Meditation for Antifascists

We drove back on Saturday in time to deliver candles and a meditation for the OccupyICE vigil held on the last Saturday of every month. The local white supremacist group that calls itself "Patriot Prayer" had promised via Facebook to confront the vigil (with, they claimed, 600 of their armed "patriots"). Perhaps their threats frightened some people, but the facilitator of the vigil was Aimee Sitarz, the undaunted creator of the "Bronze Shoes Installation." A group of about 20 people were on hand to light candles, breathe together, and hear Francisco Aguirre speak. Best of all, in addition to those who came for the vigil, there were 15 or so anarchist antifascists, a group popularly called "Antifa," on hand to defend us. They bravely put their own black-clad, masked, fit bodies between the street and the vigil, and thanks to their presence, we felt supported and protected. (If you look closely at the photo, you will see a circle of people under the trolley stop awning, and a line of other people on the sidewalk beyond the vigil, facing the street.) The white supremacists failed to show up. Here is the meditation I wrote and led in person, for antifascists:

A meditation for antifascists
by Kendall

I begin with the Buddha’s Five Remembrances, as translated by Thich Nhat Hanh: 

I am of the nature to grow old.
There is no way to escape growing old.
I am of the nature to have ill health.
There is no way to escape ill health.
I am of the nature to die.
There is no way to escape death.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love
are the nature to change.
There is no way to escape
being separated from them.
My actions are my only true belongings.
I cannot escape the consequences of my actions.
My actions are the ground on which I stand.

Holding all I love, I see that there are people on the earth who are poisoned by greed, hatred, and delusion. These poisons incline some willingly and intentionally to cause harm to the planet, harm to beings with less power than themselves, harm and suffering to the Buddha-nature of all things. I sit in the fire of suffering created by greed, hatred, and delusion, and I vow to do all I can to block harm by putting my body, mind, and spirit between those who are harming and those who are being harmed. I vow, with great love, to prevent harm in every way I can, and to relieve suffering by ending the causes of suffering, in myself and in other beings.