BPF Offers Quiet Alternative at Anti-war Marches

Hundreds of non-Buddhists and non-members joined in BPF-organized meditation vigils at the large anti-war demonstrations on October 25th and January 18th in San Francisco. The bright blue BPF banner has become a familiar sight to tens of thousands of protestors, serving to mark a meditation spot near the speakers’ stand at the staging area, appearing at the head of the BPF contingent during the long march down San Francisco’s Market Street, and securing a space for another meditation vigil at the conclusion of the march in Civic Center Plaza.

The quiet and mindful walking during the march itself, together with the silent meditation at the beginning and end of the march provided many non-BPF protestors with what several described as a “quiet alternative” to the noisy, often angry, (though otherwise orderly and non-violent) activities of the day. Others, who described themselves as non-meditators, said that the dignified and quiet witness provided by the BPF vigils compelled them to sit with BPF or to stand in silent solidarity in a ring around the seated meditators. Participating BPF members remarked on the many thousands of milling protestors who, on encountering the seated BPF meditators at the staging and rally areas, stopped and stood observing for several minutes in silent respect before moving on. It was also remarkable to BPF organizers that despite the very congested masses of people, not a single person attempted to walk through the meditation areas.

The sittings at the staging area, skillfully led by Daniel Doane and Diana Winston of BPF, have followed the form established in the weekly vigils in front of the University of California in Berkeley that have been held since the beginning of the U.S. bombing in Afghanistan in October of 2001. After sitting for 30 or 40 minutes at a time, meditators are invited to break up into small sharing circles where people express their concerns about the war. The group then takes part in standing or walking meditation until they queue into the larger march behind the BPF banner.

From October to January, the number of people sitting at the staging area more than doubled from 150 to more than 300. During the October march, the BPF contingent was joined by monks from Thich Nhat Hanh’s Community for Mindful Living, who modeled their mindful walking and breathing technique. In the January march, the BPF contingent was gratified to find a large contingent from San Francisco Zen Center, including Blanche Hartmann, and Paul Hallor (among many others) holding a powerful sitting near the BPF table in the Civic Center Plaza. Taigen Dan Leighton of Mountain Source Sangha, and a member of the BPF Peace Activities Committee, gave a speech to the vast crowd at the invitation of the march organizers, a first for BPF. (Taigen’s speech is reproduced on this website). BPF organizers are also grateful to the many sitters from the Zen, Vipassana, Tibetan and the Asian-American Buddhist communities who responded to outreach efforts by BPF by appearing at the announced gathering points. Finally, the BPF table at the rally area was inundated with requests for information about membership and also managed to distribute copies of a press release by BPF Acting Co-Director Alan Senauke (also reproduced on this website).

As the die appears cast for war in Iraq, and as both hope and patience wear thin among large segments of the anti-war movement, BPF feels that the quiet and non-violent witness that Buddhists provide on February 16th can serve as an important example to other protestors of the dignified, steady and resolved attitude that will be required to oppose the war and growing American militarism not just in the next few months, but for many years to come.