Rima Vesely-Flad [00:00:37] Welcome to the podcast series Uplifting Black Nichiren Buddhist Voices. In our final episode today, we explore the connection between self-improvement and creating a just society. Nichiren Daishonin, the founder of Nichiren Buddhism, made it clear in his writings that Buddhism has meaning only when it can effect positive change in society. Our guest for this final episode is Michael Belton, a Minneapolis-based practitioner who spent 40 years in public service. His most recent position was Deputy Director for Ramsey County, Minnesota’s Juvenile Corrections Division. During his tenure, he instituted culturally responsive treatment and programming, building trusted relationships with impacted communities of color. He focuses on creating culturally rooted responses for youth of color, particularly African American males. Michael, thank you so much for joining us. I’m grateful that you could share your wisdom today.
Michael Belton [00:01:50] Thank you for having me.
Rima Vesely-Flad [00:01:52] It’s truly a pleasure and an honor to interview you and other members of Buddhists of African Descent. I’ve been learning so much. I’ve engaged with Nichiren Buddhism in a very in-depth way, and I’m curious—what is it about the Buddhist tradition, and Nichiren Buddhism in particular, that is so compelling for you?
Michael Belton [00:02:18] In college, one of my majors was religion. It was more of a survey approach, and ultimately it focused primarily on Christianity. I wasn’t satisfied with it. There were too many aspects of Christianity that I felt were broken or hidden, particularly the type practiced in the United States, which is centered around the enslavement of Africans. I started distancing myself from Christianity in my freshman year, and that continued throughout college. After graduation, I didn’t practice any religion. I attended church infrequently, only when my mother urged me to—but as I grew older, I became less susceptible to that pressure.
A friend introduced me to Nichiren Buddhism a little more than 40 years ago.
Rima Vesely-Flad [00:03:39] Wow—that’s remarkable longevity.
Michael Belton [00:03:42] Yes. My friend, who remains one of my closest friends, was very pragmatic and non-religious. When he told me he had started practicing Buddhism, I was intrigued. He suggested I attend a Buddhist meeting, and at that time, I was struggling in many areas: relationships, mood regulation, casual drug use. I decided I needed to make real changes, including regular exercise and a spiritual outlet. When I attended that first meeting, I felt right at home.
Rima Vesely-Flad [00:05:09] This was a Nichiren Buddhist meeting?
Michael Belton [00:05:11] Yes. Chanting was natural for me almost immediately. I learned the Gohonzon fairly quickly, and I watched my life start to change.
Rima Vesely-Flad [00:05:38] In what ways did your world change?
Michael Belton [00:05:53] Buddhism emphasizes the relationship between our internal state and external circumstances. One of the first changes was that I stopped using drugs entirely—and I’ve stayed clean ever since. My relationship with my partner stabilized, and we’ve now been married for 36 years. I noticed that I became more perceptive about myself, my environment, and my work. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo allowed me to grow in ways I hadn’t before.
Before adopting this practice, I felt alone in facing life’s challenges. Despite having friends and loving parents, I lacked an internal mechanism for support. Chanting gave me that support—and allowed me to support others in turn.
Rima Vesely-Flad [00:07:54] So chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo helped you build a kind of capacity—a resilience to weather life’s hardships and interpersonal challenges. It created a sense of spaciousness, a kind of inner stability.
Michael Belton [00:08:22] Yes, and it also helped me see things differently. It gradually built my confidence in my ability to solve problems and navigate challenges. Not long after I began chanting, my youngest sister was hospitalized. I visited her, and she asked, “Am I in heaven, Michael?” I reassured her, and she smiled. A few years later, she passed away. While devastating, I knew I could manage the grief and associated guilt, and that was thanks to the foundation chanting had built.
Rima Vesely-Flad [00:09:44] That’s a beautiful example. The practice not only helped you endure hardship but also enabled you to support others. I also hear the word confidence—and that aligns with the idea of cultivating capacity, as well as developing compassion: the ability to hold your own experiences and those of others with care and understanding. In my lineage, we often describe two wings of the bird: insight, or clear seeing, and compassion. Both are essential. Compassion provides a space to process difficult insights—shame, guilt, or grief—and confidence allows one to act with stability.
Michael Belton [00:11:05] For me, courage is central to compassion. True compassion requires courage. I’m not talking about performative compassion, which is superficial, but deep, genuine compassion—a willingness to engage with others through love, care, and grace.
