I couldn't get through this title. It ended up not being for me, but I hope it finds a hope with other readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book is a collection of eight distinct essays, each describing different parts of the authors' path to Buddhism. Several contributors write about racism and discrimination within Sanghas that marginalize BIPOC Dharma teachers and students alike. Other contributors write about the ways racism, discrimination, and privilege manifested in their lives and how Buddhism and meditation provided means of refuge. Taken together, the eight essays succeed in shining a light on the ways Western Buddhist communities are influenced by racism, sexism, and more.

Readers, particularly those from privileged backgrounds, can learn from the authors' experiences to understand how racist and discriminatory practices might manifest within their own Sanghas or community centers. Board members of Buddhist and Dharma centers should consider reading this book as part of ongoing efforts to make their centers more supportive of BIPOC teachers and students.

I'm not Buddhist. But I am Black. And I am living through the same timeline as everyone else, constantly barraged with images of police brutality, unceasing racist and misogynistic rhetoric, and the general feeling of "what else can possibly go wrong...oh wait."

I didn't know I needed this book until I picked it up. And now I recommend it to everyone I know. Trauma leaves genetic markers that last for generations. If the teachings (and the learnings) of these men and women can help erase or mitigate these indelible marks on our collective psyche for future generations? Well worth the read.

This was a good read. The authors did a good job of interweaving their experiences and perspectives. The first chapter outlined the importance of Buddhism and how it can be used as a tool to cope with the experiences of being Black. The book opens with a summary of the events that took place over the Summer of 2020 in America. Not only did they talk of the current events that may be burdensome experiences for fellow African Americans or people of African Descent, they explained the legacy of trauma that we have experienced for hundreds of years from slavery to current times.

This collection of essays from Black Buddhists is a stunningly intimate view into how they navigate the trauma, joy, pain, and interconnectedness of their Black experience through Buddhism, on how they thrive and survive in a world that brings inevitable suffering. This practice of Buddhism, based upon the history of work done by Black activists and ancestors (such as Black feminists like bell hooks), informed by the very real suffering and anger in a racially unjust world, is a form of decolonization. I loved the stories of growth, struggle, and enlightenment that each author shared in these pages: from Lama Rod Owens' journey with ayahuasca, an indigenous medicine, to Sebene Selassie's spirituality leading her to love her multiplicities, each story, each meditation practice shared, was a wonderful experience to read.

As a Chinese American Buddhist and an attendee of Lama Rod Owens' sangha, I am humbled by the experience of reading these essays and to continue to learn from the wisdom of these Black Buddhist teachers. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the authors for providing me with an advanced copy of this book an exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I want to thank NetGalley and Shambhala Publications, Inc. for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Black and Buddhist edited by Pamela Ayo Yetunde and Cheryl A. Giles dedicated this to George Floyd and I don’t think they could have paid more timely homage.

I am both inspired and exhausted by the social justice events this year and #BlackLivesMatter. Inspired because in the wake of a deadly pandemic, millions around the country and world mobilized to say “enough” and exhausted because this is a long battle. This book is full of 8 essays that aren’t just about Blackness and Buddhism, but each writer’s journey to that point. Like most people, I had this idea that Buddhism is nonviolent and asking Black people to remain nonviolent in a world that shows us nothing but institutionalized violence is enough to make my eye roll.

I was curious about what these Black Buddhists could tell me since I will admit that I am a very angry young Black woman. What I found was that they were not asking us to set aside our anger. Anger being part of the Black experience is acknowledged but so is that anger and Blackness are not the same thing. It also points out that love is part of the Black experience and a reason why we are still here. I was empowered by these essays and it made me look towards myself when it comes to figuring out how to be spiritually free in a world that continues to make it difficult.

For those who want a straightforward guide to Buddhism from a Black perspective might be disappointed in the story telling. For me, I wasn’t expecting this much of a personal background but I’m grateful for that. It’s a portrait of a people who are highly discussed but at the same time overlooked. I look forward to purchasing this.

Wow! This is an intriguing, timely book filled with a wonderful collection of essays and valuable insight about what it means to be black and Buddhist and how Buddhism has intersected with racism in the lives of the Buddhist teachers featured in the book. Their stories also offer valuable lessons on racism, spiritual freedom, and resilience. I was blown away by the beautiful introduction and loved the dedication to George Floyd. I learned a lot from this book and look forward to implementing what I’ve learned into my daily life so that I can continue to work toward being a better person and ally. I recommend that everyone checks out this book. Full review to be posted on my blog closer to publication date. Thank you so much NetGalley for gifting me this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

“Recognizing our deepest feelings, we cannot know live fully with suffering, invisibility, and dehumanization. Our resistance to oppression is our right to breathe fully, without the force of a hand or foot or knee on our throats constantly draining the life out of us. By watching Black and brown bodies die by police violence without resistance, we slowly die too. We take in resignation, despair, depression, self-denial, and self-effacement, and out bodies become bloated with powerlessness. And perhaps by not resisting, we unwittingly make a choice to allow ourselves to be silenced because we are too afraid to claim and honor the most precious gift we hold, the breath. In the honor of George Floyd and countless others, we vow to breathe. We breathe for the well-being of all sentient beings.”

While I was drawn to this book by its title, cover and synopsis, I could not have foreseen the BEAUTIFUL dedication to George Floyd.

I found this book to be a very necessary exploration of what it means to be Black and Buddhist especially in the face of racism, sexism and an undying effort to transform suffering into freedom. Each of the contributing authors do a great job earmarking how race and Buddhist practice have forged together and are a lasting impact in their work and life. Using anecdotal evidence and personal examples, they explore the overarching theme that there is to be no true freedom until we support one another in being free.

It took me awhile to read this one and yet it was worth the ride! Superb content.

Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date: 12/8/2020

Shambhala has put together a well-written, engaging collection of essays that showcase differing views and voices.

Black and Buddhist stands as a beautiful nonfiction book that is incredibly timely. The introduction and dedication themselves are beautiful, and they prepare readers for the simultaneous weight and lightness that comes from the rest of the text. I am not black, but I do consider myself Buddhist, so I can only fully speak on behalf of part of the purpose of the book. That being said, the teachings of Buddhism applied to today's landscape full of racism, fear, and hatred is apt, and I hope other readers will get as much out of this as I did. I was worried the book would teach on ignoring or pushing past the realities faced by many in this country, but instead the authors apply knowledge and spirituality to not accepting the harsh world but fortifying oneself.