When I entered the path of Dharma, I came with a collective sense of suffering. I had been raised in a black church in which the members were gathered not only for religious purposes but to heal from the suffering of systemic oppression. They were there because they needed to be together in the suffering and pain of being black in a society that looked down upon them. I sat listening to the minister with my straightened hair pulled tight into ponytails. My hands sometimes gloved and folded upon my starched dress. I listened to the grown-ups crying and I knew it was about how much they struggled every day to bring a meal to the table.
So, when I entered the sanctuary of Buddha, my path of spirit had been shaped by the quest to thrive and heal despite the hatred that existed among us as human beings. In other words, spiritual awakening required attention to social injustices. Click the link below to read more.
http://www.buddhistpeacefellowship.org/ouch-systemic-suffering-and-the-second-noble-truth/