11.11 Fundraiser for the Peace Pagoda

11.11: Giving thanks for this incarnation, I wish to help sustain spaces that foster non-duality and welcome the awakening of each and every being. Places of refuge and community for all people.

I invite you to join me in supporting a place that is central to our family—the temple where Justice’s naming ceremony took place as an infant as well as his memorial at age 12.

Did you know that most Buddhist monks and nuns don’t fundraise for their needs?

Because they take a vow to accept only what is freely offered, traditional Buddhist monasteries don’t tend to pass a basket or ask for donations the way a church or synagogue does. And the monks and nuns generally can’t work for pay.

So they meditate and chant and drum and turn their prayerful attention to peace work and they have faith that the support they need will be provided. Sometimes that means a pretty austere life and sometimes there is relative abundance.

In the case of the Leverett Peace Pagoda and their order, the focus is on social justice as an integral part of their spiritual path. They take their practice off the cushion and out into the streets, frequently drumming and chanting and meeting with legislators in our nation’s capital.

For over 35 years they have been actively championing Native American rights and building community to address racism, poverty, prison reform, environmental protection, and the abolition of nuclear weapons.

They have walked thousands of miles for peace and justice, including walking from New England to California and from the West Coast to the East—multiple times!

They walk to DC each spring and have walked through Africa, the Caribbean, and throughout Asia, meeting with Spiritual leaders and everyday people from all walks of life.

They are walking their talk. In fact, they walk much more than they talk.

So, for my birthday I'm raising funds for vital supplies to help sustain the Leverett Peace Pagoda (Nipponzan Myohoji-New England Sangha) through the winter.

I hope you’ll join me. Every gift is a prayer and a message of encouragement for their beautiful offerings to the world. Whether you give a dollar or a thousand your generosity multiplies and this energy benefits us all.

Namumyohorengekyo!

❤️