The World We Live

The World We Live

Last week after the shooting in Atlanta, quite a few people reached out to me to check in how I was. Because I was not catching the news for a couple of days, by the time I learned what happened I was already getting all kinds of emails surrounding the topic — be it information about online and/or in-person gatherings among the Asians or to protest, many written and oral perspectives by academics, Dharma teachers, and more.

My first reaction, other than the profound sadness about the reality of this world we live in today, was a renewed awareness about how much I’ve been insulated from any kind of discrimination, hatred let alone violence despite my being Asian. While I consider myself relatively informed of the issues we’ve all faced, especially in the last year, surrounding the races, I have hardly experienced “harms” personally. If anything, I’ve received comments based on ignorant stereotypical ideas about “Asian women,” which I mostly ignored except for a few times I let the speakers know I found their statements offensive.

I live a relatively comfortable and privileged life as a first generation Japanese American woman married to a white man living in Southern California. I do not have family members who were stripped of their livelihood and incarcerated during the war. Yet I carry the legacy of Japan, which initiated the war with Pearl Harbor Attack and consequently devastated by America’s victory as well as its own aggression (though in Japanese history text book, it was called, “advancement” ) in East Asian countries previously. That’s only just within the last century. The history has many more dark memories that still needs reconciliations and healings.

For the last week I’ve been pondering what it is that I’m called to do in this juncture as a woman of Asian ancestry and as a Dharma teacher. There’s no easy answer as it requires much introspection. So far, I’ve been reaching out to fellow Asian women friends and colleagues just to connect, and have decided to donate a part of my proceeds from my upcoming photography exhibit at the Americana in Glendale to East West Players who have been instrumental in furthering the voice of Asian Americans and justice.

What helps me the most, though, is the practice even though it has been increasingly challenging to dedicate the amount of time I would like to do so. Having my morning Sangha on YouTube with Gil Fronsdal alone has given me much solace and foundation to live each day as awake as I can.