{"id":759,"date":"2009-08-20T09:22:38","date_gmt":"2009-08-20T09:22:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onecity\/2009\/08\/young-black-buddhist-woman-in-kansas.html"},"modified":"2009-08-20T09:22:38","modified_gmt":"2009-08-20T09:22:38","slug":"young-black-buddhist-woman-in-kansas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onecity\/2009\/08\/young-black-buddhist-woman-in-kansas.html","title":{"rendered":"Young. Black. Buddhist. Woman… In Kansas?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a guest post for the One City Blog<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"my_pic.jpg\"<\/span>—–
Evelyn Cash<\/b> is a Soto Zen<\/a> and Vipassana meditation<\/a> practitioner living in Wichita, Kansas. She works as an engineer.
\n<\/i>
—–<\/p>\n

No matter how you slice it, I am definitely in the minority.  I am an
\nAfrican-American female twenty-something Buddhist <\/a>who lives and works in
\nWichita, Kansas.  I’m a dreadlock-wearing, mala-carrying, zazen-sitting
\noddity in this reddest of red states and, honestly, I can’t really imagine
\nbeing any other way (although, I do wish I lived in a purple state at
\nleast).  <\/p>\n

\"janwillis.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
I’m pretty accustomed to being the only person who looks like me
\nin a room.  I graduated from Ohio State with a degree in Aerospace
\nEngineering and it wasn’t unusual for me to be the only African-American
\nstudent in most of my core classes.  As a kid growing up in the suburbs,
\nthe only parts of my life that were predominately black were family reunions
\nand church.  So, I don’t feel at all uncomfortable as the only African-American
\nin the zendo, although the question of why you don’t find more black Buddhists<\/a>
\nhas vexed me over the years. <\/p>\n

[photo opposite of Dr. Jan Willis<\/a> courtesy of <\/i>www.buddhistchannel.tv<\/a><\/i> ]<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

You
\nmay be asking yourself, “How did a young black woman come find herself sitting
\nzazen in Kansas?”  It is a long sordid tale, filled with excitement and
\nadventure, I promise you, but I don’t want to make this column too long so I’ll
\ngive you the short version.  I learned about Buddhism in my Catholic high
\nschool comparative religion class but I had little more than a basic text book
\nunderstanding of the dharma.  Later, I learned to meditate at a
\nUnitarian-Universalist Church in Cleveland, OH while at home from college one
\nsummer.  In early 2006, I stumbled upon Gil Fronsdal’s dharma talks<\/a>
\nthrough the Zencast series of podcasts and began to learn more about the
\nBuddha’s teachings and how Buddhist meditation really works.   I
\nbegan sitting regularly after listening to one of Gil’s “Introduction to
\nMeditation” series of talks.  <\/span>After
\ngraduation, I landed an engineering job in Wichita, KS so my fianc\u00e9e and I
\npicked up and moved to Wichita.  About a week after moving, we were
\nalready looking for a Buddhist meditation group and quickly found that there
\nweren’t many choices.  We found a Soto Zen Sangha and have been sitting
\nwith them ever since.  It’s a small group (only about 5-7 regulars) made
\nup primarily of several lay-ordained teachers who take turns giving short readings
\nand dharma talks.  Our group is associated with the Atlanta Soto Zen
\nCenter and the abbot comes to Kansas once a year for dokusan (one-on-one
\ninterviews) and to lead a weekend retreat.  My husband and I took formally
\ntook refuge and got married in a joint ceremony in May 2007.<\/p>\n

Because
\nof my situation, my practice has taken on a bit of a “hybrid” quality that
\nworks well for me.  I was initially introduced to the Theravadan tradition
\nthrough Gil’s Vipassana dharma talks and I still find that my rather analytical
\nstyle of meditation continues to resonate with that tradition.  I sit with
\na Soto Zen group so I’ve naturally also been exposed to the Zen approach to
\nBuddhist practice.  In my experience, the two can actually complement each
\nother very well.  In a lot of ways, the Zen idea of shikantaza or “just
\nsitting” is similar to mindfulness meditation.  In Zen, we’re taught to
\njust sit with whatever arises both internally and externally; mindfulness works
\nin much the same way.  <\/p>\n

