For a gay variety of reasons so tangential as to be possibly karmic, I've spent the weekend with Lama Rod Owens' just-published book Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation through Anger. Owens belongs to a younger generation of American Buddhist teachers which is reimagining what Buddhism, and religion, can be. He's one of very few queer black teachers (not to mention in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism), and shows how powerfully traditions are enriched when all registers of human experience are called to speak, and most profoundly by those who speak from experiences of marginalization and oppression. Love and Rage is a book of essays, dharma talks (he calls them sermons) and practices which I can't summarize. But let me share the lovely way he begins each of the practice sessions he outlines, with a sort of gathering of gratitude to benefactors he calls the Seven Homecomings. It's based on the traditional Buddhist taking refuge in the "three jewels" of Buddha, dharma and sangha, broadening them beyond narrowly Buddhist references as guides, wisdom texts and community, then adds four more: ancestors, earth, silence and yourself. Each is described capaciously, helping us identify the many sources of care and protection we each have; he doesn't tell us what true wisdom or genuine community is but invites us to reflect on what and who so functions in our lives. In the practice you take time over each one. Together they form a "circle of care," and hold you as you take on challenging work like working for justice, accepting people (including yourself) and - vital for both - loving your anger. There's much more, all of it challenging.
I'm grateful this book found its way into my hands.
