Rev. Danny Fisher

Just a Buddhist Minister Trying to Benefit Beings
April 24, 2010

Amnesty International Reacts to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s Signing into Law SB1070

"Demonstrators hold hands while protesting a new immigration law outside the Arizona State Capitol building on April 23, 2010, in Phoenix." Photo by Getty Images.

This from Human Rights Now – The Amnesty International USA Web Log:

Amnesty International is extremely disappointed that Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law SB1070, a bill that will significantly increase the likelihood of racial profiling, arbitrary arrests, and detentions in the state. By forcing Arizona police, the vast majority of whom opposed this law, to implement it or face lawsuits is bad policy and will drastically undermine communication between communities of color and the police who are supposed to keep them safe.

As the governor said when signing the bill, national immigration legislation is desperately needed, but the absence of it does not abdicate the governor’s own responsibility to preserve, promote, and protect the human rights of every individual in Arizona, whether citizen, resident, or visitor. Human rights exist regardless of nationality, ethnicity or immigration status. In passing SB1070, Arizona public officials have ignored this truth to the detriment of every individual who passes through the state.

Agreed.

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April 24, 2010

A Gift of Dharma for 4.24.10

Today’s quote is from the Third Jamgön Kongtrul, Karma Lodrö Chökyi Senge (1954-1992), who “became one of the foremost holders of the Kagyu Lineage, and wore the mantle of regency with humility and great dignity” following the death of His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa in 1981.  He was involved in the search for the 17th Karmapa when he was tragically killed in car accident in 1992.  This is the quote:

The Tibetan word for Buddhism, nangpa, has the meaning of internalizing, indicating that we need to turn inward and work within ourselves. By doing so and gaining a clearer sense of who we really are, we develop a sense of our existence as it relates to all that surrounds us. If we look outside and try to figure out what is out there based on confused mental projections, we will never recognize who we are. What is fundamentally true is that the experience of pain or pleasure is not so much what is happening externally as it is what is happening internally: the experience of pain or pleasure is mainly a state of mind. Whether we experience the world as enlightened or confused depends on our state of mind.