“As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery.
We have learned that the key to happiness is inner peace.
The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions
such as anger and attachment, fear and suspicion––
while love and compassion, a sense of universal responsibility,
are the sources of peace and happiness.”
- His Holiness The Dalai Lama
What is the beloved community?
The vision of a beloved community is perhaps as old as the roots of Buddhism. Sangat, one of Buddhism’s “three treasures”, can be defined as a group of people who are united by the principles and practices of a universal love ethic for the benefit of all. The term “beloved community” was introduced in the West by philosopher-theologian Josiah Royce (1855-1916) who founded the Fellowship of Reconciliation. The term was subsequently popularized during the Civil Rights Movement through the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who painted a vision of a future where peace and prosperity prevails.
Below are five primary characteristics of the beloved community:
The beloved community is a practical, feasible, and attainable vision, which is driven by our shared aspirations for peace, happiness, and safety.
Within the beloved community, conflicts may still arise, but they are resolved through peaceful means and non-violence, rather than hostility, aggression, or resentment.
In the beloved community, we deeply value and acknowledge the inherent worth and significance of every individual, animal, and ecosystem.
The beloved community is founded on the principles of kindness, compassion, and love for all living beings. Together, we collaborate harmoniously to eradicate hunger, prejudice, poverty, homelessness, environmental degradation, as well as all forms of violence and injustice.
In the beloved community, the means we use to create change are equally as nonviolent and just as the ends we seek. Our dedication to unconditional kindness and goodwill is the fuel that powers Dr. King’s so-called "engine of reconciliation."
Why is the beloved community relevant to LGBTQ+ leaders?
As we consider what the fundamental purpose of social justice work is in the first place, we can turn to Dr. King’s words from his Sermon on Gandhi:
“The aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community, so that when the battle is over, a new relationship comes into being between the oppressed and the oppressor…. The way of acquiescence leads to moral and spiritual suicide. The way of violence leads to bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers. But, the way of non-violence leads to redemption and the creation of the beloved community.”
As The Pride Network helps shape the future of LGBTQ+ leadership, we recognize, as Dr. King did, that the creation of the beloved community is the dearly desired outcome. The beloved community is what will make our sacrifices, and the sacrifices of past generations, all worth it. Aligning modern social justice movements with a vision of the beloved community strengthens us to cultivate love for all beings, whether we like them or not. It prevents us from becoming oppressors ourselves, and from falling into “us vs. them” or ends-justify-the-means mentalities, which ultimately thwart our efforts and undermine genuine, lasting progress.
How do we create beloved community?
According to the King Center, Dr. King asserted that the beloved community will naturally arise when "a critical mass of people are committed to and trained in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence." While a “critical mass” is not a specific number, like 1,000,000 or 7, the way to get there is clear: training.
At The Pride Network, we are committed to training others in the philosophy and methods of Heart-Centered Leadership.
Heart-Centered Leadership is a wisdom-based and science-informed methodology for high-impact leadership and self-discovery. We offer practical tools and techniques for improving our leadership skills and discovering our unique gifts and strengths; we offer this as a growing community of like-hearted leaders working to transform themselves and society. For more information, check out our programs.
We are also committed to financially and professionally investing in our own beloved community.
The Pride Network offers a $2,000 social impact grant to select participants, as well as special sessions to help our community develop core competencies in skills like budgeting, team building, time management, and personal finance. Inner growth combined with outer excellence is what Heart-Centered Leadership is all about.
Our Heart-Centered Leadership programs help empower changemakers in our community through training, funding, and a supportive community of peers–– all of which are necessary to pursue both inner work and servant leadership. The greater the number of emerging leaders who train in the art of Heart-Centered Leadership, the closer we’ll get to achieving Dr. King’s vision of reaching a “critical mass”.
What can I do to help create the beloved community?
1) Commit to inner work
We can each commit to inner work, which is required of every member of the beloved community. Inner work trains us to let go of the suppressed negative feelings and thoughts that pollute our minds and hearts. As the density of our suppressed negativity is dissolved, our infinite and unconditionally loving inner nature (Self) begins to shine through like the Sun once the clouds that had obscured it are evaporated.
Through letting go and inner healing, we increase our capacity to unconditionally love, forgive, and offer compassion and kindness to ourselves. We can train our minds and hearts in the art of patience, and discover the enormous relief of radical self-acceptance, including the parts of self we tend to judge or condemn. By having strong nervous systems, we learn to tolerate the discomfort of holding the tension between to seemingly opposite points of view, especially in a difficult conversation. Through training these skills, we become more able to love, lead, and contribute in our communities.
Inner work takes great courage, commitment, and time, but it is the way that leads us out of suffering, and paves the road to a more loving, prosperous world. As we start to reap the fruits of inner work–– love, strength, compassion, and joy–– we will know our commitment is creating results, even if our outer situation hasn’t changed very much.
2) Learn more about Heart-Centered Leadership
Explore our website, social media, and seek out opportunities to get involved with our programs. We’ve just redone our website and are dedicated to filling it up with new resources, practices, methods, recommended books/podcasts, and transformational knowledge. The knowledge itself is vital, but applying it in your daily life is what inner work is all about, and it’s how you’ll experience meaningful growth!
3) Share the fruits of your growth with others
For those of us who are leaders and changemakers, inner work prepares us to leverage skillful and powerful nonviolent campaigns to create lasting social change. Driven more by compassion and life-giving creative energy than by rage, resentment, and bitterness, we get to spend more time building something new, rather than fighting something old, over which we have little control. Animosity dulls our thinking and shuts down our hearts, causing us to act in unskilled ways that will often create additional problems.
To be someone who contributes through leadership, start by thinking creatively about the needs of your community, identifying your sphere of influence, finding a mentor, and building a team–– Everyone wants to work with a Heart-Centered Leader! From there, you’ll likely find that you have more support than you’d initially thought, and can pursue social change from a heart-centered place.
Finding an expression of service that aligns with our gifts and strengths can be joyful and inspiring. We wish you all the best and look forward to supporting you on your journey of Heart-Centered Leadership and beloved community.