Woke, awake, the Awaken One, Buddha
Woke Awaken
While the term woke and awake share a connection in their etymology, the term woke now carries a distinct meaning among African Americans. Woke, most commonly now, refer to the awareness of social and political issues, particularly those related to social justice. This word has evolved to mean aware of and actively being attentive to important facts and issues; Woke (African Americans have become Woke) to their situation.
The term awake means the state of being not asleep. Awake also describes the state of being alert. Awaken is the verb form of awake. It means to cause someone or something to become awake, or to become aware of something, to become alert.
While Woke was originally used to express the fact that the people had become aware of racial prejudice and discrimination, it has evolved to encompass a broader understanding of social inequality. It has become a term used in political discourse. In this aspect, the word woke was originated by the African-American Vernacular English (AAVE).
Due to African Americans becoming more active in directing the course of their lives, the term woke has gained prominence in political circles. Some people, those who attempt to keep certain people in a lover social status, attempt to use the term 'Woke' as a pejorative term.
Buddha, the Woke Prophet
Siddhartha Gautama woke up and became the Buddha (the Awakened One / the enlightened one). He was a prince who renounced his privileged life. Siddhartha Gautama lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE. He achieved a profound understanding of life and the nature of reality by attaining enlightenment through meditation and self-discipline. The significance of the Buddha's teachings was to guide people towards understanding suffering and finding a path to liberation and enlightenment.
Today, African Americans stand at the forefront of achieving enlightenment and escaping the cycle of suffering and rebirth (cease the repatition of lover class citizenship). Not just for the African Americans, but for anyone and everyone throughout the global community.
Buddhism African American perspective
African and African American influence on Buddhism and Buddhist influence on African Americans. The African American perspective on Buddhism emphasizes healing intergenerational trauma, community uplift, and devotional practices to ancestors. It also aligns Buddhism with Black radical teachings and decolonizes the mind to erase racism. Here are some resources that explore the intersection of Buddhism and the African American experience: Black Buddhists
Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition
Explores how Black Buddhist Teachers and Practitioners interpret Western Buddhism in unique spiritual and communal ways
In Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition, Rima Vesely-Flad examines the distinctive features of Black-identifying Buddhist practitioners, arguing that Black Buddhists interpret Buddhist teachings in ways that are congruent with Black radical thought. Indeed, the volume makes the case that given their experiences with racism―both in the larger society and also within largely white-oriented Buddhist organizations―Black cultural frameworks are necessary for illuminating the Buddha’s wisdom.
Drawing on interviews with forty Black Buddhist teachers and practitioners, Vesely-Flad argues that Buddhist teachings, through their focus on healing intergenerational trauma, provide a vitally important foundation for achieving Black liberation. She shows that Buddhist teachings as practiced by Black Americans emphasize different aspects of the religion than do those in white convert Buddhist communities, focusing more on devotional practices to ancestors and community uplift.
The book includes discussions of the Black Power movement, the Black feminist movement, and the Black prophetic tradition. It also offers a nuanced discussion of how the Black body, which has historically been reviled, is claimed as a vehicle for liberation. In so doing, the book explores how the experiences of non-binary, gender non-conforming, and transgender practitioners of African descent are validated within the tradition. The book also uplifts the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer Black Buddhists. This unique volume shows the importance of Black Buddhist teachers’ insights into Buddhist wisdom, and how they align Buddhism with Black radical teachings, helping to pull Buddhism away from dominant white cultural norms.
Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition
Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us about Race, Resilience, Transformation, and Freedom
Leading African American Buddhist teachers offer lessons on racism, resilience, spiritual freedom, and the possibility of a truly representative American Buddhism. With contributions by Acharya Gaylon Ferguson, Cheryl A. Giles, Gyōzan Royce Andrew Johnson, Ruth King, Kamilah Majied, Lama Rod Owens, Lama Dawa Tarchin Phillips, Sebene Selassie, and Pamela Ayo Yetunde.
What does it mean to be Black and Buddhist? In this powerful collection of writings, African American teachers from all the major Buddhist traditions tell their stories of how race and Buddhist practice have intersected in their lives. The resulting explorations display not only the promise of Buddhist teachings to empower those facing racial discrimination but also the way that Black Buddhist voices are enriching the Dharma for all practitioners. As the first anthology comprised solely of writings by African-descended Buddhist practitioners, this book is an important contribution to the development of the Dharma in the West.
Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us about Race, Resilience, Transformation, and Freedom
