Charles Johnson On Buddhism And The Black American ‘Minefield’
By Marcie Sillman and Amina Al-Sadi | Jan 5, 2015
As a teenager, University of Washington professor emeritus Charles Johnson discovered a book on yoga and meditation on his mom’s bookshelf that sparked his interest in practicing Buddhism.
Johnson spoke with Marcie Sillman on KUOW’s The Record to discuss the intersection of race, religion and his writing. His newest book is called “Taming the Ox: Buddhist Stories and Reflections on Politics, Race, Culture, and Spiritual Practice.”
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
On Buddhism
My creative work and my spiritual life and spiritual practice are very much intertwined.
Buddhism is non-dualistic. This is what distinguishes it from every other world religion: it is non-dualistic and noncompetitive. And according to Paul Tillich – the great Christian theologian – that makes it one of the most competitive religions in the world, the very fact that it isn’t competitive!
But one of the things Buddhism recognizes is that wisdom can be found anywhere. It is not the property of the East or the West. So you can find wisdom just under your feet.
Whatever it is you’re interacting with, whatever it is you’re engaged with, whoever it is you’re talking to, it’s you. Because Buddhism does not divide the world up into “self” and “other” that way. So that’s the motto: “Whatever it is, it’s you.”
On Ferguson, Eric Garner Cases
I have been stopped, my son has been stopped by the police on occasion in New York and here in Seattle — always a case of mistaken identity. But as a black American male you live with that.
We have to walk across a minefield where people have planted mines and IEDs for us to step on and blow ourselves up. And if you don’t learn that in childhood, you get blown up. You have to know where the minefields are and that means you have to listen to your black elders who had crossed that minefield to a certain extent, and they can tell you where the dangers are.
Now with those cases (Michael Brown and Eric Garner), you naturally feel anger.
You can take that energy of anger and transform it into constructive action, so you don’t have to lose control of your mind and emotions. But you can look at anger and you can transform it into something that is going to reduce suffering.
On Race And Education
Now one of the things that we’ve been told – and I think it’s happening already – is that by 2042, or something like that, we have the browning of America whereby minorities will outnumber white Americans for the first time.
And that is causing a big demographic shift, a sea change. It’s already affecting the school curriculums in California K-12 because the education that we gave kids really up until quite recently was very Eurocentric. It was very much for white kids.
And then you had the period of integration beginning with Brown vs. Board of Education. A lot of black students came into schools where the curriculum was all white.
I never was introduced, K-12, to a black author. The first book I found by a black author was, again, in my mother’s library. It was Richard Wright’s “Black Boy.”
In 1966 I went to college and it was around 1968 that black studies began. I participated in my school’s formation of a black studies program, and so we got more people of color into the curriculum in the liberal arts and humanities. But that’s an ongoing challenge. We still have to figure out how to juggle so much of this in our schools and that applies to media as well.
On Materialism
I think we’re living in very dangerous times. I’ve never been a very materialistic person, I just am not like that, and I’ve not been particularly much of a hedonistic person either. What works for me is work and discipline and personal discipline. And I think we’re at a point in the early 21st century where people are questioning materialism.
We’re bombarded every day by 3,000 product messages. It’s there in your subconscious even if you’re not consciously aware of it.
I think we have to make decisions about what we feel is the “good life” and what our goal should be in life and not have those dictated by a very materialistic and sometimes decadent society.
I think a lot of young people get disenchanted with the idea that all they’re supposed to do is work to have and get material things, and there’s no turning inward to look at one’s own mind and how it operates.
Source: http://kuow.org/post/charles-johnson-buddhism-and-black-american-minefield
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Thank you Pastor Seng Piow for sharing this article about Charles Johnson. Buddhism is indeed open to anyone who wants to practice it. It is not for just a specific race or religion. It is nice to see Charles Johnson as a black man practising Buddhism and what he said about the current life, people and world are materialistic. It will be nice if schools can teach a little bit of the Buddhism teachings to the kids so that they would not grow up chasing something which is no benefit at all for them and does not bring inner happiness.
