo Williams’ “Being Black” in terms of its significance to understanding how Buddhists of African descent are integrating and expanding the tradition in ways that are culturally relevant. The authors in this anthology talk about their own paths to Buddhism, their struggles in the predominantly White sanghas in the US, and how Buddhism offers a path to liberation and social transformation. I’m using this book in one of the graduate theology classes that I teach, and I know it’s a text that I will return to again and again for my own edification.
The practice of Buddhism in a Black body is unique and I'm grateful for the articulation of that uniqueness in such a beautifully inviting way. While the contemplation of emptiness is essential to our practice, understanding that which we must empty ourselves up enriches the experience and our comprehension of self, and only then can non-stop feel truly accessible. This book was a reminder of the courage required to be Black and Buddhist and I look forward to reading more from the contributors to this text.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
informative
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism