Reproduced with permission of the author.
Mary Anne Lewis of the Dharma Access Project asks able-bodied Buddhists to remember the sightless and disabled.
“May all beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment and anger, which holds some close and others distant,” it says in the Four Immeasurables. So I ask you, what’s up with Buddhists and the disabled?
Not long ago, I rounded the corner to the dharma center in my wheelchair, my excitement growing as I anticipated the next Lam Rim class. When I got up to the door, I was greeted by a sign that read: CLASS CANCELED. I rang the bell and the volunteer cheerily answered and explained that there was a last-minute change. “Oh well, that’s samsara,” she said. I asked if I could use the phone to call someone with a ramp on their van who could drive me back home. She said she wasn't sure she could do that since the center didn't have insurance, and what if something were to happen to me while I was in there? So I asked if I could just have a look at the books in their lending library. She wasn't sure that was a good idea, since she'd just vacuumed and didn't want my wheelchair to leave marks in the new carpeting.
“May all beings have happiness and the causes for happiness.” Now, about causes for happiness: where are able-bodied Buddhists with that?
My friend Shirley has been blind since her early thirties, when an explosion in a lab where she was working changed her karma in an instant. Her interest in Buddhism intensified and she began looking for Buddhist works in Braille. Guess what: there weren't any. Islam is in Braille in every language, so is Christianity, but not Buddhism. When she inquired at a local Buddhist center about materials in Braille, the monk told her, “We don’t get people like that here.”
A friend referred her to the The Dharma Access Project, a free service that encourages dharma centers, family members, and friends of the blind to provide Brailled versions of at least the Four Immeasurables, the Prayer of Shantideva, and the Heart Sutra. (DAP) mails them free to anyone who requests them. But DAP has yet to receive any donations, even though their bound prayer books have been sent to places as remote as Mongolia. They even have the Tibetan alphabet in Braille, but who’s to notice, huh? Books on tape are great, but when studying the dharma, there’s nothing like a book. When my friend Shirley did get to a Buddhist study group, she was asked to leave because some members of the group might be allergic to her guide dog, Cricket. And, what if Cricket bit someone? They didn’t have insurance for that-even though Shirley has insurance and Cricket has yet to bite anything but her food. Shirley doesn’t bite either.
“May all beings be free from suffering and the causes for suffering." Let’s think about that, shall we? “May all beings never be separated from the happiness that knows no suffering." Just what is that?
Can the able-bodied Buddhist community-to whom I am greatly indebted-please remember to remember the sightless and disabled sangha? Wouldn’t it be great if there were Brailled materials at every event where His Holiness the Dalai Lama was speaking? It’s terrific that there are American Sign interpreters at these events-so now, think about creating the imprints for perfect health, perfect vision, and a clear mind to attend to the dharma by providing access to these treasures beyond words. Just because you may not have ever seen a blind or disabled person in dharma class does not mean the interest is not there.
Just like in the movie Field of Dreams: build it, they will come, and we will all be better for it.
First published in BuddhaDharma magazine, summer 2005.
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