Buddhism and Racism - With Rev. Myokei Caine-Barrett

Hosted by filmmaker Yujiro Seki, Carving the Divine TV is a series of Q&A sessions with Buddhist scholars and practitioners. These Q&A sessions explore the basic concepts of Buddhism, the history of Buddhism and of course Buddhist sculptures/sculptors (bustuzo/busshi) so that when viewers finally watch the documentary Carving the Divine - Buddhist sculptors of Japan, they will get the maximum value of the documentary.

We live in a complex world with countless causes and effects creating our reality.  But we have a tendency to try to make things black and white. Personally, I think it is because our culture does not encourage critical thinking as much as it ought to.  Racism is one of the issues that people think they have figured out; they say that they are not racists and racism must stop. But do they really understand racism to start with?  Do I really understand racism?  Just because we don’t believe we are racist, are we immune to racism? Are we free from it?  Is it other people’s problems?  What is unaware racism?  Today, we will be dissecting racism from the ground up.  We have an amazing and highly qualified guest, Rev. Myokei Caine-Barrett from Nichiren Order of North America who is not only a benevolent, compassionate priest but a strong advocate against racism for over 30 years!  She will help us understand racism not only as a simplistic term but in a profound way.  I’m ready for this discussion.  I hope you are too! 

We will be asking important questions such as:

In your own words, what is racism?  And why should we care about it? 
 
What is the brief history of racism in the USA?
 
What has been your own experience of racism? 
 
Why did you choose Buddhism instead of other religious paths?  
 
Is Buddhism diverse in this day and age? 
 
Does racism exist in the Buddhist community?  If so, in what form?
 
What is cultural appropriation and how does it affect our culture? 
 
So, I often hear people saying that in Buddhism, everyone is equal and race is not the issue.  What do you think of this statement? 
 
Is it important to have diversity in the Buddhist community? If so why? 
 
What can we do as individuals to promote equality in both the Buddhist world and society as a whole?

Myokei Caine-Barrett currently holds the position of iBishop of the Nichiren Shu Buddhist Order of North America.  She is the first woman and the first American to hold this position.  She is also the first American woman and first person of African American-Japanese descent to be fully ordained, having completed this process in 2007 with  Archbishop Nissho Uchino  in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan.   She is the guiding teacher and priest at Myoken-ji Temple in Houston, Texas.  Myokei Shonin currently volunteers with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as clergy to two prison Sanghas for the past 16 years in keeping with the Lotus Sutra teaching of full equality of all beings.  Her writings have been published in a variety of Buddhist magazines and newspapers and is featured in “The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women.” She is currently developing curriculum for (1) the Nichiren Shu tradition and the Lotus Sutra and (2) dealing with the trauma of incarceration and racism.  She also supports weekend trainings for Healing Warrior Hearts, a Texas for Heroes project designed to truly welcome veterans home. She is also a licensed Religious Science practitioner.

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