Month: April 2018

On April 10, Rebecca was invited by the Yale Buddhist Sangha to speak at an event co-hosted with Asian American Cultural Center at Yale University.  She shared how she experienced being “Buddhist” and “Asian” in America, addressing many mistaken assumptions often made about her.  Through her experiences, she pointed out the inadequacy of the distinction between ethnic and convert Buddhists used in the U.S. to categorize Dharma practitioners, and advocated a more nuanced approach that can embrace the diversity of experiences among followers of the Buddha’s path.  Yale students, many of whom grew up in different parts of Asia though not all were Asian or Buddhist, shared their experience with Buddhism.  Questions regarding the violence in Myanmar led by Buddhist monks and the monastic sangha’s incorporation of LGBTQ concerns were raised.  It was a well-attended but intimate event of heartfelt sharing and thoughtful discussions.

On April 12, Rebecca met Vandana Shiva who was on her campus to speak on the theme “Who we are, What we eat.”  Rebecca found Shiva’s tireless effort to save the world’s biodiversity through advocacy and education and advising governments to stop large corporations from patenting life, plant and seeds incredibly inspiring.  Shiva’s warning that our view that humans are machines and food is fuel keeps us from seeing that “food is us in the making” and “a gift of co-creation with all beings” is particularly poignant.  Rebecca is currently reading The Vandana Shiva Reader signed by the author herself, an important book to understand and undo the notion of “violence is power” fed to all of us and to begin to cultivate the practice of “nonviolence as power.”

Some of the favorite quotes from Shiva’s talk:

“Hope is stop thinking through other people’s mind and start thinking through our lives.”

“Anyone who says it is too late to do anything has not done anything for the earth.”

“The idea that plants are machines that can be manipulated and patented leads us to view everything as enemy to be conquered and dominated.”

(Taken on 4/12/2018 at TCNJ)