lawrence_interview

Lawrence Ellis practices in the Vietnamese Zen tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. He is an organization consultant, whose client roster ranges from Charles Schwab to Amnesty International to hospital and health organizations. Lawrence brings an awareness of right livelihood in deciding which clients he will take on. Living in voluntary simplicity, he can afford to turn away business that others would salivate to have. As a practitioner of Engaged Buddhism, or meditative social activism, Lawrence stays involved in campaigns to transform structural aspects of society that perpetuate suffering on a systemic level. As a gay man of African American and Native American descent with a disability, Lawrence is acutely aware of the many ways we often create and maintain separation from others.

I met Lawrence while attempting to get Spirit Rock more involved in the Community of Mindful Living’s 1999 “Day on the Lake” with Thich Nhat Hanh. It was a major and public introduction of Dharma into the inner city of Oakland. The lead-up events conscientiously reached out to many sectors of the multiethnic community of Oakland, including a special emphasis on youth. Lawrence was a consultant for this very successful day and was generous in putting me in touch with others on the organizing committee. Spirit Rock became an official sponsor of the 2000 “Day on the Lake” with a very active information table.
One of the striking aspects of Lawrence is his keen appreciation of “right process” as part of ”right action.” As Spirit Rock begins to reach out and diversify our sangha, “right process/right action” is undoubtedly something we would all do well to pay attention to. For more information on Lawrence Ellis and Associates, please visit www.pathstochange.net or call 510-482-0750.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

My blood ancestors from Africa crossed the Middle Passage, and my other blood ancestors were on this continent for millennia (Cherokee and other tribes). I was born in Queens, New York, in 1961 to a small, deeply loving family within a large, deeply loving clan—which is an extended family of blood and, more importantly, “chosen” kinship relations. I lived in New York and central New Jersey until age 17. I spent my undergraduate years at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, on the John Motley Morehead Scholarship, which is often called the “baby Rhodes Scholarship,” since it was patterned after the Rhodes. Subsequently, I was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship for graduate studies at Oxford, England.

What is your profession or business?

I’m a spiritual-social activist who uses “organizational development” (OD) consulting and social movement building as vehicles for individual and collective transformation. OD consultants help organizations “get their stuff together” in terms of their mission and vision, strategy, structure and systems, organizational culture, etc. We help make workplaces more effective and efficient. The approach I bring to the work is “spiritual” by giving people values-based strategies, frameworks, and tools to make organizations and communities more collaborative, creative, diverse, just, and sustainable. My work practice-field includes this paid work and also direct social change/movement-building work—some paid, some not.

My company is “Lawrence Ellis & Associates.” I’m a sole practitioner in a network of about 20 consultants who team up on projects—a “virtual company” of sorts. Some recent clients have included Charles Schwab & Co., Amnesty International, Pacific Bell, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Automobile Association of America (aaa), and the San Francisco aids Foundation. A significant percentage of my work is with healthcare organizations, from hospitals to healthier-communities organizations.

The considerations were right livelihood, interconnectedness, and ending suffering. My company has socially and environmentally responsible criteria informing the kind of work I’ll do. If a prospective client doesn’t pass the initial criteria, I ask them to undergo a Values Audit. We dialogue on the findings and the client builds into the contract what they initially want, but also areas where we mutually agree their values and ways of doing business are harmful.

If we cannot reach agreement at this stage, I don’t proceed with any work. This bank wanted me to help them get one of their offices running smoothly after a history of significant problems. I did some research, and—not at all to my surprise—they didn’t meet the socially and environmentally responsible criteria. This bank wasn’t particularly interested in a Values Audit or dialogue.

How did you come into Buddhism?

My practice has been predominantly in the Vietnamese Zen/Mindfulness tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. About 4½ years ago I was driving off to a personal retreat and had purchased a copy of Thich Nhat Hanh’s audiocassette The Art of Mindful Living for the drive. This tape had a profound influence on me. I plunged into reading Thich Nhat Hanh’s works, changed the Hindu-influenced sitting meditation practice I’d begun in the early 1970’s, attended mindfulness retreats, and went on to co-found the Mindfulness, Diversity & Social Change sangha.

However, several factors probably contributed strongly to my “coming to Buddhism.” About 15 years ago I awakened to and embraced Satyagraha, the nonviolent direct action and “Truth Force” practices of Mahatma Gandhi. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. adopted Satyagrapha into his practice of nonviolence. Martin renamed it Soul Force. Many of the principles and practices of Satyagrapha find parallels in Engaged Buddhism, such as ahimsa or no harming; swaraj or autonomy, self-mastery, and group freedom; sarvodaya, concern for the awakening and welfare of all beings; and many others. Many of the practices are the same—just different forms and names.

