On Oct. 10, TechnoBuddha and BCA’s Center for Buddhist Education co-
hosted “Good Trouble,” a virtual seminar featuring Richard Stambul, the
immediate past BCA President.
As many of you know, TechnoBuddha is a conference at the Jodo Shinshu
Center for those people between ages 21-39 to provide an opportunity for
young professionals to network and find a sense of community through
workshops and activities incorporating Jodo Shinshu Buddhist teachings in
everyday life.
March 2020 would have been our 13 th Annual TechnoBuddha Conference,
however, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to host the
conference as planned. Fortunately, Stambul was open to the idea of
collaborating on a virtual seminar, and we deeply appreciated his
willingness to keep up the discussion on the topic of Jodo Shinshu
Buddhism and social issues.
With more than 145 attendees of all ages, the virtual seminar was a great
success as Stambul expertly weaved in his personal experience as a volunteer
and “soldier” in the Civil Rights Movement with powerful video
clips revealing America’s true past.
As an audience member, I was deeply engaged and felt moved and
privileged to hear directly from someone that participated in events that I’ve
only read about in history books, such as the March on Washington and
Freedom Summer.
Stambul concluded his presentation with a connection to the current
uprisings and demonstrations for social justice, as well as what he believed
is the “great evil.”
The lecture portion was followed by a question-and-answer session that
delved into allyship, moving forward, meeting Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King,
and how Jodo Shinshu Buddhism connects with civic engagement.
The whole seminar was incredibly relevant and helps put current events
into context. The presentation was recorded and can be found on the BCA
Center for Buddhist Education YouTube channel.
Thank you very much to Judy Kono, Koichi Mizushima, Carl Yanari, Bishop
Rev. Marvin Harada, TechnoBuddha co-chair Sydney Shiroyama, and our
wonderful speaker, Rick Stambul, for making this event possible. We hope
that these conversations will continue on how Jodo Shinshu Buddhism
informs our ideals on social justice and equity moving forward.
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