Keeping It Real:
Avoiding Spiritual Bypass on the Path to Liberation
with sujatha baliga and Aishah Shahidah Simmons
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Thursday, June 30, 2022 5:30pm - 7:00pm PDT 8:30pm - 10:00pm EDT Online via Zoom Registration is required |
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Why do we sometimes resort to lofty answers to the problems of the world instead of simply being present with the suffering we see in ourselves and others? How do we (mis)use spiritual principles such as karma to sidestep rather than deeply engage with the suffering of the world? How might we acknowledge people’s apparent, lived realities as we work toward realizing ultimate truth?
Tse Chen Ling is honored to welcome back sujatha baliga and Aishah Shahidah Simmons for this special event exploring the slippery slope of spiritual bypass. We’ll look at the danger of using Buddhist concepts to correct, discount, or dismiss our own and others’ perspectives and experiences. Our speakers will share their views on how we may (if unintentionally) misuse spiritual ideas to bypass individual and collective accountability. And how true compassion requires not turning away from, but rather turning towards, our own and others’ suffering.
About sujatha baliga
sujatha baliga’s work is characterized by an equal dedication to crime survivors and people who’ve caused harm. A former victim advocate and public defender, she speaks publicly and inside prisons about her own experiences as a survivor of child sexual abuse and her path to forgiveness. Her personal and research interests include the forgiveness of seemingly unforgivable acts, survivor-led movements, restorative justice’s potential impact on racial disparities in our legal systems, and Buddhist approaches to conflict transformation. A long-time FPMT student, she’s a member of the Gyuto Foundation in Richmond, CA, where she leads meditation on Monday nights. She was named a 2019 MacArthur Fellow.
About Aishah Shahidah Simmons
Aishah Shahidah Simmons (she/her) is an award-winning Black feminist lesbian cultural worker who has examined the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and sexual violence for over 25-years. A survivor of childhood and adult sexual violence, committed to healing and non-carceral accountability, Aishah is the editor of the 2020 Lambda Literary Award-winning anthology, love WITH accountability: Digging Up the Roots of Child Sexual Abuse (A.K. Press), and the producer/director of the 2006- released, Ford Foundation-funded film, NO! The Rape Documentary. Aishah has received numerous awards and fellowships, including selection for the 2022 Changemakers Authors Cohort and a 2020 Soros Media Fellowship. She is a 20-year Buddhist student and practitioner, formerly in the S.N. Goenka tradition for 17-years and presently in the Insight tradition.
Registration:
Advanced registration is required. Once you register, the Zoom link will be included on your registration confirmation.
Ordained sangha are always welcome free of charge. No one is turned away for lack of funds. Please email [email protected] to inquire.
Advanced registration is required. Once you register, the Zoom link will be included on your registration confirmation.
Ordained sangha are always welcome free of charge. No one is turned away for lack of funds. Please email [email protected] to inquire.