decolonial dharma
dharma practice rooted in fierce love and liberation of the global majority
who we are
decolonial dharma is a radical devotional, creative and action collective for Buddhist changemakers, activists and artists working for global liberation. We’re queer, disabled, South Asian and BIPOC led. We are forging our own path(s) to meet the experiences of our communities whose dreams extend beyond the limited offerings within the western dharma-industrial complex.
our practice
decolonial dharma is a free devotional and action space for all change-making, rabble-rousing activists and creatives who long for a safe and nurturing space to be their full and glorious selves while practicing the dharma.
The Buddha was an anti-poverty, anti-caste, anti-patriarchy warrior for social justice whose devotion to ending suffering included putting his body between warring armies to stop human violence. We take inspiration from the original Buddha and Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar. Buddhism in its original form, and as practiced in the anti-caste, Ambedkarite context, is by definition engaged. Buddhism without social justice at its heart is not dharma. Buddhism without a political conscience is simply capitalism on a cushion.
We center the foundations of justice in Buddhist practice and focus our energies on the joy of chanting and singing, guided meditation, deep listening, community building, and organizing for change. Folks of all and no faith traditions are welcome. No meditation experience is necessary.
Please bring all of you! This is designed to be a liberatory and safe space for all, especially survivors of violence, disabled, genderqueer, trans, femme, SWANA, BIPOC and caste-oppressed folks. This is expressly an anti-racist, anti-imperialist, anti-Hindutva and anti-Zionist space. Anti-semitism, Brahminism, Islamophobia, and bullying or bigotry of any kind will not be allowed. An end to the Israeli-American genocide in Gaza and the liberation of Palestine from apartheid and settler colonialism will neither be challenged nor debated.
All beings in your life are welcome to the Zoom screen, including nursing babies, wandering children, curious partners, skeptical elders, bossy cats, snoring dogs; the whole family. We would like to create a community that is free from patriarchal and western limitations, boundaries and expectations about "sitting still" and "individual liberation."
Come as often as you’d like. We are a disability-justice forward space! Zooming in from beds, or wherever our bodies rest and feel supported, is encouraged. Pajamas and bed-head with an attitude are most welcome. Bring tea, coffee, and whatever makes you feel cozy and comfy.
Bring drums (or pots and spoons!), keffiyehs, photographs, books, poems, dolls, sculptures, art materials, writing utensils and paper, and whatever comforts, supports or inspires you.
We request that you come to our gatherings sober, as our space aims to be safe and validating for our members who are in recovery.
Founder: anuradha bhagwati (she/her) is a disabled, queer, Indian-american activist and writer. She is the critically acclaimed author of Unbecoming: A Memoir of Disobedience, and award-winning co-founder and former executive director of the Service Women’s Action Network. She was a United States Marine Corps officer and found her way to her dharma roots as a way of healing from military-related and gender-based violence. anuradha taught trauma-informed hatha yoga and Buddhist meditation to veterans in New York City for over a decade, and is a long-time practitioner of Theravadan Buddhism. She is committed to cultivating an anti-colonial warrior practice based on love, compassion, equity and justice. She has been to Palestine twice to conduct human rights research. anuradha is currently at work on a book about mental health, disability, and life with her rollicking service dog and guide, Duke.
our offerings
Click on the links below to RSVP to our weekly practice groups:
Buddhists for Justice in Palestine (BJPal), every Monday at 11 AM PST
Disability Solidarity Practice Group (DSPG), every Wednesday at 10 AM PST
Note: We will be taking a winter break during the weeks of December 23rd and December 30th and will be resuming these weekly offerings on the first Monday of January 2025.
decolonial dharma stands in solidarity with the Palestinian Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Movement. As the Palestinian Christian theologian, Rev Munther Isaac says, “silence is complicity.” Buddhist organizations that choose to stay silent about genocide, apartheid, and settler colonialism are complicit in those activities. We encourage practitioners to stand in solidarity with the BDS movement, and hold their Buddhist communities accountable for their silence. If organizations refuse to be engaged in Palestinian liberation, and the liberation of all peoples of the global majority, we encourage practitioners to boycott and divest from those organizations.
What’s the alternative to mainstream Buddhist and meditation organizations?
decolonial dharma believes we, the people, are the answer to institutions. We do not seek permission from institutions to be our full selves, to do the right thing by others, to chart our own paths, or to form fierce and tender community in our own ways.
Buddhists for Justice in Palestine published a Boycott letter during the first few months of the genocide in Gaza, which has successfully applied pressure to mainstream organizations to speak out against genocide and apartheid, and shifted the way many Buddhists think about our responsibility to practice non-harming and right action.
