Academics slow but coming ...

Although the work of Rainbowdharma and its inclusion of Black Buddha connecting the African American community to the global Buddhism as well as Afro Asian relevance to Buddhist history is in its tenth year, academia (Buddhist Studies) has been slow to acknowledge the work or its inspirational leadership. Still, it is as comforting as it is validating to see scholars beginning to discuss these truisms outside the so-called "Diversity Model" that has done little to stem American Buddhist resistance on this subject. Congratulations to those who realized the common sense truth of Black Buddha in their hearts long before it became popular to do so.

Perhaps someday the ivory tower will finally realize black Buddhists have incarnated in America as we go about our work with or without their acknowledgment or support. We have long abandoned our wood block press for cyberspace, web 2.0 and social networking. These are our tools today and we are ahead, very far ahead, of what for some will be a rude awakening to our presence in their midst.

Our work is on behalf of all human beings without regard to ethnic or racial identity. Until our relevance more deeply strikes their hearts I hope my academically inclined Rainbowdharma friends will take note of this honorable mention of a black Buddha in Tibet as well as the implications of his work on Feminism then and now.

Ethnicity as an Issue ‎(Tibetological‎): "In this paper, I propose to consider in a limited way what roles ethnicity played in the Tibetan-Indian interface. In effect, we will consider the area of Tingri in the decades around the year 1100 as something like what would nowadays be termed a ‘culture contact zone,’[1] although given the nature of our sources and the types of information they were designed to supply we can perhaps only hope to come to conclusions of some sophistication or depth. Even so, our main source is a relatively rich one, and for this we ought to be grateful. After a few brief words about this main source, we will immediately look into the life of Padampa as a South Indian, very likely a native speaker of Telugu, touching on the significance laid by Tibetans on his blackness...The texts of the Peacemaking Collection accept Padampa’s Indian ethnicity, his Atsara-hood, his blackness and his role as spiritual teacher as a single package worthy of reverence. One interesting passage (P: V 205) states that everyone who met him underwent remarkable behavioral transformations. Some cried, others laughed, some were frightened, some were driven insane, had samādhis, felt strong faith or renunciation, had great faith or exceptional realizations. "

more reading:

Best known as Machig Labdron's teacher, the Indian mahasiddha Padampa Sangye is counted as a lineage guru by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He brought the lineage of Chöd to Tibet, carried the Buddha's teachings to China, and is even asserted, in the Tibetan tradition, to have been the legendary Bodhidharma (Founder of Zen, "Chan," Buddhism).

Padampa Sangye's teaching methods were unorthodox and sometimes extreme. This transcendent and irascible teacher encouraged his disciples to disregard social conventions, disdain social contacts, and go beyond their cultural conditioning. He inspired innumerable highly realized disciples, many of whom were women. (Snow Lion)
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Universal principles...

Many people believe that the concept of Black Buddha, as I have defined it, is a narrow idea. This is as a result of unfortunate misinformation promulgated during the 1960's -80's by the dominant culture in American Buddhism. There has never been a reason for African Americans to adopt dominant culture or Asian culture as a means getting a foothold in the Buddhadharma.

Buddhism is an approach to the human mind that transcends any particular culture or religious predisposition. People all over the world not only understand Black Buddha but seek and even yearn to connect with it's universal truth. Here is a recent note I received from a Buddhist student in Poland. In it he shares Buddha's universal principles that provide all Buddhists with an understructure of equanimity transcendent of cultural, racial, and social differences:

Nie wierzcie w jakiekolwiek przekazy tylko dlatego, że przez długi czas obowiązywały w wielu krajach. Nie wierzcie w coś tylko dlatego, że wielu ludzi od dawna to powtarza. Nie akceptujcie niczego tylko z tego powodu, że ktoś inny to powiedział, że popiera to swoim autorytetem jakiś mędrzec albo kapłan, lub że jest to napisane w jakimś świętym piśmie. Nie wierzcie w coś tylko dlatego, że brzmi prawdopodobnie. Nie wierzcie w wizje lub wyobrażenia, które uważacie za zesłane przez boga. Miejcie zaufanie do tego, co uznaliście za prawdziwe po długim sprawdzaniu, do tego, co przynosi powodzenie wam i innym."

loose translation:

Do not believe in any religion simply because it stood for a long time in many countries. Do not believe in anything just because people have repeated it many times. Not only revere scripture due to the fact that someone else said that it supported the authority of wise men or a priests, or that it is written in a holy writing. Do not believe in anything just because it is likely. Do not believe in visions or ideas just because they are considered to be revealed by a God or Goddess. Have confidence in what appears to be true after a long verification, what brings success to you and others.

