Politically and socially, it enables us to see clearly the entire web of causes and conditions that create suffering, and to take effective action to improve people’s lives. Spiritually, bearing witness invokes a sense of interconnectedness, of oneness, a direct realization of the wholeness of life. It also provides a kind of catharsis, a release from our emotional reactions of pity, shame, or fear. Psychologically, it enables us to connect with a place of real empathy. This brings us to the question, “What is the benefit of bearing witness practice?” Bearing witness in the world, we are cultivating the same ground of open heart and mind that we practice in our meditation. To bear witness, we need to set aside the focus on our own reactions and enter a place of stillness and receptivity. This allows the witnessing presence to become one with whatever situation we encounter. But when we shift to the practice of bearing witness, we suspend our analytical thinking and move to a place of open awareness. We are only able to see it through the lens of our conditioned thinking. When we analyze and judge a situation, we normally come to it with all of our ideas and habitual beliefs. Bearing witness invokes a sense of interconnectedness, a direct realization of the wholeness of life. We become intimate with whatever it is-hunger, poverty, discrimination, disease, or death. Rather than simply observing the situation, we become the situation. From a Buddhist perspective, and specifically the Zen Peacemakers Order, to bear witness is to embrace both the joy and the suffering we encounter. In times of doubt, disbelief, and insecurity, the practice of bearing witness can be an important aspect of our awareness and presence.īearing witness can be defined as acknowledging that something exists or is true. Zen teacher Jules Shuzen Harris teaches us a three-step practice to connect with and serve those who are suffering. Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window).
Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window).Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window).Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window).Review Bear Tips for suggestive mental exercises that can be used to keep calm during a tense interaction with law enforcementĩ. View description notes of the incident to gather detailed information about the situation in progress from other BEARs checked-in at the sceneĨ. Check-in at the incident location and see how many other fellow BEARs are checked in at the sceneħ. Location-based notifications help you locate and navigate to the scenes where alerts were sent fromĦ. Receive real-time witness alert notifications from fellow BEARs nearby no matter where you areĥ. Upload and store videos of incidents to secure cloud in the appĤ. Send out immediate real-time witness request alerts to fellow BEARs near by no matter where you areĢ. United we can help lower the chances of our fellow BEARs becoming harmed or being treated unfairly by creating an organized presence that stands for safety and peace in our communities.ġ. We want to combine our energy because we believe there is power in numbers. Our mission is simple, we want to help create a positive impact and change in every community by supporting one another and offering peace of mind to any one of our fellow BEARs who may feel alone and unsafe in potentially dangerous law enforcement interactions. The american right to bear witness to law enforcement interactions with the public, especially in situations that appear to be escalating in a fatal direction will create the culture of accountability we need for all parties involved to help lower the risk of harm being caused to anyone involved in the situation and keep our fellow BEARs safe. B.E.A.R stands for Bystanders Exercising American Rights. We want to bring the community together so that when anyone in the BEAR community feels they are in danger with law enforcement they’ll have immediate witness support from all of the BEARS in their area. We often hear of incidents where people have encountered law enforcement and the situation escalates, becoming unsafe. Bear Witness is an app designed to help support all of our fellow BEARs involved in incidents with law enforcement by creating a culture of accountability in every community through immediate witness response to alerts sent out by neighbors in your area who feel unsafe in potentially dangerous law enforcement interactions.
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