Inaugural Indigo Talk Explores Pain and Promise

The inaugural speaker was Francyne Huckaby, associate dean of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and professor of curriculum studies in the College of Education at Texas Christian University.

Her talk was titled “Two Bundles of Reeds: (In)evitable Pain, (Im)possible Promise,” inspired by the Buddhist parable of the two bundles of reeds. Dr. Huckaby quoted these poetic lines of Mr. Ikeda to convey the parable’s essence: “If one is removed, the other must fall. / Because this exists, so does that; / because that exists, so does this.”^[2]

As for the pairing of the title, Dr. Huckaby saw these as manifested not only in our pandemic experiences but also in the pain of George Floyd’s killing and the promise of the gains for racial justice and justice in general that are emerging through the efforts of Black Lives Matter and so many others.

She discussed other paired “bundles” during her talk, including “Calm Dialogue and Breath Like Fire.” This pairing was inspired by Mr. Ikeda’s belief that while calm and deliberative dialogue is essential, “there are times when, to break the grip of arrogance, speech must be like the breath of fire.”^[3]

Ultimately, the teaching of Mr. Ikeda that tied everything together for Dr. Huckaby was that we “live more fully by helping others to live.”