A group of Buddhist faith leaders and community members gathered in the city of Antioch, California, for the “first national Buddhist memorial service and pilgrimage in response to anti-Asian hate.”.
Khenpo Paljor, a Tibetan lama from Des Moines, Iowa, leads a prayer at the Birthplace of Antioch marker, Saturday, March 16, 2024, in Antioch, Calif. Participants of the event titled May We Gather placed traditional Tibetan scarves on the marker as they prayed for peace and harmony. – For one afternoon, on Antioch’s main street and tranquil riverbank, the fragrance of burning incense was paired with the sound ofand Tao chants.
So in Antioch’s El Campanil Theatre, a gathering of Buddhist monks and leaders from across the diaspora engaged in a process of “karmic healing.” They offered chants and prayers at the altar of the thousand-armed Guan Yin, the goddess of mercy and compassion. Four tablets rested at the altar bearing the names of victims of hate and violence.
Khenpo Paljor, a Tibetan lama from Des Moines, Iowa, offered prayers at the Birthplace of Antioch marker erected in 1850 by the first European settlers. Here, attendees placed multi-colored Tibetan kata, which are traditional prayer scarves. Williams said the colored scarves reflect a Buddhist scripture that speaks of pure souls as colored lights shining in unison, with none canceling out the others.
Hatred of the Chinese during the gold rush was fueled by political rhetoric as well. The only article that addressed a racial or ethnic group in California’s constitution, which was ratified in 1879, stated that “no Chinese shall be employed on any State, county, municipal or other public work, except in punishment for crime.” The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 barred Chinese laborers from immigrating.
“The lotus flower is sacred in Buddhism because it maintains its purity and beauty despite growing in the mud,” Hyokeun said. “Hatred cannot solve hatred, only compassion can.” One of the attendees was Sasanna Yee, who has been speaking out about anti-Asian hate since her 88-year-old grandmother, Yik Oi Huang, wasin January 2019 in a San Francisco park. Authorities charged a then 17-year-old boy in the attack. Huang died the following year.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Buddhists use karmic healing against one US city's anti-Asian legacy and nationwide prejudice todayA group of Buddhist faith leaders and community members gathered in the city of Antioch, California, for the “first national Buddhist memorial service and pilgrimage in response to anti-Asian hate.”
Read more »
Antioch, a city with a complex anti-Asian history, takes meaningful steps toward reconciliationOver the last two years, the quiet city of Antioch, California, has been wrestling with its long and complicated history of discrimination against early Chinese immigrants during the gold rush. This includes fires that decimated the city's Chinatown in the 1870s.
Read more »
Antioch, a city with a complex anti-Asian history, takes meaningful steps toward reconciliationOver the last two years, the quiet city of Antioch, California, has been wrestling with its long and complicated history of discrimination against early Chinese immigrants during the gold rush
Read more »
Antioch, a city with a complex anti-Asian history, takes meaningful steps toward reconciliationOver the last two years, the quiet city of Antioch, California, has been wrestling with its long and complicated history of discrimination against early Chinese immigrants during the gold rush.
Read more »
Antioch, a city with a complex anti-Asian history, takes meaningful steps toward reconciliationOver the last two years, the quiet city of Antioch, California, has been wrestling with its long and complicated history of discrimination against early Chinese immigrants during the gold rush.
Read more »
Antioch, a city with a complex anti-Asian history, takes meaningful steps toward reconciliationOver the last two years, the quiet city of Antioch, California, has been wrestling with its long and complicated history of discrimination against early Chinese immigrants during the gold rush.
Read more »