Sacred Justice Coalition

an emergent decolonial Buddhadharma for our time

We are a movement for cultivating a new dharma culture to meet these times of genocide, collapse and moral crises.

Sacred Justice Coalition is a collaboration of individuals of different identities, perspectives, and experiences - woven into a rich tapestry. Palestinian, BIPOC, SWANA, Jewish, white-identified, and mixed heritage voices are centred flexibly through their particular relationships to Palestine.

Sacred Justice Coalition is a response to the mounting crimes of genocide, apartheid, and occupation in Palestine. We are disturbed by the silence or claims to neutrality from some Dharma institutions in the face of this violence. We come together from diverse Buddhist traditions. Our Buddhist traditions and Sanghas include: Insight Meditation, Soto Zen, Sacred Mountain Sangha, Soulmaking Dharma, and Plum Village.

Our vows

We root in deep love, in contemplative practice, and in devotion to the Dharma as we commit to sacred response and right action. We see no separation between spiritual liberation and political liberation, between practice in the temple and protest in the streets.

As Buddhists, non-harming is our core ethical orientation, and we are committed to non-violence internally and externally. Our Bodhisattva Vows sustain our practice of sumud, or steadfastness, as we bear witness to suffering and dedicate ourselves to the liberation of all beings.

Art copyright Reem Madooh Chronicle Books 2023

Our context

Sacred Justice Coalition is part of a much larger web. We are participating in a fluid, flexible movement that is collectively developing the courage, relational capacity, critical intelligence and moral clarity that are urgently needed if we are to offer meaningful and deep rooted solidarity at a critical time in the history of Palestine.

While members of our collective are connected to various Dharma centers - as board, staff, teachers, practitioners or students - Sacred Justice Coalition is unaffiliated with any Dharma center or institution. We seek to engage, open dialogue with, and support Dharma institutions to courageously turn to meet the uncomfortable truths of this time, in order to offer true refuge for all who seek it, and to embody the liberatory potential of the Dharma.

Our lens

We ongoingly cultivate our understanding of the colonial roots of genocide, apartheid, and occupation in Palestine through a Dharma lens. Additionally, we affirm that understanding the causes and conditions of suffering is a foundational element of solidarity with Palestine. As South Africa has demonstrated to the world, when solidarity is rooted in deep understanding of another’s suffering as one’s own, right action emerges. While some may have deep familiarity with Palestine and its struggle for liberation, no prior knowledge of Palestine and its history is needed to have compassion and moral clarity.

image credit: Ash Hayes

Our work

Our work has included publishing zines, organizing and offering Ceasefire Sits in some of our sanghas, writing to Dharma Centres urging a response to the genocide, supporting sanghas to open dialogues with their teachers, taking part in rallies and protests, helping to organize an online forum for Buddhist voices to speak out on Palestine, holding listening circles and blessing circles for Palestine, and co-creating SWANA and Jewish affinity space, for deepening solidarity and supporting wise action.

Gaza: Calling for a Dharma Response

Our zine is offered in collaboration with an International Coalition of Dharma Teachers, Leaders, and Sangha Members.

This work arose from the lack of response and leadership from mainstream Dharma spaces to the unfolding genocide in Palestine.

It features the voices of many Dharma leaders and practitioners, including Sangha members from Arab and Jewish backgrounds and a piece by Ven Bhikkhu Bohdi that was rejected by mainstream Buddhist publications. We are especially proud to center many brave and usually unheard voices from from Arab/ SWANA Dharma practitioners. (Southwest Asian & North African)

Please take your time to read and absorb this offering as a meditation and contemplation on this moment.

graffiti in Northampton, MA, USA