A day of preparations...

The Women's Day event is over; Saturday we have the Buddhist Peace Fellowship all-day workshop on "Going Beyond the Dichotomy Violence/Non-Violence." We needed to meet and discuss this because questions have arisen in the group about what IS non-violence in a context in which police and the military, indeed our own federal administration, have a license to violate anyone they please. If violence is the State and the society in which we live, what does non-violence look like? There are times when standing with the people we love and care about means defending them from State violence. How do we do that skillfully? How do we build connection and trust when we honestly distrust so many of our fellow citizens, and with whom do we build that connection and trust? We will not come to any answers, but we have agreed to listen deeply to each other.