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Rev. angel Kyodo williams

"love and justice are not two. without inner change, there can be no outer change; without collective change, no change matters."

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      Not that a Black, mixed-raced woman Zen priest is ordinary to begin with, but Rev. angel Kyodo williams defies and transcends any title, descriptor or category you can imagine. Freed from ordinary ways of naming, she captures imaginations, expands visions, and gets straight to the heart of the work of liberation.

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      Once called “the most intriguing African-American Buddhist” by Library Journal, and “one of our wisest voices on social evolution” by Krista Tippett, Rev. angel Kyodo williams Sensei, is an author, maverick spiritual teacher, master trainer and founder of Transformative Change.

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“love and justice are not two. without inner change, there can be no outer change; without collective change, no change matters.”

MENUMENU
  • about
    • Meet Rev. angel

      Not that a Black, mixed-raced woman Zen priest is ordinary to begin with, but Rev. angel Kyodo williams defies and transcends any title, descriptor or category you can imagine. Freed from ordinary ways of naming, she captures imaginations, expands visions, and gets straight to the heart of the work of liberation.

      Go beyond the bio & meet Rev. angel

    • Rev. angel kyodo williams – BIO

      Once called “the most intriguing African-American Buddhist” by Library Journal, and “one of our wisest voices on social evolution” by Krista Tippett, Rev. angel Kyodo williams Sensei, is an author, maverick spiritual teacher, master trainer and founder of Transformative Change.

      Read more of Rev. angel’s bio

  • books
    • BOOKS By angel Kyodo williams

      RADICAL DHARMA: Talking Race, Love and Liberation – “the book for right now” is igniting conversations to radically transform how race is navigated in dharma, yoga, activist, faith communities and more. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that this book shifted the tide of what liberation means worldwide.  Transform race in your life now.
      BEING BLACK: Zen and the Art of Living With Fearlessness & Grace – The book that changed everything for so many reached its 20th year anniversary in 2020, Rev. angel’s first critically-acclaimed book was called “a classic” by Buddhist pioneer Jack Kornfield and “an act of love” by iconic writer Alice Walker. Find out why.
    • Radical Dharma book image

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      Are you a YES! for engaging Rev. angel? Forget trolling the internet. Stream the things no one else can. Get hand-curated content from both in the behind the scenes.

      Give love and get love.

      Enter the Lovestream Now >

      Mindfulness Training by Rev. Angel

      Ready to drop into the only mindfulness
      training program designed from the ground up to meet you exactly where you
      are? Rev. angel knows mindfulness for
      your life, work and practice are not
      about being on anyone else’s agenda, so
      she architected the most modern, diverse mindfulness program ever.

      Get MNDFL >

    • Go DEEPER

      Practicing Justice – You have to grow up to show up. Changemakers, activists, Liberated Life Network, leaders & entrepreneurs. Get head, heart & embodied practice in alignment.

      be.ing transformation – The most powerful and leveraged week you’ll ever spend in your life is here for 2020. Level up because it matters and you don’t have time for mediocre.

      27 Days of Change – The gateway program. With guidance, clear structure, and community, you can jumpstart the change you want to make happen in your life in just 27 days.

      Gain more Experience with Rev. angel…

  • events
    • Find the Right EVENT for You

      Public Talks & Speaking

      Dharma & Meditation Retreats

      Radical Dharma Circles, Conversations & Camp

      Podcast Releases

      All Events

      INVITE Rev. angel to your event

    • Featured Events

      being transformation 2023 – Rev. angel Kyodo Williams’s potent, powerful and proven be.ing transformation retreat takes place for the sixth year at Hui Ho’olana, the “Heart Chakra” of Molokai, HI. 2023 Dates to be announced soon. Join mailing list to be notified.

      ALL EVENTS…

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      Complete Media Library

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      Podcasts

      Articles

      Interviews

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      Essays

    • Media by theme

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      Eco/Planet

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immigration

real and not real: on border and divisions

15 May 2010 By angel Kyodo williams

i have to make a confession…

i’ve been holding up the publication of this month’s journal version of transform. for almost two weeks now. and it’s because i’ve had a block.

not an ordinary writers’ block—which, while annoying, unproductive and sometimes even painful, is generally unwanted—as that would be preferable to the block i’ve been having.

i’ve been having a heart-mind block.

i have found the thinking, choices, behavior and resulting consequences of our people so incomprehensible at a heart level, that my mind has refused to put words to a phenomena that seems beyond them.

when i say our people, i mean OUR people. all of them. the ones that every single human that ever lays eyes on this—from now until the end of time—have a relationship to:

– the people in the Tea Party
– the people never invited to the Party
– the people in Arizona (made up of lines)
– the people of Arizona (made up of lineage)
– the people (and wildlife) within the Gulf Coast
– the people (and profiteers) far away from the Gulf Coast
– the people in the White House
– the people thrown out of their house
– the people of God
– the people that own God
– the people in Israel (that won’t let up)
– the people in Gaza (that can’t get out)

with each upside-down turn of events, my heart has broken further and has threatened to take my mind with it because my mind wants to make sense of something that my heart knows full well it cannot.

and should not.

what i can do instead is try to sort out what is real and what is not. that’s an illusion of sorts too, i know, but this is what i came up with:

Nine Things Real and Not Real

  1. we, the People, are divided by fear, lack of vision and imagination is real.
  2. the so-called border that divides this land from the people we took it from by force is not real
  3. the horrific show of how deep this country’s racism runs, masking itself as it’s very own Party of hatred, is real.
  4. the idea that a President of any race, color, gender or creed can rise above and act beyond a corrupted system that put them there to begin with is not real.
  5. the toxic waste hemorrhaging onto the land from 5000 feel under the sea—laying waste to the life in its path—is real.
  6. the will to stop feeding off of “ancient hours of sunlight” and converting fossils into a fuel that drives death and destruction worldwide is not real.
  7. the cordoning off of nearly 1.5 million people like so much cattle that amounts to a New Millenium Apartheid is real.
  8. the resolve of America and the world to stop financing state-sanctioned war crimes and now international law breaches is not real.
  9. the deep divisions of our society, people and planet, based on the peculiar illusory constructs of race, class, privilege, supremacy and superiority is real. and for this, we will all pay.

genocide is real.
greed is real.
destruction is real.

“illegals” aren’t real.
Mexicans aren’t real.
Americans aren’t real.
Muslims aren’t real.
Jews aren’t real.
fairness is real.
justice is real.
love is real.

People are real.
—yours in truth, aKw

 

dedicated to all the people that show up for real.


—
copyright ©MMXI. angel Kyodo williams
changeangel: all things change. (sm)

angel Kyodo williams is a maverick teacher, author, social visionary and founder of Transformative Change.
she posts, tweets & blogs on all things change. permission granted to retweet, repost, repast & repeat with copyright and contact information intact.

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Blog: new Dharma: live, love & lead from the heart
Train: Train Your Mind with angel

Filed Under: blog, culture, essays, politics, relationship Tagged With: america, arizona, gaza, immigration, israel, racism, SB1070

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