Survivors' Roundtable: Centering Survivor Voices

Abstract

A key moment in the Heartwood/Northwestern Symposium was the "Survivors' Roundtable," in which five survivors of power abuse and/or sexual misconduct in Buddhism shared their testimony and analysis. Their discussion is structured around six questions, summarized as follows: How do you describe your own experiences? How have others responded to your experiences? How do power dynamics between teachers and students shape the experiences of harm in Buddhist communities? How have your Buddhist practices changed? What are the lasting impacts of the harm you experienced? Who is responsible for improving the safety of Buddhist communities?