Repairing Generations of Trauma, One Lotus Flower at a Time

It is one of the oldest religious symbols: lotus flowers blooming from muddy water.

Mud represents our suffering, pain and delusions, said Duncan Ryuken Williams, a Buddhist priest of the Soto sect, of ancient lessons. And the purpose of Buddhism is to go up.

But there is a deeper metaphor. Lotus flowers do not grow in pure water.

Nutrients are found in the mud

“Therefore, our liberation is not really about transcending or alienating ourselves from trauma, pain and suffering, but how to ourselves, our communities, our nations and the world from all that pain. It’s about admitting that it can be changed, “he said.

It is a central symbol of the National Memorial Ceremony in Los Angeles on Tuesday, with 49 Buddhist monks, priests and general leaders healing in recent anti-Asian violence across the United States. Provided in search of.

They gathered 49 days after the gunman Killed 8 people Includes six Asian women at a spa in the Atlanta region to commemorate the moment many Buddhists believe the deceased has moved to another territory. They met at a place of pain, a temple in Little Tokyo that was recently destroyed by an arson attack.

“Our destiny and freedom are intertwined, so we will join in today to restore the racial karma of this country,” said the chairman of the University of Southern California Religious School, who helped host the ceremony. Said Dr. Williams.

“And the mountains of suffering are high and the tears of pain fill the deepest sea, but our way makes us rise like lotus flowers on the muddy water,” he said.

The ordained Sanga, or priest, chanted to heal the broken and provided a repair ritual. From Hawaii to Nebraska to North Carolina, about 350 Buddhist temples and hundreds of individuals attended via live streams.

It was a unique American and a unique modern moment. Sanga represents a wide range of Buddhist pedigrees and ethnicities, including Chinese, Khmer, Korean and Vietnamese traditions, and is a spiritual community. A Mexican-American monk serving a Buddhist temple for the Thai community in North Hollywood shared a message in Spanish.about Two-thirds of American Buddhists are Asian American, And many temples are becoming more and more multi-ethnic.

In the 2,500-year history of Buddhism, rituals involving such diverse participants beyond tradition are rare. Lao Buddhists usually do not practice with Japanese Buddhists, or primarily with African-American or Caucasian Zen centers and immigrant Buddhist communities.

Sister Kin Niem, a Vietnamese-American Buddhist nun who came to join from the Deerpark Monastery near Escondido, California, as Buddhist philosophy offered something to this moment of horror. 38) said.

“It’s about bringing humans into us. Your suffering is also my suffering, and my suffering is no different from your suffering,” she said before worship. “If we are open, we are in Nirvana.”

The leaders lit a candle in front of the monument in honor of their ancestors.for Young E Yue, 63, A Korean Buddhist mother was killed in Atlanta.for Vicha Ratanapakdee, 84, Immigrants from Thailand who were fatally assaulted while taking a walk in San Francisco. A Chinese immigrant coal mine worker was shot dead in Wyoming in 1885.

Rise of anti-Asia attacks

A torrent of hatred and violence against Asians across the United States began early last spring in the coronavirus pandemic.

For all beings who have died due to racial or religious hatred. Sikh victims of Indianapolis. Prayer at the synagogue. George Floyd.

They took a ceramic lotus flower, cracked and broke. Instead of throwing it away, they used a thin paintbrush to fill the fracture with liquid gold leaf, following the artistic practice of Japanese kintsugi. The golden line records the broken history and decorates it, Dr. Williams explained.

“The concept of repair has to do with approval,” he said. “If we don’t admit who we are in every wound, every defect, every fracture, you can’t be free.”

The final ritual was a conservation ritual found in Southeast Asian Buddhist traditions. Sanga took a long thread, was empowered with a sacred intention, and emanated from the Buddha as represented on the altar. They connected it to each other, then processed it outside, tied it to a broken and burned lantern, and put it all together.

True repairs are beyond the law, Dr. Williams explained. He said that trauma is in all of us in our minds and bones, some of which are inherited and some of which are our own.

“It is not atonement for sin, but trying to take some responsibility based on the awakening to the fact that we are multiple, interrelated, interrelated, and our destiny is very intertwined. That’s what karma does. “He said.

He said each of us is like a precious mirror, a polished gem, cut in a way that teaches and reflects.

By gathering and moving forward in this way, we approach the core of Buddhism.

“What is Buddhism?” Asked Dr. Williams. “Wisdom and compassion are equal to freedom.”

Wisdom: See things clearly, he said.

Compassion: He said he was suffering together and feeling each other’s difficulties.

And freedom.

“Our liberation is not really done alone,” he said. Repairing Generations of Trauma, One Lotus Flower at a Time Source link Repairing Generations of Trauma, One Lotus Flower at a Time