Rima Vesely-Flad [00:11:34] Yes, that’s also quite beautiful. To me, it even has some Christian overtones. I don’t see the traditions as entirely separate—that sense of grace. The word that comes to mind when I think of Buddhism is ease, a sense of ease. One of the transformative practices in my lineage is called insight, or sometimes vipassana: wishing well-being for ourselves, wishing ease for ourselves, and then extending that to all beings, including those we find difficult. One transformative aspect is that if you cultivate that internally, it can naturally extend outward, allowing us to engage with difficult dynamics differently. What I hear from you helps me understand the longevity of your practice. Many SGI or Nichiren practitioners maintain decades-long practices, which is extraordinary.
Michael Belton [00:13:04] I can’t tell you how much it has helped me in my life—helped me be a better person, a more courageous person, a more compassionate person, and a stand-up kind of guy.
Rima Vesely-Flad [00:13:24] I hear that you are repeatedly called upon because you are irreplaceable in many ways—a one-of-a-kind leader. Considering your role in the organization you lead, it sounds quite demanding, and you respond as you are able. I’ve also heard that in the Buddhist of African Descent Association, you are described as a co-architect. Does that resonate with you?
Michael Belton [00:14:05] It does. It’s not a term I would have come up with, but yes, it resonates.
Rima Vesely-Flad [00:14:13] Can you tell us why you co-formed or co-created this organization?
Michael Belton [00:14:22] Sure. I use compassion and courage interchangeably. At some point, I developed the capacity to look at myself honestly and ask hard questions about who I am, where I come from, and the direction of my Buddhist practice. When I returned to graduate school at age 55, a friend—a fellow African American—challenged me to ask myself key questions: Who am I? Why am I here? What unique value do I bring? Walking to class each day, I wrestled with these questions and recognized them as gifts.
After returning to Minneapolis, I attended meetings again, but they weren’t fulfilling. A fellow practitioner, Sister Thindy, kept inviting me to lunch. After months of her persistence, I agreed, and it was one of the best conversations I’ve ever had. From there, we began asking real questions of each other and of our fellow practitioners. Many African-descended members expressed that the more authentic they were in the Buddhist space, the more they encountered pushback, criticism, or judgment. Thindy and I tried speaking with local SGI chapter leaders—some understood, others resisted.
Despite challenges, the meetings we created were nourishing, rich, and soulful. For about three years, I rarely missed a meeting. The more we met and engaged, the more I realized that no one could dictate how I cultivated my spirit or handled my heart. That work had to be personal: deep chanting, reflection, and respectful conversation with my brothers and sisters. That’s how the association began.
Rima Vesely-Flad [00:19:30] Were there specific rituals or practices in the association that were particularly nourishing, given that you rarely missed meetings for three years?
Michael Belton [00:20:04] We chanted together, recited the Lotus Sutra (Gohonzon), and had incredible conversations. Our study also focused on the African American experience, African-American spirituality, and intellectual traditions, teasing out common threads with Buddhist practice. We developed strategies to navigate SGI pushback, always ensuring we had each other’s backs. If we were in a meeting, leaders couldn’t address us individually—we attended together as a collective.
Rima Vesely-Flad [00:21:52] You established an alternative path that was both a response to challenges and a move toward something fulfilling.
Michael Belton [00:22:11] Yes. Our goal was not just to push against but to create a space where we could be authentic and at the same time fully practice Nichiren Buddhism. I anticipated a reckoning at some point, and when it happened, it was a gift.
Rima Vesely-Flad [00:23:05] So you’ve both separated and established a community on your own terms, which has been practicing for quite some time. That’s beautiful. One last question: in addition to chanting and study, are there other rituals that are particularly meaningful for you?
Michael Belton [00:23:56] Chanting resonates most deeply, but we also have an ancestor prayer and a Bodhisattva Pledge specifically for African Americans. Many who don’t practice Nichiren Buddhism would find much of value in it, if they were open to African-American thought, philosophy, and spirituality.
Rima Vesely-Flad [00:24:38] Yes, it’s evocative and beautiful. Hearing how this practice has sustained and transformed you over 40 years of chanting and community building is inspiring. My hope is that it serves as an example for any person of African descent curious about Buddhism, meditation, or chanting. This tradition is welcoming and transformative, though it takes effort. Personally, it took me about two years to settle into it fully, but I’ve never looked back.
Michael Belton [00:25:58] I agree completely.
Rima Vesely-Flad [00:26:00] Deep bows to you, Michael. Thank you so much for being with us today.
Michael Belton [00:26:07] I appreciate it. I appreciate you.