Melissa led DPX last Sunday with a Metta meditation and our group discussed the horrific killing of George Floyd and the following Black Lives Matter/social justice protests and rallies. The Metta meditation inspired by Jon Kabot Zin included this quote “specifically include in the field of loving-kindness those less fortunate than yourself who are exploited at work or at home. All those who are imprisoned justly or unjustly. All those who are at the mercy of their enemies. All those who are hospitalized or sick or dying. All those who are caught up in chaos, who are living in fear, who are suffering in any way shape or form. Whatever brought them to this point in their lives, just as we do, they all want to experience ease of well-being rather than dis-ease and fragmentation, just as we do. They all want to be happy and contented. They all desire to be whole and healthy. They all desire to be safe and free from harm.”
In our discussion Melissa quoted from Lama Rod Owens book Radical Dharma reading “If you don’t know that life is suffering, you cannot know liberation. With true liberation one doesn’t feel the need to control things, because you are free. That liberation gives rise to knowing that others need to be free of suffering also.” We understand the trauma black communities experience is a result of racism over centuries. We need to bring it to the surface, articulate it and hold the pain. We practice Metta to extend loving kindness out into the world.
In group discussion we talked about the police killing of George Floyd which has exposed the bigger collective suffering caused by systemic racism, poverty and ignorance. Marco commented, “We are always on the precipice, ready to fall apart. With 50% of the GDP going to war, one wonders what will be fixed. This is a universal problem. In many countries the division is motivated by religion, not race as it is in this country. It’s nothing new, we just experience it collectively now because cell phones are reveling it.” Ray talked about working locally to help the black community with displacement due to real estate gentrification. Mike stated that the Dharma teaches us about our essential goodness and the 3 poisons, hate, ignorance and greed. Meditation helps to be able to sit with the suffering and not turn away from it. If it is not exposed we cannot fix it. Brendan stated that “We can fix the overall system but it’s fundamentally the individual’s responsibility not the governments job to fix it. We need to look at our own capacity for hate and greed and meet it with kindness and soften the heart. We need to get off the see-saw of blame and unskilled behavior. That is the most fundamental thing we can do.”
Push back came from Melissa who stated “Personal responsibility lets us all off the hook. There are real policies that contributed to this. Look at Stop and Frisk. There are many of the social systems that could be changed which would help, such as community policing to engender trust, racial sensitivity training, police accountability, conflict resolution and police training in de-escalation tactics.” Systemic racism needs systemic change. As usual, the answer is all of the above, and more.