Use code SUMMERPRACTICE for a 25% discount on all On Demand Courses through August 31.

Dismantling Racism in Our Minds and Hearts

With Nina La Rosa recorded on July 15, 2017.

Found our teachings useful? Help us continue our work and support your teachers with a donation. Here’s how.

If one lives as a human on this earth one is affected by racism. Power and privilege have been unfairly awarded throughout history to certain groups of people based on race while disempowering others.

These systems function on a systemic and cultural level, but also within each of us individually when we unconsciously internalize messages about each other, ourselves, and about race. Simply growing up in a racist world causes subtle and not so subtle habits of mind and heart to take on racist patterns.

Mindfulness meditation can help one to observe preconceptions as they arise in the mind, providing space for cultivating kindness and care. Mindfulness can illuminate implicit bias, the usually unconscious prejudices that color so much of our mind’s judging nature. Uncovering these habits of mind with a generous heart can cut through the guilt, shame, hatred, and fear that cause so much contraction and suffering in us and in our relationships around race. Observing these habits of mind with wisdom can allow a healthy transcendence of self to arise that does not bypass individual and racial differences, but includes them.

This session is for you, no matter the color of your skin, if you’re interested in investigating more deeply how racism in the world has impacted your mind and heart. We practice ways to undo racism in our lives and uncover a generous, spacious heart that has room for differences and the universal.

Listen to the audio version below, or click here to download the mp3.

Discussion

Leave a Reply

Discover more from the Dharma Library

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of September 18, 2023

    This week’s theme is “Understanding Suffering”. Dukkha, often translated as suffering, is a central concept in the Buddha’s teachings. This has led some to view Buddhism as adopting a negative outlook on life. But is this true? Why did the Buddha emphasise suffering (dukkha) and what does he mean by this concept? This week of practice we will take an in-depth look into the first noble truth around dukkha. This exploration can help us cultivate compassion, as well as extending it to the larger community. It can free us from feelings of shame and a sense of failure, and bring a fresh perspective on our practice.

    Read More

  • James Baraz

    Equanimity: Finding Balance in Uncertain Times

    Equanimity is a highly-valued quality in Buddhist teachings. But what is it, and how do we cultivate it in our meditation practice? How can we access equanimity in daily life, especially in the midst of uncertainty, fear, and sadness over the suffering in the world? Howard Zinn from “The Optimism of Uncertainty”To be hopeful in…

    Read More

  • Leslie Booker

    Embodied Wisdom: The Self-Preservation of Activism

    Yes, the world is on fire. And, how do we respond to the rage, anger, and fear that can engulf us? How do we utilize these emotions as catalysts that can move us into action that doesn’t burn us up and destroy us? We investigate the Self-Preservation of Activism by feeling into our body wisdom…

    Read More

  • Daily Meditation Recordings, with Ulla Koenig – Week of May 8, 2023

    This week’s theme is “Shedding Light on Darkness”. In the Buddhist tradition, we find three psycho-physical dynamics which bring together suffering, stress and dissatisfaction. Beside aggression and wanting, the root of moha, often translated as ignorance, delusion or blindness, can be tricky to understand and practice. What are we blind to? What do we need to see and understand? How can we potentially see our blind spots? How can we prepare ourselves for that which we might discover? We dedicate this week of practice to discovering the different aspects of ignorance and learn practical steps to look deeply yet with kind eyes.

    Read More

  • James Baraz

    Insight and practices for difficult times

    We are in a race between fear and consciousness. Never before have forces of greed hatred and ignorance enjoyed such a platform of populist divisiveness that instills fear and separation throughout society, endangering our very civilization. And never before has there been as much caring and worldwide commitment to making this a better world. In…

    Read More