Zendo and Mosque: Sharing Space in Ireland

The murder of seven UN Workers and five others today in Afghanistan is an awful act by Muslims outraged at another act of religious intolerance, the burning of a Koran by an American Christian pastor. It's also my guess that the nearly decade long military occupation in Afghanistan also played a large role in these acts of violence, but it's hard to ignore the influence of religious intolerance in this incident.

As such, I'd like to share this, from a discussion thread at Treeleaf Zendo:

I’ve a sitting group in the college I work in. The college is bang in the middle of Dublin City Centre and full of students from all over the world. Each Monday, we sit in “The Quiet Room” for an hour. The Quiet Room is available to everyone for spiritual practice and for such classes as Tai Chi and Yoga.

So, what’s been happening is that the Islamic students come in during zazen and totally ignore that a sit is in progress. They lay out their mats and pray facing Mecca, while the rest of us sit facing the wall or rise on the bell for kinhin.

After zazen had been interrupted a few times, I put a poster outside on the door while we sit: “Zen Meditation in Progress, 12 noon to 1pm” it says. But still the Islamic students come to pray in our midst, undeterred.
I considered asking them to wait until we are finished. We have the room booked for the hour, after all. But in the end I’ve decided that we should sit regardless of whoever comes through the door and to whatever purpose.

So, we just sit in silence often, and sometimes we sit to the mumbled incantations of “Allah Akbar”.

Obviously, religious tolerance is a complex thing.

The discussion that follows is also worth scrolling through. There are a few stereotypical "you can't talk sense to Muslim comments," but overall I find the response of the original poster to the situation, as well as the comments of other Treeleafers respectful, positive, and even insightful at times.

Peacefully sharing space with other worldviews, especially in the realms of religion and politics, is a challenge. Humans are fully capable of doing it, but we are also really good at not doing it at all. Excuses are many. Grudges from the past are many. And fears about what might happen in the future are also plentiful.

So, when people are able to work together, talk together, or simply be together like in the example above, those examples should be shared. Especially as a way to counter all the failures, small and horrific, that fill the news on a daily basis.


*Image from a 2006 Dialogue between Muslims and Buddhists held in Thailand.

Stirring Up Hatred: Rep. King's "Muslim" Hearings and the Afghan-Pakistan War

(U.S. Rep. Peter King as beauty pageant contestant.)

The news around the U.S. and in other parts of the world is beyond depressing today. I've gone through waves of anger and depression all morning, and plan on stepping out of the news cycle for the afternoon to take in some fresh air. Among the more ridiculous is the Congressional Hearings on Islam in the U.S. - lead by master ring leader and bigot Rep. Peter King of New York. As this article points out, the dude's story about "radicalization" in the U.S. is not only fictional, but is actually going after the wrong targets.

When asked why he is singling out the Muslim American community and refusing to investigate other forms of terrorism, King has responded by saying that “it makes no sense to talk about other types of extremism, when the main threat to the United States today is talking about al Qaida.”

Yet as a January 2011 terrorism statistics report — compiled using publicly available data from the FBI and other crime agencies — from the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) shows, terrorism by Muslim Americans has only accounted for a minority of terror plots since 9/11. Since the attacks on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, Muslims have been involved in 45 domestic terrorist plots. Meanwhile, non-Muslims have been involved in 80 terrorist plots.

In fact, right-wing extremist and white supremacist attacks plots alone outnumber plots by Muslims, with both groups being involved in 63 terror plots, 18 more plots than Muslim Americans have been involved in.

Meanwhile, the same people leading the witch hunt herein the U.S. seem to make zero connections between the continued war in Afghanistan, the undeclared war in parts of Pakistan, and events like the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, formerly the only Christian member of Pakistan's government cabinet. Pakistan is a key U.S. ally, and is set to receive more than $3 billion in aid - including over $2 billion in military aid. It's government is in complete shambles, and terrorism in various forms has become commonplace, both against religious minorities and majority Muslims. In addition, fascist legal changes like the draconian blasphemy law, are being used to silence any dissenting voices to extremism, including Muslim voices.

After Bhatti's assassination, President Obama remarked:

Minister Bhatti fought for, and sacrificed his life for, the universal values that Pakistanis, Americans and people around the world hold dear - the right to speak one's mind, to practice one's religion as one chooses, and to be free from discrimination based on one's background or beliefs,"

Nice words, but the government's actions demonstrate more interest saving face by continuing imperialist war efforts.

So, Rep. King and Co. are using the floor of Congress to stir up hatred and ill-informed suspicion. The Obama Administration is fighting an endless war in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, while sending billions annually to increase Pakistan's military "presence." And all the while, people continue to die, hatred and ill will continue to increase, and piles of money continue to be wasted on feeding destruction and corporate greed.

What a horror-show!

Oh, and then there's Wisconsin. Don't get me started on that one.