So,
\nEthan was curious about what it would be like to practice Buddhism without out
\na lot of peers.  I’ll address this from the easiest to define to the more
\ndifficult.  As a female, I’ve heard dharma talks and sat with women more
\ntimes than I can count so this has not been an issue in the least.  There
\nare also many dharma books on the shelves written by female teachers such as
\nSharon Salzberg<\/a>, Pema Chodron<\/a> and Thubten Chodron<\/a> although I’d certainly like
\nto see more.<\/p>\n

As
\nfor being a relative youngster in the zendo, I’ve found that practicing with
\npeople who have been meditating for decades can be very helpful and
\ninspiring.  <\/span>They also show by their
\nexample that Buddhism can be successfully practiced by working stiffs like me
\nand you don’t have to give up the householder life to make progress.  <\/p>\n

Practicing
\nBuddhism in Kansas is a little more difficult than it must be in larger
\nmetropolitan areas such as New York or San Francisco.  The choices of
\nDharma centers are limited but I managed to find a group that I enjoy. 
\nWith the internet, books and dharma publications these days, we can learn about
\nany school of Buddhism we wish and this can be both a blessing and curse. 
\nIn addition, there are many retreat centers throughout the country that we can
\ntravel to if we have the time and resources.  Because of my job, I haven’t
\nhad a chance to sit an extended meditation retreat but I still have the goal to
\nattend a week long at some point.  <\/p>\n

Now,
\nas I mentioned above, practicing as the lone African-American can be a bit
\nvexing.  Since the earliest days of my practice, I felt a real desire to
\nfind any stories I could get my hands on about black folks who were also
\nBuddhists or (even better) Buddhist teachers.  Unfortunately, there aren’t
\nmany that I’ve been able to find.  The first names you often read are Tina
\nTurner<\/a> and Herbie Hancock<\/a> but they practice Soka Gakkai<\/a>, a form of Nichiren
\nBuddhism that I have trouble relating to as a Zen\/Insight meditator.  I
\nhave come across a few books that helped inspire my practice, but I have yet to
\nmeet a fellow black Buddhist in person.  Early on, I found a book entitled
\n“Meeting Faith”<\/a> by Faith Adiele<\/a> about
\nher experiences as an ordained nun in the Thai Forest tradition.  She was
\na near dropout from Harvard who entered the monastery with no idea what she was
\ngetting in to.  <\/span>I appreciated
\nFaith’s honest account of her experiences as a Buddhist nun but she is not a
\npracticing Buddhist and so I see her as a fellow traveler on the spiritual
\njourney but one who is on a different path than my own.  Later, a Sangha
\nmember introduced me to Jan Willis’ memoir, “Dreaming Me.”<\/a>  Where I felt I could
\nrelate to Faith as a fellow seeker, I saw Dr. Willis as someone I could look up
\nto as an example of feminine black Buddhist practice in America.  Jan is a
\nprofessor at Wesleyan who practices Tibetan Buddhism who grew up in the
\nsegregated, racist south of the pre-civil rights era.   Her story
\nshowed me that the Dharma can speak to black women in America and confirmed my
\npersonal belief that the Buddha’s teachings are a natural fit for African-Americans
\nwho have a long history of suffering in this country.  I was thrilled to
\nhear that she was named “Outstanding Woman in
\nBuddhism”<\/a> for 2009 in Bangkok Thailand.  I would recommend both of
\nthese books to anyone on the path of practice and especially to fellow young
\nblack Buddhist women.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

I
\ncan say, without reservation, that the teachings of the Buddha resonate with me
\nas a person of color in America.  I understand that most black people find
\ninspiration in the Christian tradition and I have great respect and love for my
\nChristian brothers and sisters.  However, I feel that the Four Noble
\nTruths and the basic teachings of the dharma are universal and can inspire all
\npeople, regardless of their background; and for me, Buddhism provided a path of
\npractice that resonated on many levels. 
\n<\/span>As a black Buddhist, I may be in the minority but we can all learn from
\npeople who are different from us. 
\n<\/span>Different voices bring different perspectives; it’s always good to bring
\neveryone to the table.  <\/span>So, I am
\nhappy and humbled to share my experiences and I hope we continue to hear more
\ndiverse voices as Buddhism grows in the West.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Gassho,<\/p>\n

Shigetsu
\nEvelyn Cash<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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