Seeking True Narratives

About Us:

Kian Xie comes from a mixed-race family who immigrated to the USA when Kian was a baby. Being a product of both the Jewish and Vietnamese diasporas, Kian has a complex relationship with his cultural and spiritual lineage. This leads him to learn and encourage others to get curious about their own and others’ lived experiences, and more deeply understand the root causes of war and systemic violence so we might move towards a more equitable future in our lifetimes. Professionally, Kian works as a healthcare data analyst, a business coach for healing arts practitioners, and an educator in math and computer science. He has a M.A. in Mathematical Studies from Rhode Island College and currently lives in Wampanoag/Pokanoket territory (Massachusetts) with his wife Jenny and two cats.

Jenny Xie is a cis, white, European American of Italian, French Canadian, Scottish and Portuguese descent. She grew up in Rhode Island and now lives on stolen Wampanoag/Pokanoket land which has been colonized as North Attleboro, Massachusetts. Jenny has been attending OI sanghas since 2017 and became an ordained, lay order member in 2023 along with her Light family. She sometimes sits with the RI Community of Mindfulness and Path of Peace sangha in Franklin, MA. She has been part of radical genealogy and antiracism groups, and has studied and been on many retreats with Larry and Peggy at the Lotus Institute. In her work, she runs a group healing program for white, European Americans seeking to connect more deeply with their bodies, minds, energy, and ancestry called Explore the Stories of Your Body. She holds a BA in Political Science from RI College and a certificate in Therapeutic massage from the Community College of RI.

Questions about the subject matter or future event planning/collaboration?

Contact us at kianxie@gmail.com

After someone replied with a comment that said their own elders did not focus on condemning cultural appropriation, but instead chose to focus on stewardship of the land as a priority, this was my response:

If you go back and watch the replay of my Seeking True Narratives presentation where I talk about the South China Sea and Chinese Buddhism, that’s an example of how choosing to promote an imperialized version of a cultural practice directly impacts stewardship of the land (in this case, the sea and coral reefs).

Cultural sharing happens all the time.

But what happens when a friend shares knowledge with you from a place of trust, and you go on to use your power (backed up by violence and coercion) to distribute the knowledge to others without having been given permission to do so?

That is what the Chinese did to Hindus and Chams.

In the beginning it was a combination of syncreticism and passing down through generations, equitable and respectful sharing.

Then as China’s empire gained power, its leaders saw value in “opening the practices” that had been shared with them - so they could be sold and used for diplomacy and control of the religious narrative.

They destroyed records and manipulated history to make it seem like THEY were the originators and their “friends” to the southwest had nothing to do with it.

And now, we in the west consume this modified narrative and set of practices.

The Chinese are leveraging this to enable them to take ownership of land and sea territories that they are destroying and not stewarding.

If our spiritual practice connects us to our ancestral lands, it will move us to protect those lands.

But if our distribution of a practice to is predicated on lying and stealing, it will lead us to destroy the lands from which the practice came.

The Chinese enabled Ra Uru Hu by “opening” practices they were never given permission to declare open.

And now we perpetuate that betrayal when we employ these supposedly “open” practices in ignorance.

Further Discussion:

Is cultural appropriation an "insignificant concern" in the context of stewarding natural resources?