Purpose
The Buddhist Peace Fellowship’s purpose is to serve collective liberation through connecting Dharma to the current moment. We convene spiritually and politically engaged individuals from multiple lineages, Buddhist and otherwise, to explore practices to be in wise and compassionate relationship to ourselves, each other, and movements. Our convenings and programs are led by and lift up the voices and priorities of Black, Indigenous, heritage Buddhists, and people of color who share our commitment to regenerative living economy, queer feminism, and racial justice.
Drawing on the traditions of engaged Buddhism, BPF strengthens the inherent connections between movement organizing and spiritual practice in three critical ways:
We offer spiritual support for people engaged in social, environmental, economic and healing justice movements;
We provide political education and leadership development for people who want to take their Buddhist practices “off the cushion;”
We foster a spiritually grounded community to build clarity, endurance, and kinship for compassionate action in the current political moment.
Our programs are guided by the leadership, voices, and priorities of Black, Indigenous, and Asian heritage Buddhists, and communities who share our values of racial justice, queer feminist values, and regenerative living economies.
Vision
The Buddhist Peace Fellowship is a constellation of spiritual-political practitioners who, with guidance from the earth, ancestors and the Buddhadharma, seek to build a world where:
We take care of each other, addressing needs holistically and working generatively with conflict.
We honor the inherent and dynamic Buddha-nature in all beings, without hierarchy of worth.
We deeply know and exercise agency, consent, and responsibility in ourselves, our bodies, and our relationships.
The Dharma is practiced with reverence, grounded in lineage, and can be accessed by all.
Social movements to heal systemic harm are rooted in fierce compassion. Movements have the depth to embody paradox, while transforming power structures and moving us toward continual awakening.
Everyone, including and especially those living at the intersections of historic oppressions, is physically, emotionally, and spiritually free to live liberated lives.
