With the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, our attention is being drawn to the damaging effects of systematic racism on the bodies and minds of people of color. However, racial trauma is not limited to brown and black bodies, but any body that has undergone the process of racialization, including white bodies. In this discussion, we will explore the reality of physical, emotional, and psychological woundedness steaming from the construction of race and the harmful behaviors we have adopted to perpetuate this woundedness with the help of our society, communities, families, schools, as well as our dharma communities. This exploration will be framed within the context of Dharma as a liberatory strategy rooted in awareness and love.
Lama Rod Owens is an activist, organizer, and Dharma teacher. He is a core teacher with Natural Dharma Fellowship in Cambridge, MA where he is also pursuing his graduate studies in Buddhist Ministry at Harvard Divinity School. Lama Rod is interested in the intersection of trauma, race, and Dharma practice and is the co-author of the forthcoming book Radical Dharma, which explores the impact of racism on western sanghas while offering liberatory strategies rooted in love.