What is “Engaged Buddhism”?

Engaged Buddhism is balancing the wisdom of “Don’t just do something, sit there” and “Don’t just sit there, do something.” Thich Nhat Hanh coined the term “engaged Bud- dhism” during the Vietnam War. He implored the nuns and monks not to stay in their temples meditating as the bombs fell, as they heard the cries of those suffering around them. Activism to relieve the suffering was needed, bringing mindfulness to social activism as meditation-in-action. Thich Nhat Hanh knew the seeds of Engaged Buddhism are in the sutras. The Buddha himself was a great activist; he challenged the apartheid system of his day, India’s caste system.

For me, engaged Buddhism means bringing the systemic suffering of the world to my meditation cushion, and bringing a meditative mind to my efforts to relieve systematic suffering in the world. It’s not the sole focus of my practice. However, given my Dharma, given that many of my “social identities”—African/Native American, disabled, and gay, for example—place me as the “other” in so many parts of this society, the bombs are falling around my temple all the time—and sometimes on me. I can’t help being victimized by these conditions, but I refuse to play the victim. Engaged Buddhism gives me concrete tools for exercising agency—for transforming my own suffering, for assisting in relieving the suffering of others, for cultivating insight into the conditions that allow the suffering to manifest, for working to transform individuals and institutions that perpetrate systematic suffering, domination and violence.

However, some of my other social identities place me in positions of privilege in unjust systems—for example, being a man in a patriarchal world; or being a citizen of the U.S., whose economic, military, and other policies cause tremendous global suffering. So I’m also at risk of dropping bombs on the temples of others all the time—even if it’s not intentional. I also have a responsibility to look at where my social identities implicate me in causing others suffering, and to transform this.

What groups or projects are you involved in that apply Engaged Buddhism?

A Just Harvest works with the United Farm Workers (UFW) and others on behalf of farm workers’ human rights. The East Bay Inter-faith Committee for Worker Justice works with and for urban low-wage workers. We engage in lots of activities—from education and mobilization to civil disobedience and dialogue—for economic justice. As the Buddhist Peace Fellowship representative to these “interfaith” groups, I apply tenets of Engaged Buddhism—and learn from other engaged spiritual traditions. But I get to apply principles of Engaged Buddhism in lots of other areas and with other groups, whether it’s formally called “Engaged Buddhism” or not.

What benefits do you see for the African-American community through the introduction of Dharma?

Our communities are so diverse, so I can’t give a “one-size-fits-all” answer. But in some communities, there could be a great reduction in a lot of the tragic statistics you’ve noted.1 Mindfulness of the Five Precepts alone would make a difference.

How does Buddhist practice complement the historical spiritual role of the Black Church and the parallel tradition of “root folks”—medicine women and men in Black communities?

There are strong complements. As Buddhists, we take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Similarly, many Black churches which played a central role in the survival and flourishing of African- Americans place the three jewels centrally in their traditions: the Awakened One (for them, Jesus), the Law, the Community of Practice (the Church). Black churches—like any long-standing religious institutions—have a mixed history. However, on the positive side, there is a great tradition of liberation in the here-and-now. Black churches have often been about freedom through sanctuary and resistance. The Buddhist Shaolin Monasteries of China came to prominence by protecting their communities through Sanctuary. Like Black churches, they provided material resources for people to live, and safe spaces from overt or covert oppression—they served as hubs of the community, and promoted cultivating the “spiritual life.” Many still do. Resistance, being-ness, activism, and organizing were characteristic of Shaolin Buddhist monasteries and of Black churches.

Root folks honor our connection with all forms of life, value wisdom, and seek to relieve suffering. There are so many complements—the traditions could learn a lot from each other. For me, Buddhist practices deepen and expand many of the aims of my Christian upbringing. While I’m no longer a Christian, I still honor that Black Church practices can teach Buddhists from that background—notably around engaged spirituality. Similarly, my African and Native American shamanic traditions, which nourish me profoundly, inform, and deepen my Buddhist practices—for example in honoring lineage/ancestors and in revering our interconnectedness with the animal, plant, and mineral nations.

There are gems in every tradition. We should honor our own process of investigation, wisdom, and flourishing outside of what many people think of as “Buddhism,” as well as within it. The Dharma transcends religion and sectarianism. Many traditions have helped beings to flourish at different levels. I would always ask the following questions for any practice: Is there fruit to the practice? Is the practice sound? Does the practice call me?

How can we as a sangha, teachers, staff, and Board members support you in the work
you’re doing?

