A National Day of Mourning
Diverse Buddhist leadership mark 49 days since Atlanta shooting.
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Buddhist clergy, including Rev. Cristina Moon (right) of Daihonzan Chozen-ji International Zen Dojo in Honolulu, are connected to one another by string at the conclusion on Tuesday of “May We Gather,” a memorial to victims of anti-Asian violence, marking 49 days since the mass shootings in Atlanta. (Photos by MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS / The Rafu Shimpo)
By GWEN MURANAKA, Rafu Senior Editor
On May 4 the 49th day since a gunman killed eight in Atlanta, including six Asian women Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple in Little Tokyo played host to a stirring memorial for the dead and those suffering from anti-Asian hate.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/05/us/asian-american-attacks-buddhism.html
Credit.Rozette Rago for The New York Times
Repairing Generations of Trauma, One Lotus Flower at a Time
The lotus flower, blooming out of muddy waters, has long been a symbol of rising above suffering. In the wake of Anti-Asian attacks, spiritual leaders hope it can help heal the trauma of racial violence in the U.S.
Credit.Rozette Rago for The New York Times
Published May 5, 2021Updated May 6, 2021, 9:15 a.m. ET
It is one of the oldest religious symbols: the lotus flower, blooming out of muddy waters.
The mud represents our suffering, pain and delusions, said Duncan Ryuken Williams, a Soto Zen Buddhist priest, retelling the ancient lesson. And the purpose of Buddhism is to rise above.
Buddhists from many cultures and communities gathered to repair the nation’s racial karma. The ceremony was held at a Los Angeles temple that had recently been vandalized in an arson attack.