Meeting at Sue's

Because Sue has been unable to travel much lately, a Buddhist Peace Fellowship planning group met at her house today. We’re creating a day-long retreat to move beyond the dichotomy of violent vs. non-violent protest. We see that militarized policing becomes more violent with each protest, and that our current administration stifles protest and fuels hate. We see the normalization of fascist threats to ban Muslims, expel immigrants, and silence (by death if necessary) “liberals,” Queer people, and people of color. We see antifascists arm themselves to defend vulnerable people and to attack capitalism. As white people begin to acknowledge our privilege and see, perhaps for the first time, how much our so-called “freedom” was constructed on the genocide of native people and the labor of slaves, and our communal “wealth” was built on the exploitation of people of color, we ask, in this setting, how do we practice non-harming, love and compassion for all beings, and kindness? 

Our work today was to consider what it’s like to look through the “glasses” of the dichotomy. Is “non-violence” real? Is it an option? What would non-violence look like? Is “violence” apart from us? Who can avoid being part of the history of violence? If people enjoy privilege acquired by violent means, what does that say about their involvement in violence? 

What it might look like if we put on new glasses? How can we move toward a protest movement that is loving and inclusive? In which we feel our interconnectedness? In which all beings are respected and heard? In which we acknowledge the violence that created the privilege we enjoy. In understanding our place in a violent world, how do we leave room for nuance, context, history? There must be many different answers to these questions, answers embodied in each person’s lived experience. How can we hear each other, understand each other?

What we want is deep listening. We want to speak, but we want even more to listen. We want to leave our philosophy aside and speak from within our bodies. We want to value each person in finding their own way to stand for what is important to them, and by listening, we want to hear ourselves more clearly, to see the path that is right for each of us. We need to decide what we are going to do. The police, the State, and the fascists are armed. If we remain silent and passive, we are complicit with violence. What do we do? write letters? send emails? sign petitions? donate time, energy, money, and our skills? Do we get out into the streets? If so, who do we stand beside? Will some of us stand, march, and sit-in with Antifascists? Are some of us Antifascists? We have to make choices, and if we are going to move forward in compassion and with solidarity, we have to make choices without judging, blaming, or comparing ourselves with others who may make different choices.