Spring 2022 Update
New Life BPF Spring 2022
Photo Credit: The CookiemonsterA tiny, tender bright green tree sprout rises up amongst a blurred background of forest. A beam of sunlight shines down on the first leaves, marking a new beginning along with the approaching Spring.A tiny, tender bright green tree sprout rises up amongst a blurred background of forest. A beam of sunlight shines down on the first leaves, marking a new beginning along with the approaching Spring.
As you might know, Buddhist Peace Fellowship has been on a programmatic pause to allow the Board of Directors to undertake a period of reflection and retreat to sit with the questions and decisions facing us after the transition of three staff in late 2021. We intend to remain on pause through summer 2022. (You can review our fall and winter updates to learn more about this process.)
We join the global community in mourning and celebrating the life of Thich Nhat Hanh. We are humbled to hold parts of his legacy on Turtle Island, and know that work will continue for generations to come. Soon we’ll be able to share with you digital versions of the Turning Wheel newsletter/magazine, which chronicle the loving presence Thich Nhat Hanh brought to Buddhist Peace Fellowship over the years. We’ve been taking refuge in these lines from one of Thầy’s books, At Home in the World:
“This body of mine will disintegrate, but my actions will continue me… If you think I am only this body, then you have not truly seen me. When you look at my friends, you see my continuation. When you see someone walking with mindfulness and compassion, you know he is my continuation. I don’t see why we have to say ‘I will die,’ because I can already see myself in you, in other people, and in future generations.”
We recognize that BPF’s purpose to connect Dharma to the current political moment has remained our north star for over forty years. We’ve experimented with many kinds of programs and offerings in service of collective liberation: media, retreats, direct action, and more, but always with the same purpose. To discern what this work might hold for 2022 and beyond, we’ve formed an interim Teachers Council, invested in our internal capacity-building, and are engaging in a much-needed overhaul of personnel policies and practices to lay a healthy foundation for new leadership. We are excited to share with you two milestones in this journey —the formation of the Interim Teachers Council and opening the search for additional Board members who wish to join us in our efforts. See more info about those below!
We’re also excited to share with you that we’re close to launching a deeper listening process to invite the BPF community to weigh in on the important questions we face as engaged Buddhists, advocates for social and racial justice, and people from varied lineages and backgrounds. Stay tuned for an upcoming announcement with more opportunities to engage with BPF.
Open invitation for Board of Directors
The Buddhist Peace Fellowship is putting out a call for new beings to join our Board of Directors! Join our sangha of BIPOC-led organizational stewards that are passionate about serving at the intersection of Buddhism and social justice. BPF is seeking volunteer Board members to strengthen the organization’scommitment and contribution to collective liberation. Like prior generations of BPF stewards including Robert Aitken, Mushim Ikeda, Ryo Imamura, Joanna Macy, Alan Senauke, and many others, we’re finding that getting to the other shore involves crossing muddy waters. Some terms we have been using to describe our politics, but which we are still working to fully articulate, include ecological anti-capitalism, queer feminism, and anti-racism. If you feel called to engage with us in developing shared analysis and action, we welcome your application.
We are looking for new Board members who have the skills, time, and heart to commit to ~5 hours of volunteer work each month. The amount of time can vary depending on the needs on the Board. For example, one month could consist of 3 hours of volunteering while another month may look closer to 7 hours of service. The organization would especially benefit from new Board members that can contribute experience in the areas of social and racial justice, communications, fundraising, personnel, and non-profit management. We invite you to learn more here and apply here. The deadline to submit is March 27, 2022.
Interim Teachers Council Update
Zoom screenshot from first Teachers Council | photo credit: Butterfly From top left to bottom right: Sarwang Parikh, Tony “Butterfly” Pham, Dalila Bothwell, Mushim Ikeda, Alex Rodriguez w/ Nico (excited to see Lama Rod), Leslie Booker, Lama Rod and Ravi Mishra
Zoom screenshot from first Teachers Council | photo credit: Butterfly
From top left to bottom right: Sarwang Parikh, Tony “Butterfly” Pham, Dalila Bothwell, Mushim Ikeda, Alex Rodríguez w/ Nico (excited to see Lama Rod), Leslie Booker, Lama Rod Owens, and Ravi Mishra
In mid-February, Sarwang Parikh (Interim Director) along with Tony “Butterfly” Pham (Board President) virtually convened four esteemed Dharma teachers to support BPF during this transition. We are excited to welcome Mushim Patricia Ikeda, Lama Rod Owens, Leslie Booker, and Dalila Bothwell as our Interim Teachers Council! Each of these teachers come from diverse backgrounds and Dharma lineages; they each embody a deep commitment towards engaged Buddhism.
This was the first of three such convenings oriented towards sharing our process in transparency and to invite feedback and guidance in our decision-making going forward. This first session provided teachers with an orientation and background information on the causes and conditions that contributed to this point in BPF’s history, where we are now, and where we are going in the short term.
There were immensely generative discussions around the present state of American Buddhism(s), especially the gaps in relationship between the majority of Western converts with Heritage Buddhist sanghas, tradition and context. Mushim Ikeda pointed out that this gap has been a long fraught area in the history of BPF; a divide that the current BPF stewards are committed to bridging.
Another salient discussion centered around the gaps within engaged Buddhism today in the US. As Leslie Booker succinctly highlighted, “Many Buddhists [still] don’t understand that the practice is meant to be engaged… We practice so that we can engage with other people… We practice to find resolution to conflict… We practice to alleviate the suffering of the oppressed.” Dalila Bothwell followed up with a further reflection on convert Buddhism, saying “If we’re engaging, it is on a community level.” Lama Rod Owens encourages BPF to continue to get clearer about what BPF has to offer our movements at this moment and how Buddhism can be relevant to activists.