Buddhist or not, this model of non-violence is worthy of note, globally.
"Non-Violent Prisoner Strike in Georgia Crosses Racial Lines Fed up with their living and working conditions, prisoners across the state of Georgia last week staged a six-day mass peaceful protest that transcended racial boundaries.
Black, Latino and white inmates at least six prisons, including Hays State Prison, Telfair State Prison, Macon State Prison and Smith State Prison, banded together to show their unhappiness by staying in their cells. The families of some prisoners reported that corrections officers responded violently, destroying personal effects and beating inmates at one penitentiary while another facility cut off the hot water supply.
Inmates spent months coordinating the protest by using cell phones smuggled into the prisons.
They have demanded better living conditions, medical care and nutrition, more educational and self-improvement opportunities, wages for work performed in prison and better access to their families, among other demands." Article
2006 Los Angeles Poverty Department (LAPD) invited African American Buddhist priest and a Viet Nam veteran Ron Allen to direct poetry workshops on Skid Row. FRIED POETRY is a skilletful of individual and group spoken word pieces and music on the subjects of spirituality and recovery from addiction. In Fried Poetry, LAPDer's invoke their insights into recovery as means of healing self and society.
"There is no question that Dharma has taken hold in Detroit. In the face of great odds, closed-off highways and harsh winters, Still Point fills every Sunday. We have over 120 members now. There is a waiting list for seminary slots. Two years ago, Kogam Gary Schwocho started a sangha in Royal Oak, Muddy Water Zen. It will only grow. Bodhidharma Ron Allen is a one man prophet of the Dharma – he has his own set of formal students and has integrated Buddhist teachings into his plays and poetry, most notably his recent play about the Tibetan Book of the Dead." Article
"One night a Tibetan Buddhist monk in maroon-and-saffron robes swept into His wife, Peggy Battin, comforts Hopkins after a particularly grueling day of off-the-vent breathing and therapy. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune) Hopkins' Bountiful rehab room and delivered a piece of ancient wisdom. The body is nothing; it is ephemeral,' the lama told him. 'The mind is everything.'
Hopkins remembered that sentiment when he saw, for the first time, his emaciated body in the mirror while being wheeled into the shower. He either could be depressed by the sight or celebrate his expanding mental powers and social skills, either indulge in self-pity or confront the challenges ahead with dignity and drive.
'The lama's words came back with their full force,' he recalls, 'and I understood them for the first time ... and my potential depression lifted.' Article Audio
. Festival Canceled Due to Heavy Rain, a film about Lama Choyin Rangdrol's spiritual journey to Cambodia has been awarded the Aloha Accolade Award for Excellence in Filmmaking at the 2009 Honolulu International Film Festival.
The award notice said, "...judges felt that your film demonstrated superior and standout filmmaking and is deserving of one of our our most esteemed awards. Your film was among the very best of the several hundreds of films submitted from over 30 countries around the world." Our HBCU world premiere was well received in America's bible belt at Nashville's International Black Film Festival and we are screening again at the Pan African Film Festival in Magic Johnson's theaters in South Central Los Angeles. An award from the film community of Honolulu, city of multi-generational Buddhists as well as hometown of president elect Obama, adds an exciting dimension of contemporary relevance to Rainbowdharma's achievements. The award will be presented at the Closing Night Awards Ceremony to be held 10:00 pm March 8, 2009 at the beautiful and historic Hawaii Theatre in the heart of Honolulu. Join us! And if you can't make it, consider making anoffering to help cover Lama's attendance. A donation of any amount, large or small, is a pure offering that supports the goal of promoting diversity, and spiritual health in America at a time it needs it the most.
We'd like to thank those who have supported Lama Rangdrol's work over the years. If you are new to the Rainbowdharm experience, we look forward to adding your name to our growing list of supporters, and keeping your informed about the film's progress.
make offering here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=MB4JLJWL9R4FG&lc=US&item_name=Rainbowdharma¤cy_code=USD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donateCC_LG%2egif%3aNonHosted ______________________________________________________
Buddhist caring must be more than mere engagement. It must cause us to confront the vicissitudes of our own ignorance. Then, and only then, can we say we are at one with the challenge of the human condition. LR
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