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Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast.

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Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life.

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Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye.

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My intention is to offer food-for-thought, and today, I want to talk about privilege.

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What it is, what it's not, who has it, and what we can do with it.

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Privilege is an unearned advantage or immunity available only to

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a particular person or group.

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When someone tells you to "Check your privilege," they are suggesting you

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recognize your advantageous position due to a particular social category

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to which you belong through no fault or doing of your own.

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Even being good-looking according to cultural standards is a privilege

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with its own perks and benefits. So this discussion is truly about 

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privilege without any political agenda between the lines.

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For example, I am privileged in that I am temporarily able-bodied,

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and unless I use my currently able body to ensure every public space is made accessible

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to those who are not, then I'm part of the problem, not the solution.

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I don't need to wait until I'm personally in need of accommodations to demand them.

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There are people who need them right now.

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Resources are systematically available to people who are physically, psychologically,

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cognitively, and intellectually-able, but it comes at the expense of,

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and often without consideration for, people with a disability, be it physical,

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psychological, or a learning difficulty.

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I didn't earn my privilege, and I can't get rid of it, but I think it's important

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for me to acknowledge it and then use it to help those who aren't equally represented.

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Privilege is not a bad word; it only carries a negative connotation if 

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someone thinks that something isn't even a problem if it doesn't personally affect them.

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This can present itself as male privilege in a world where men aren't concerned or actively

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involved in making sure women have free access to menstrual products, for example,

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or industries where men earn more money than women to perform the same job.

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It can also be in the ever-controversial white privilege, where caucasians don't serve as

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long a prison sentence after being convicted of the same crime as someone of color,

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not to mention historically benefiting from wider and more positive representation

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in the media, advantageous racial profiling, and so on.

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Again, privilege is not about assigning blame to someone today for something that has

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existed for years, it's simply about recognizing an advantage someone has and

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can therefore use to even out the playing-field for everyone.

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Privilege, in-and-of-itself, isn't inherently the problem. Some male actors are now

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refusing to accept roles in movies where their female co-stars are paid less than they are.

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It's a step in the right direction, and it requires men be allies for women,

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just as allies are necessary in every revolution and evolution.

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People get very defensive when their privilege is pointed out to them,

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but there's no need to be.

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I am privileged because I'm also white and I identify as male.

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Those are two unearned advantages I didn't even ask for, and yet benefit from.

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The mature and adult question we can each contemplate is: what benefits am I enjoying

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that I didn't earn, and can I use my privilege to help others have access to the

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same treatment? If we look at someone else's struggle and say,

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"Well, that's not MY problem!"

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then we take part of the destructive force of privilege. Rather than being the voice for

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those who aren't heard, we increase the distance between us.

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I may be male and caucasian, but when I first moved to the U.S. as a teenager,

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I was most surprised by Christian privilege, where school holidays and paid time off work

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was, and still is, scheduled around Christian holidays. But being born Jewish,

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I had to either ask for special treatment or go to school or work because

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the Jewish calendar isn't recognized here.

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Heck, California recognizes Indigenous Peoples' Day,

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while many other States in the U.S. still celebrate Columbus Day.

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And nowhere but in the State of Hawaii, does anyone know about,

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let alone observe any of their State holidays like King Kamehameha Day, and so on.

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So, lacking the Christian privilege was perhaps my first face-to-face confrontation

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with an uphill clmb that I've inherited through no fault of my own,

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while the majority enjoyed smooth sailing and time off with their families.

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When I was younger, I thought privilege was simply a matter of majority rules,

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but there are more women than men, yet, as the saying goes, "It's a man's world."

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So let's talk about what privilege is not:

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someone tried to publicly shame me online for being so privileged because I don't have

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to support any kids or a family, but that's not a privilege, that's a choice.

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Luckily, someone else who is a parent to four children, immediately commented that

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parents are actually the privileged ones because they get to raise children and

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have a family, while I do not, and many people literally cannot.

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Privilege isn't something for others to use against us, it's something with which we must

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all come to terms and then use as a tool to create the very balance we seek.

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From a Buddhist perspective, having been born at all is a privilege,

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let alone during the time and in the place we were born, in human form,

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no less, when we could have been born as any other animal.

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There are over 800 different schools of Buddhism, and some do believe this life was

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earned through karma in a previous life, but regardless, life itself is a gift for which

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the only appropriate response is: Thank You.

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And as a practice of gratitude, we can express our appreciation by committing our

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lives to help reduce the suffering of others.

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Let's use our personal advantages to help others advance.

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If we have more than enough, let's make room for everyone at the table.

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There's plenty to go around without anyone having to suffer at the expense of another.

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So contemplate what benefits you enjoy, whether you've earned yours or not,

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and use that privilege to help others.

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Some have worked really hard to overcome the many obstacles on their path toward

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privilege, which is where I often find the most hope: in those who help others up

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because they know what it's like to be down.

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Waking up from our illusion of separateness is what Buddhism is all about.

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And it's a practice we can all master, which is why I'm grateful to have been exposed to

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the teachings of mindfulness and awareness. And I'm grateful for every person who listens

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to this podcast, reads the book, watches and shares the YouTube videos and

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monthly emails, comments, likes, and spreads the message to others, who may have

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otherwise never come across the message that has enriched our own lives so much.

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Keeping it to ourselves would be a disservice to others.

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So, thank you for listening with an open mind and heart despite any apprehension you 

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may have initially had about the topic.

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I appreciate you.

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Timber Hawkeye is the bestselling author of Faithfully Religionless

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and Buddhist Boot Camp.

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For additional information, please visit BuddhistBootCamp.com,

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where you can order autographed books to support the Prison Library Project,

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watch Timber's inspiring TED-Talk, and join our monthly mailing list.

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We hope you have enjoyed this episode,

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and invite you to subscribe for more thought-provoking discussions.

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Thank you for being a Soldier of Peace, in the Army of Love. 🙏