With folded palms,
Vivian
Interesting to come across Charles Johnson a black American Buddhist practitioner,He discovered a book on yoga and meditation on his mom’s bookshelf that sparked his interest in practicing Buddhism.That’s wonderful.As Charles Johnson said wisdom can be found anywhere. It is not the property of the East or the West. I do agree with that.
Thank you Rinpoche and Pastor Loh Seng Piow for sharing .
Reading this article and some of Charles Johnson, it makes me think that, the race issue in America, is something that takes os much from the people who are discriminated and marginalized against. For an ordinary coloured to be able to grapple with such issues, takes a lot out of their time and energy, that if such issues could be left behind, then coloured folks especially black people could devote much more time to explore a whole range of things and this I quote from wikipedia on Charles Johnson “astrophysics, DNA sequencing, cosmology, Sanskrit, the Buddhadharma, mathematics, nano-technology, everything in this universe that remains such a mystery to us.”.
This is an interesting article as it give way to new angle to view the future of social-demographic. In the interview with Charles Johnson, it is apparent that Buddhism is the answer to many of the predicaments faced by a colored person, or any person in my opinion. Buddha Dharma’s wisdom and the concept of non-dualism and non-competitive is the spiritual fabric that cater for the demographic evolution in America. Because Buddhism does not divide the world up into “self” and “other”, whatever it is, it is “you”. Generations of colored people who were disabled by the westernized culture can now be liberated by the wisdom of Buddhism, in bigger ways than one can imagine.
Thank you Rinpoche and Pastor Seng Piow for this meaning article.
Humbly, bowing down,
Stella Cheang
“I always wonder why Westerners would like Buddhism”
What I mean is Westerners are not born into a Eastern or Buddhistic culture like people in the Far East and Southern Asia.
Read What Charles Johnson said:
“Buddhism is non-dualistic. This is what distinguishes it from every other world religion: it is non-dualistic and noncompetitive. And according to Paul Tillich – the great Christian theologian – that makes it one of the most competitive religions in the world, the very fact that it isn’t competitive!”
This sums it all for me.
Really astute points from Professor Emeritus Charles Johnson which demonstrate his contemplation and internalisation of Lord Buddha’s teachings into his way of life. Despite the harsh conditions which he was subjected to growing up and also the constant discrimination (subtle or otherwise) due to his skin colour, Professor Emeritus Charles Johnson, armed with his faith on such teachings, has evidently risen above those issues with a positive attitude and healthy outlook at life. It is definitely inspirational.
This is very interesting as its the first time I have read of a “Black” Buddhist practitioner and his view. I had never really noticed that in America all this while mostly visibility shows “White” practitioners. I would say that Charles Johnson is a practising Buddhist and from his interview, certainly applies his practise in his daily living. Although racism is illegal in America, unfortunately there are still deep seated roots of racism and the “black” still face prejudicial views. As Charles Johnson said “you can look at anger and you can transform it into something that is going to reduce suffering.”
His view on materialism is just what Rinpoche always reminds us of “the mind (our life) is beyond just working, earning, eating and so forth.” We need to look inward.
Thank you Pastor Seng Piow for introducing Charles Johnson to us.
Wow! The excerpt here is short but it is packed with lots to digests and the little take on Buddhism is particularly insightful. This black guy certainly has digested the teachings and philosophy and have come close to its core meaning. I have seen it rarely explained in such a clear and concise manner.
I love how he had boiled it down to the fact that Buddhism is non-dual and there is no differentiation between self and others. Hence, altruism, compassion and kindness is naturally arisen when we blur the lines between self and others. This shows great understanding of the Buddha’s intent as evident in the teachings.
It’s an interesting projection into the future where the browning of America where the number of non-white people would outnumber the white population. This would be great because it would foster tolerance and racial balance would fall. What a utopian view of the future and I certainly hope this would come true.