Wszystkie buddystów rozumiem tego. Cudowny!

(All Buddhists understand this. Wonderful!)

The Way It Was (Part 1) - Black Women First

I've decided to write a series of posts titled, "The Way It was." The series will include my recollections on past situations that occurred during my evolution of Black Buddha. For example, many people don't know that black women were involved with leadership in the American Buddhist community long before I came on the scene.













For the sake of confidentiality I won't mention names. Suffice it to say for the most part that they had taken refuge from homophobia and misogyny in black culture. Early on Buddhism offered civility and peace to Lesbian and bisexual women who found little or no solace from the black Christian churches that infused judgement, criticism, and condemnation between them and the eyes of God. Interracial couples, mixed race commune dwellers, and biracial individuals were not uncommon either, primarily as a result of the Hippie movement's alternative to the radicalized Marxist/Leninist black power and black theology empowerment movements.

1960's-70's Indian and Tibetan gurus cultivated an affinity with peace loving hippies that endures as an understructure of convert Buddhism practiced today. American Buddhism is an Asian export catered to the American taste for Dharma-lite, an approach to Buddhism that quiets the nerves in non-offensive, non-confrontational, moderately spiritualized psycho-emotional "mental bites." Graduated change without the clamour of deep introspection and seizure like revelations is the rule of the day. Silent retreat is preferred by most except for the brave hearts who can endure the clashing of cymbals, pounding of drums, squealing horns and resonant mantric incantations of Tibetan egoistic beast slaying.

Voiceless black women and a smattering of men lay in the wash of this East/West symbiosis as it merged into definitive communities of American Buddhist traditions. Even as late as the mid nineties the term "Black Buddha" was seen as an offensive oxymoron while the unquestioned moniker "American Buddhism" forged on in a state of determined institutionalism.

The day I entered my first service to a Buddhist retreat center there was a young black woman sitting close to me at puja. She seemed upset as the lama approached her saying, "please don't leave." I never saw her again but the story was she had arrived with a black husband but was departing alone. Another interracial couple broke up while I was there and eventually my discussion of Black Buddha landed me on the "disinvited" list as well.

The American Buddhist environment was not a stable place for black love or lovers but for some black women its was better than eternal condemnation under God in African American Christendom. That's the way it was.

Lama Rangdrol wins film award

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Festival Canceled Due to Heavy Rain, a film about Lama Choyin Rangdrol's spiritual journey to Cambodia has been awarded the Aloha Accolade Award for Excellence in Filmmaking at the 2009 Honolulu International Film Festival.

The award notice said, "...judges felt that your film demonstrated superior and standout filmmaking and is deserving of one of our our most esteemed awards. Your film was among the very best of the several hundreds of films submitted from over 30 countries around the world."

Our HBCU world premiere was well received in America's bible belt at Nashville's International Black Film Festival and we are screening again at the Pan African Film Festival in Magic Johnson's theaters in South Central Los Angeles. An award from the film community of Honolulu, city of multi-generational Buddhists as well as hometown of president elect Obama, adds an exciting dimension of contemporary relevance to Rainbowdharma's achievements.

The award will be presented at the Closing Night Awards Ceremony to be held 10:00 pm March 8, 2009 at the beautiful and historic Hawaii Theatre in the heart of Honolulu. Join us! And if you can't make it, consider making an offering to help cover Lama's attendance. A donation of any amount, large or small, is a pure offering that supports the goal of promoting diversity, and spiritual health in America at a time it needs it the most.