On the issue of “ism’s,” whether it’s racism, sexism, classism—whatever—I would ask people to take on “diversity practice” as seriously as any other practice. And look at it not as “service work” that one might or might not choose to undertake given options for other “service work.” Instead, look at it as one’s deep responsibility to discover the ways in which one is perpetrating injustice and violence—whether consciously or not—and act to transform those ways of being and the institutions that reinforce and sustain them. And don’t do it in a piecemeal, incremental fashion—a program here, an activity there. Do it with deep commitment.

A brief story may be illuminating. In the mid-‘80s I was in grad school at Oxford with Leyanda, a Black South African woman whose family had been in exile in Botswana because of their anti-apartheid activities. Leyanda had gone to schools in Canada, the U.S., and England—had spent much of her life in these countries. At one gathering of the Oxford Pan-African student society, Leyanda remarked that racism was worse in these countries than in South Africa. Now remember, we’re talking about South Africa under apartheid. Many—perhaps all—of us at that gathering, a diverse group of people from many countries in Continental Africa and many countries in the Diaspora, acknowledged aspects of truth in what she was saying. The Sangha, teachers, staff and Board can support me and many others—and themselves—by looking deeply at this koan on racism, by applying insights from it to Spirit Rock and other predominantly European-American sanghas and centers, and by acting on those insights.

The e-sangha e-mail traffic shows there are a lot of Buddhists of Color and many more interested in Buddhism. Yet, many have stayed away from mainline centers like Spirit Rock or IMS in Barre, Massachusetts. Many have visited once and never came back. What are the reasons for this?

Many of the personal stories in “Making the Invisible Visible” are about yogis of color who did not feel comfortable at convert North American Buddhist centers. That was a booklet distributed to every teacher at the 2000 Western Buddhist Teachers Conference and written by Buddhists of Color who went to Spirit Rock with open hearts and didn’t return. (Note: The booklet is on the Spirit Rock Website, Diversity Page). I must admit that it continues to sadden me that in convert Buddhist centers in one of the most racially and ethnically diverse places in the U.S., the San Francisco Bay Area, many people seem to be exceptionally unskilled at dealing with issues of race and racism. “Making the Invisible Visible” and the Fall 2000 issue of Turning Wheel on “Buddhists of Asian Descent in the USA” provide rich stories on this topic.

Gathering on the basis of race, ethnicity, language, etc. can be quite intentional and beneficial. For example, I know that several Buddhists of European descent meet to do unlearning racism work. I celebrate these people and the wonderful work they are doing. I know that the Buddhists of Color Sangha provides a refuge from racism for many. However, there are many centers and sanghas that don’t seem to be very mindful of racial dynamics. Race isn’t always everything, but it’s rarely nothing. The key point is that there are unconscious ways of being that exclude, and these create and reinforce exclusionary organizational structures. It’s true that there aren’t signs posted in the
centers: “People of Color Not Welcome.” Still, there are ways in which people “self-select” their communities that may be unconsciously exclusionary. Also, costs of retreats and programs can be a barrier.

Many Buddhists of Color in the U.S., myself included, have to deal with overt and covert racism “24-7-365.” It’s a constant “practice.” Many of us choose not to have to do that kind of practice in spaces in-tended for deep transformation and community. In my experience and the experience of many, many people, given differences of age, gender, physical and mental abilities, race, sexual orientation, etc., stuff will always come up between people. I’m not lookin’ for some kinda “multicultural utopia” where everyone’s a “diversity Arhat or Boddhisatva.” However, I am looking for

(a) whether people notice the ism’s,
(b) where they do notice them, whether they are committed to transforming them, and
(c) where they are committed, whether that commitment is shallow or deep.
In many centers, the unskillfulness around racism and other ism’s is so profound that it’s a healthy choice for many of us not to engage with those communities—except perhaps very, very selectively.

What can we at Spirit Rock do, as sangha members, teachers, staff, and Board members to change this?

As an Organizational Development Consultant, I would suggest a process of full-scale institutional transformation. Contract an outside expert to work with you to design the transformation process and to guide you through it. This requires a substantial commitment—of time, of resources, of courage. Please don’t think Spirit Rock as a whole can do this solely on its own. Many staff, teachers, Board members, and other key yogis cannot, because it has to do with unconscious behavior—which, by definition, one has not been able to see. Spirit Rock sponsors People of Color (POC) retreats and events and has a POC scholarship fund. These are Dharma doors that invite in Buddhists of Color. But the benefits, while well intended and measurable, are essentially limited in how far they can go to create a sangha that embraces and celebrates diversity. As we know from medi- tation, lasting change involves “internal” being and “exernal” manifestation. So yes, there would need to be a serious com- mitment to a deep experience of transformation from a critical mass of people at Spirit Rock. Such processes are usually accelerated when key formal and informal leaders play a strong role. Also, a significant portion of the overall community would need to buy into this commitment. Again, this process of individual and institutional transformation would best be facilitated by an outside expert or experts.