Okay, but where do I practice if I can’t practice at my favorite retreat center?
decolonial dharma encourages folks to rethink their entire relationship with Buddhist retreat centers. There are many “places” to practice dharma, including in the wild outdoors, and at home. Many organizations rooted in social justice practice provide retreat and gathering space for meditators. We need to start thinking outside the box, and creating the spaces and communities we want to see in the world. Continuing to give funding and legitimacy to organizations that support and embody apartheid and colonization does not serve anyone.
where we stand
events
Friday, November 8th:
Love, Power and Liberation: a Fundraiser for East Bay Meditation Center with Angela Davis and Lama Rod Owens. Click here to RSVP or click the flyer image below.
donate
decolonial dharma centers love and justice over greed and profit.
Despite Palestine being the moral litmus test of our time, few Buddhist and meditation centers have spoken out against the Israeli-US genocide in Gaza. This is a travesty we cannot overlook. To safeguard our practice space, we guarantee that free-speech will not be influenced by donors, including weapons manufacturers, big tech, Zionist or Hindutva organizations, or other ethno-nationalist or white supremacist entities.
As such, decolonial dharma facilitators do not receive financial compensation or dana for teaching. Any donations to decolonial dharma will go toward funding our website and technical support, as well as supporting contributors to our online publication. Any remaining funds will be donated at the end of the year to land-back initiatives on Turtle Island.
Currently we are able to sustain our work through a generous grant from Sari Sari Women of Color Arts Coup. Nevertheless, we deeply appreciate and welcome community support for decolonial dharma. Please know that decolonial dharma is not a charitable organization; your contributions are not tax-deductible.
Donate via the PayPal button below. You do not need to have a PayPal account to use this service. Most major credit cards are accepted.
zine
bad buddhists: Where Politics Meets Practice
We’re currently taking submissions! Deadline is Friday, November 22, 2024.
Submission Guidelines:
bad buddhists, a publication of decolonial dharma, is seeking voices from dharma practitioners who are actively engaging with matters of social justice.
We invite rigorous, provocative, and inspiring content from a new generation of Buddhist creatives, truth-tellers and changemakers, including essays, poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction, visual art, photography, and digital or transcribed interviews with subjects sharing compelling points of view.
We encourage you to submit edgy pieces that express authentic views and do not shy away from politics and vulnerability. We are likely to consider thoughtful content that is often rejected from mainstream Buddhist publications because it challenges the status quo. Themes might include: the systematic apartheid and genocide of the Palestinian people; how Buddhist practice is designed to exclude crip practitioners; anti-Blackness in dharma circles; Buddhist (tacit or explicit) support of Zionism or other racist, anti-indigenous ideologies; theft of land on Turtle Island; cultural appropriation or exclusion of South Asian and pan-Asian traditions in the West; the dearth of socioeconomic diversity in western Buddhism; why caste abolition matters to understanding and realizing the dharma; how the McMindfulness industry and Buddhism for profit has taken over the West.
We especially encourage voices that are traditionally marginalized from Western Buddhist spaces, including creatives with the following backgrounds: Dalit, Adivasi or other oppressed castes; Black; Indigenous; crip, disabled or differently abled; trans, non-binary, two-spirit and queer; SWANA, and voices from the Global South; Muslim and anti-Zionist Christian and/or Jewish; South Asian, and pan-Asian heritage Buddhists and practitioners who are re-discovering their ancestral Buddhist roots.
bad buddhists editors carefully read and consider each submission that we receive. We try to respond to submissions within 2-3 weeks. We are grateful for the opportunity to consider your work.
gift: Thanks to a generous grant from Sari-Sari Women of Color Arts Coup, we are delighted to offer $100 for each selected piece.
language: We consider English-language submissions from anywhere in the world, or works in original languages accompanied by rigorous English translation.
word length: We have no official word limits. The following are guidelines:
For short essays (op-ed style), please submit pieces 800-1200 words long.
For in-depth essays and fiction, we request works no longer than 3,000-5000 words.
We will consider up to 5 poems at once—please save them together in a single submission file.
formatting: We prefer manuscripts in any legible 12-point font with double-spaced paragraphs, page numbers in the footer, and 1-inch margins.
If you are submitting a photo series or a visual piece, please include a project statement. Image files must be at least in 72 dpi avif, gif, jpg, jpeg, png, or webp format.
If you are submitting a video, please include a project statement. Accepted video file formats are 3GP, AAC, AVI, FLV, MP4, MOV, and MPEG-2; the recommended maximum size is 20 GB.
On page 1, please include your name, submission title, and genre. Also include one paragraph that tells us about who you are, what you value, who your people/audience is, or who you be in the world. Non-traditional bios are encouraged and welcome.
Submission Deadline: Friday, November 22, 2024
E-mail all submissions to: decolonialdharma@gmail.com
anuradha bhagwati, executive editor
Kimberly Springer, managing editor
contact
You can e-mail us at decolonialdharma@gmail.com. You can also find us on Linktree and Instagram for Buddhists for Justice in Palestine and on decolonial dharma’s Instagram.
