Thanks to the ManKind project retreat, I saw how my way of thinking about my own privilege was harmful to myself and others. However, there was also an important truth to be extrapolated from the toxic idea that as a privileged person, everything I do is violent:
As a person of many privileges, I must be cautious about the way in which I approach service to others.
For so many societies throughout such a large portion of human history, privilege has included the power to name problems and devote significant resources to solving them. Often, the people with the most at stake are only nominally involved in the problem-solving process, if they are involved at all. This includes giant swaths of "service" and "philanthropy" efforts today, including efforts that I've been a part of. By addressing the immediate symptoms of sickness in our society, many well-intentioned causes also help us to excuse ourselves from looking at the sickness itself.
Which reminds me of the beautifully bitter quote:
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist."
--Dom Hélder Pessoa Câmara
How can someone from a privileged position offer themselves in a way that does not simply reinforce the power dynamics that created suffering in the first place? My good friend and coach, Ariel Pliskin, has been thinking about the question of conscious and loving action for a long time, having served as a co-manager of the Haley House soup kitchen and training with Bernie Glassman to become a Zen Peacemakers a socially-engaged Buddhist Minister. The following is taken from the Zen Peacemaker's website.
The Three Tenets of the Zen Peacemakers
Entering the stream of Socially Engaged Spirituality, I vow to live a life of:
This set of principles resonates with me and my struggles to find my role in the world as a conscious person of privilege. I must first learn to not-know in order to be able to genuinely listen. Only then can I act with real compassion, unburdened by privilege's tendency to taint pure intentions.
This is the next step back that I am taking now.
As a teacher, I became so burdened by my struggles that I couldn't go on.
So I took a step back and decided to be an early learning activist.
Then, I realized that in order to truly challenge an unjust society, I would have to step back and learn how to listen to the people around me (especially those who suffer under grinding societal injustice) before "knowing" where to act.
So that is my current campaign--genuine listening, or bearing witness. My goal is to find or create structures that will allow me to practice bearing witness across the lines that divide our society--primarily class, race, and ethnicity.
Only then will my path to action be clear, and only then can I move forward with a life that contributes to a truly equitable society.
My first bearing witness project will be a street retreat in New York City.
As a person of many privileges, I must be cautious about the way in which I approach service to others.
For so many societies throughout such a large portion of human history, privilege has included the power to name problems and devote significant resources to solving them. Often, the people with the most at stake are only nominally involved in the problem-solving process, if they are involved at all. This includes giant swaths of "service" and "philanthropy" efforts today, including efforts that I've been a part of. By addressing the immediate symptoms of sickness in our society, many well-intentioned causes also help us to excuse ourselves from looking at the sickness itself.
Which reminds me of the beautifully bitter quote:
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist."
--Dom Hélder Pessoa Câmara
How can someone from a privileged position offer themselves in a way that does not simply reinforce the power dynamics that created suffering in the first place? My good friend and coach, Ariel Pliskin, has been thinking about the question of conscious and loving action for a long time, having served as a co-manager of the Haley House soup kitchen and training with Bernie Glassman to become a Zen Peacemakers a socially-engaged Buddhist Minister. The following is taken from the Zen Peacemaker's website.
The Three Tenets of the Zen Peacemakers
Entering the stream of Socially Engaged Spirituality, I vow to live a life of:
- Not-knowing, thereby giving up fixed ideas about ourselves and the universe
- Bearing witness to the joy and suffering of the world
- Loving actions towards ourselves and others
This set of principles resonates with me and my struggles to find my role in the world as a conscious person of privilege. I must first learn to not-know in order to be able to genuinely listen. Only then can I act with real compassion, unburdened by privilege's tendency to taint pure intentions.
This is the next step back that I am taking now.
As a teacher, I became so burdened by my struggles that I couldn't go on.
So I took a step back and decided to be an early learning activist.
Then, I realized that in order to truly challenge an unjust society, I would have to step back and learn how to listen to the people around me (especially those who suffer under grinding societal injustice) before "knowing" where to act.
So that is my current campaign--genuine listening, or bearing witness. My goal is to find or create structures that will allow me to practice bearing witness across the lines that divide our society--primarily class, race, and ethnicity.
Only then will my path to action be clear, and only then can I move forward with a life that contributes to a truly equitable society.
My first bearing witness project will be a street retreat in New York City.