Buddhist-Based Resources for Relief and Social Change
About Us
Clear View Project has three main areas of work in the coming year.
• Since September 2007's democracy demonstrations, we have been supporting the Burmese people politically and materially. In December of 07, Alan led a small delegation to Burma and the Thai-Burma border to bear witness and begin to assess needs there. Clear View's Burma activity has two aspects.
• Clear View has taken responsibility for BPF's Burma Project. We have built strong connections with western Buddhist centers, Burmese communities in exile here in the U.S., and Burma activist organizations. We aim to keep the banner of Burmese liberation clearly in the sight of western Buddhists. there. And we have been partnering with Sasana Moli — the International Burmese Monks' Organization — to support the Burmese sangha at this perilous time.
• We are working with other established non-profits like the Foundation for the People of Burma to fund material aid for those caught up in the suppression and in the devastation following Cyclone Nargis. We are supporting a number of monasitc and secular schools for children in need within Burma and on the Thai-Burma border. We will also be working with FPB in 2009, helping to train their Rangoon-based staff.
• Clear View has been in dialogue with “new Buddhists” from India's ex-untouchable communities — millions of Buddhists living in terrible poverty and discrimination despite legal protections of the Indian constitution. Our work with the Dalits is in affiliation with TBMSG, the Trailokya Bauddha Mahasangha Sahayaka Gana, a “non-sectarian Buddhist movement which seeks to promote the practice of Buddhism in a form appropriate to the modern world.” We’ve been developing materials on nonviolent social action, and designing multi-day meditation retreats based on Zen Buddhist forms, adapted for the Indian cultural environment. We are planning a witness and teaching trip to central India in August of 2009.
• Clear View is developing and planning to launch the first engaged Buddhist blog. Well-known engaged Buddhist writers, activists and practitioners will offer concise columns and essays on a regular basis, and the format will allow for extensive dialogue with others and with our wide community.
