El Latinismo y sus Bellos Colores: Voices of Latina and Latino Buddhists
by Rosa Zubizarreta

Interviewing the teachers and practitioners whose stories comprise this article has been a moving experience. Within the uniqueness of each story, common themes have emerged, resonating deeply with my own experience. One theme is the diversity of who we are as Latinas and Latinos.

Because of the differences among us, those of us who practice Buddhism in the United States may not fit a particular stereotype. We might be mixed-race, or light-skinned; or middle-class; or non-Spanish-speaking. Many of us share a profound sense of being “between worlds,” not completely at home in one or the other. This experience of being a “bridge person” can be both a challenge and a gift…

from Jose Luis Reissig’s story…

I grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and came to the U.S. to study when I was 19… As a typical young person in Argentina, I was involved in political activities. It was inconceivable to me that I would not be concerned with how a country is run, and most of my fellow students felt the same way. While a freshman at the university, I spent a week in an infamous detention center in Buenos Aires where many of my fellow inmates were tortured. Like others of my generation, I developed a strong dislike for oppressive military dictatorships. I saw the world as divided into “us” and “them.” Such an attitude may seem justified in view of the record of brutality towards ordinary citizens that we witnessed and experienced.

I first came into contact with the Dharma in the early ’80s, receiving teacher’s training from Christopher Titmuss in England. I have been teaching since 1990. The Dharma has helped me to learn not to see the world as divided between “us” and “them.” At the same time, understanding how we perpetuate separation does not need to make us insensitive to political issues…

Excerpted from Turning Wheel, Spring 2001