It's time to head outside. May humanity wake the hell up before it's too late.

Just Who Do You Think You're Standing Up for?!

Over at the Reformed Buddhist, Kyle has a strongly worded post taking aim at the lack of public commentary from American Buddhists about a pair of Buddhist centers being denied legal support from local governments for new buildings. He contrasts this with the clear, and sometimes very visible public support some convert Buddhists have given to the U.S. Muslim community in general, and to the Park 51 project in New York specifically.

Personally, I think there is a fundamental difference between the Mosque issue and these other issues of religious intolerance. From the Mayors office in New York City, to the Governors office in Albany to even words of encouragement by President Obama, the group building the Mosque have been given the green light to start construction in NY since all the necessary statutory requests and permits have been approved by each of the governmental agencies involved. Conversely, there are currently two very significant religious freedom cases in progress, one in Walnut, California and one in Rankin County, Mississippi, where Buddhists have been denied by the local governmental officials the right to build religious buildings, and therefore have been blocked from their constitutional right to exercise and practice religion freely. What ever my personal feelings are towards taking a side in the New York Mosque public debate, how we act as a untied front can not and should not overshadow the very real, illegal, baseless and cowardly governmental interference in Mississippi and California. One issue signifies direct actions against our rights and freedoms guaranteed to us in the United States Constitution, the other, the NY Mosque controversy, is ultimately nothing more than taking sides in a public debate.

I disagree with Kyle about the utility of publicly supporting members of another religion that has been routinely demonized in this nation. Staying silent because something has become a political spectacle and doesn't have any other clear and direct action isn't my style - period. (Although, I wholeheartedly support sitting silently when that is what's called for :)

Let's consider the rest of what Kyle says. He's absolutely right that in both of the Buddhist center cases, people have an opportunity to speak up and perhaps influence a specific action of discrimination. We can write officials in these two towns, write blog posts, get the word out to others. And I support all of that, which is part of why I'm writing this post.

FYI: Kyle has a previous post with contact info available for the Walnut, California case.

However, one thing I'd like to point out is that in great contrast to the Park 51 project, which has been front page news for months, the first time I - a fairly big news hound - heard about these two Buddhist center cases was a few weeks ago. How many American Buddhists have any idea about them? Probably not many. How many know about the NYC Islamic Center debate? Probably a vast majority.

It's not at all surprising that Buddhists are commenting about the very public debate over Islam, but not about these two Buddhist center cases, or issues like them. Buddhists aren't the "sexy enemy" that many consider Muslims to be. The mainstream media won't make a ton of money reporting about such issues, and even though the Federal government is intervening in at least of the cases, there's zero public pressure for the kind of statement President Obama made about the Park 51 project.

Oppression manifests in many different ways, and much of it occurs outside of the general public's eye. Which makes it that much more difficult to address. This is why I believe it's important to not only tackle specific instances of oppression, but to do what we can to promote a more just and liberated world in general. It's much less tangible, and we may never see the results of said actions, but sometimes a meditation for peace in the middle of an angry crowd is the most skillful offering one can make.

Update: here's my letter to the Walnut, California officials.

Dear _______,

I'm a Zen Buddhist living in St. Paul, MN. I recently became aware of the conflict over a building permit for the Chung Tai Zen Center. I'm not in the practice of writing local officials about building permits; in fact, I don't recall ever having done so. However, the debate over the Cordoba House Project in New York City has brought renewed attention to legacy across the United States of religious discrimination, especially when it comes to non-Christian religious communities.

I honestly don't know the actual reasons for denying the permit for the Walnut,California. What greatly concerns me is that at least two members of your Planning Commission, according to the U.S. Department of Justice filing, appear to have unreasonable objections to the permit. Mr. Hall's suggestion that the center would be used to "recruit and influence" nearby middle school students is not only outrageous, but would probably never be uttered about a Christian church community in the same proximity. And the argument that the Zen Center would be a "tourist attraction" seems very similar to me.

My guess is that, given the intervention of the Dept. of Justice, your office and the others will not be giving out much information about this case. So, although I would prefer to know why this Zen Center building is being blocked, I will simply offer my view that this situation could expand into something more damaging if decent reasons aren't offered in some public manner. The Cordoba House project had people for and against it, but in the end, the press coverage was a big headache for the city of New York. Perhaps your town, and this Zen Center aren't as interesting to the media, but you never know what issues they will choose to take up and exploit for profits and sensationalism.

The Walnut Planning Commission might ultimately be in the right on this issue. Since I don't know the whole story, I am willing to entertain that possibility. You need to understand, though, that being a member of religious minority group in this country isn't always welcomed, and as such, sometimes we must speak out and make sure that our freedoms are being upheld, just like anyone else in this nation.

I sincerely hope that this conflict is resolved soon, and that all parties involved are given due respect and treated with the utmost fairness.

Sincerely,

Nathan Thompson
St. Paul, MN