LIVESTREAM: Healing Racism & Bigotry, Part 2 – Gandhi meets Rumi

We’d like to think we can live in a fair and balanced world with no bias or prejudice, where everyone is treated equally. But is it possible?

Integral to our human journey is a belief that we are separate from God, separate from love, separate from each other. This perception creates fear, which resides at the base of our innate drive for survival. We are equipped with a mind and nervous system that are programmed to give more weight to perceived threats than to events that bring joy. Logically, we need this to survive.

What are the fears we face? How real are they?
How do we allow our fears to inform us and keep us safe?
How do we allow our fears to unnecessarily perpetuate a system that is divided along lines of race, culture, religion, and social and economic differences?

Perhaps more importantly, can we reprogram ourselves, or rather deprogram ourselves, to see through the lens of love and oneness first and foremost?

As a white American female mathematician and computer scientist, I have experienced gender bias and inequality both in schools and in corporate employment. However, I realize the inequities would likely have been more severe if my skin were darker, in which case I might not have been in those places at all.

I want to be understanding and empathetic and not contribute to the plight of my darker-skinned brothers and sisters. Yet I know I have not walked in the shoes of anyone other than myself, so how can I know for sure how to do this in a way that will be most beneficial and not condescending or disempowering?

In any case, I don’t want to be blamed or held responsible for the actions of those who are blatantly responsible for racism, be it systemic, cultural, religious, social or economic. I don’t want to bear the brunt of anger from years of mistreatment, nor do I want to live in fear of retaliation for the mistakes of others just because my skin is lighter. Even if this does exist, I pray it will not turn me away from striving for peace, justice, equality, and ultimately unity.

My heart aches when I see the injustice. What can I do? Compassion helps, but only when shared with those for whom it is intended. Not so much when held inside, though it is better than hardening the heart. Feeling guilty does not help anyone.

One of the most common complaints we hear from white people regards government assistance for people of lower income: “I work hard for my money. I don’t want to have to give my money to people who can’t take care of themselves. Let them get out there and get a job. If they don’t have the skills, let them get out there and get an education. They shouldn’t depend on hand outs from the government. That’s my hard-earned tax dollars.”

Notice I referred to “people of lower income” and not “people of color,” because that argument only references dollars. However, many people’s minds automatically picture people of color when they speak of welfare program recipients, even if the subject is regarding the use of tax dollars and not race itself – or is it?

It is documented that black Americans are more likely to receive government assistance, followed by Hispanics, Asian or Pacific Islanders, then whites.¹ While many associate welfare with people of color, the factors that affect these circumstances are much deeper than race itself.

Why do the numbers increase as the skin tone darkens? We cannot deny that there are social and cultural imprints that have shaped our belief systems over a very long period of time, intertwining their way through generation after generation. These deeper factors have to do with subconscious programming that has been imprinted into all of the people of our society, including all races. There are systems we all subconsciously buy into collectively, even as we try to fight it.

Though perhaps we are not at fault for the subconscious programming we have received in our lives, we each have an opportunity, a responsibility and the power to change. This gives us the power to affect change in the world.

The acts that are born of the subconscious programming are the passive acts of violence that Gandhi referred to when he taught of being the change you want to see in the world.

When we bring awareness to these passive acts of violence, we have the power to change them. This is what we have explored over the first two weeks of this program on Healing Racism & Bigotry.

In this week’s LIVESTREAM discussion, Gandhi meets Rumi.

Mahatma Gandhi said:

The Sufi poet Jalal id-din Rumi wrote:

Please join us for this week’s discussion as we learn and employ Sufi healing practices to wash away the barriers that keep us in separation so that we can be the change we wish to see in the world.

Most humans want a world of love and peace – the origin from which we were created.

To return to subsist in love and peace, we must heal the subconscious beliefs and pictures. It’s not enough to change the mind. Teaching the mind alone does not clear the imprints held in the body and energy field (the subconscious), which influence the majority of our actions.

In order to truly heal, we must wash away the pictures that are held in the body and cover over the divine truths that exist in the heart. The heart holds the pathway back to love and unity.

My colleague Shams Tara Wesley and I have been inspired by recent world events to offer a series of discussions and a framework for exploration and healing of the conscious and subconscious patterns that keep us in separation from each other and from love.

You’re invited to join us – right here on this very page.

This Wednesday, August 24, 2016, we will continue a dialog and exploration of what separates us brothers and sisters from each other. We’ll be using a process of exploration taught to Arun Gandhi by his grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi – you can learn more about that here. We’ll be teaching some ancient Sufi practices to help us wash our hearts and restore love and unity within ourselves and amongst our global family.

Footnotes: 
(1) United States Census Bureau, 21.3 Percent of U.S. Population Participates in Government Assistance Programs Each Month, 
May 28, 2015 
 
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