We'd like to thank those who have supported Lama Rangdrol's work over the years. If you are new to the Rainbowdharm experience, we look forward to adding your name to our growing list of supporters, and keeping your informed about the film's progress.

make offering here:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=MB4JLJWL9R4FG&lc=US&item_name=Rainbowdharma&currency_code=USD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donateCC_LG%2egif%3aNonHosted
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Festival Canceled

Buddhism and the comdey of soul

Every once in a while I come across an expression of soul that speaks to me as a Buddhist practitioner from the streets. I remember days when the only thing keeping us sane was the funny ni*ga. I mean the person who could slice through time and space with a humor so true that it took the edge off of tension everyone was feeling. There were so many talented people back in the day and I miss them all.

There were days when all I had to survive on was the whimsy, farce, or biting comedy of the funny ni*ga. Today I have Buddhist peace that will never end. Still, my appreciation remains unwavered for the comedy that saves lives, expresses truisms, and plumbs the depths of soul with satire. Becoming a Buddhist does not mean one abandons the realities of black culture. In fact the experience deepens as one awakens to the realities of impermanence.

Rasheed Thurmond passed away a while ago but his humaness lives on in this unique comedy clip. I share it with you as an example of what an urban yogi looks like to me:

About the language and style of my books

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To date I have authored and self-published seven books whose language and style cater to the African American middle and lower classes. The reason for this is the 1980-90's dash many American Buddhists contrarily made to mainstream publishers catering to white, educated, upper middle class readers. The mad dash to be published in the mainstream was borne of quests for status, marketing viability, and sales. Hence, Dharma readers, organizations, and American Buddhist centers swelled with whites eager for more information, study and practice while blacks struggled for place in their midst.

Several African American writers broke through but they were primarily limited to college professors, black exotics willing to shave their heads in far away lands, and LGBT community members seeking refuge from patriarchal homophobic God centered religious dogma. Most of these authors were edited by whites on behalf of their white publishers and readers. However eloquent the finished product, their writing style spoke to the need of appropriation by a growing community of white centrism in the American Buddhist community. Addressing the need of downtrodden black folk including the million plus incarcerated in American jails and prisons was not seen as a viable publishing adventure. The catch phrase, "They don't read," was used to assuage writing to, for, or about them.

I made a different choice that included a writing style that would seem base by mainstream standards. The quasi-intellectual lexicon of my work comes from years of working in black communities, literacy, programs, prisons, and on urban streets where intellectualisms are expressed in post-Ebonics layered with phraseology resistant to dominant culture appropriation. It was always a great joy to see street intellectuals read my work and return with a glistening smile. Many of tem recognized the language pattern as one familiar to their sensibilities and for the first time saw Buddhism as accessible. It is for them and those who see them as a community survival resource that my work sings, and I'm good with that. It makes me feel happy and more human.

Although I have suffered many indignities for my choice to write for the people, I feel the work of bringing Dharma to ordinary black people has been served. I am educated in classical music and theater at the graduate level, and hold certificates of study from the National Shakespeare Company (New York) and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (London). I could have written Black Buddha in high prose and scored it with symphonic music but that would not have served the community I came from. I grew up on the streets of suburban Los Angeles during the tumult of 1960's and revolutionary ideals.

I apologize to my family for making the less economically viable choice to self-publish my unique works. I had the same hard choices to make as any other writer. My sense is my writings will stand the test of time, particularly since mainstream publishing has changed its field of interest under increasing economic pressures. Three years ago I saw a first edition of Black Buddha for sale on-line as a rare book priced at quadruple to its original cost.

I felt then as I do now that the black masses have few to serve their needs and even fewer who can or are willing to sacrifice status, economic viability, and mainstream appeal on their behalf. There is nothing noble about taking less than your efforts and talents can command. I simply did what I thought was right at the time.

Outside of blogging, my black Buddha writing period has come to an end. I've written enough to satisfy my commitment to the urban street elders who set me on a path away from the destructive intrigues of street life. In the end I have found Buddhist peace as well as eternal thanks to those who read and understood the intention of my work over the years.

Thank you all,
Lama Rangdrol
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The Dalai Obama

This is why I wrote the book Black Buddha years ago, and continue to advance the discussion. It was inevitable that the two worlds meet. Thank all of you who "kept it real" by supporting the original Black Buddha over the years. My fellow pioneers. You know who you are.

Question: But do think these two leaders will recognize their mutual global history?