Listen in on this candid and wise interview with Myokei Caine-Barret, Shonin, as she shares about her own path of transformation and how we can all create a deeper experience of refuge for each other in the Dharma. She names the importance of sharing about race and increasing awareness in dharma spaces in the face of resistance. And how empowering it can be to leave space for listening, honoring people's unique experiences, and the importance of offering a warm welcome. She encourages us to learn from the radical hospitality in cultures of color, and describes how she used chanting to work with her rage. She also addresses the challenges of offering the Dharma in BIPOC communities based in Christianity.
We apologize for the brief moments of echo in the recording.
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Myokei Caine-Barrett currently holds the position of Bishop of the Nichiren Shu Order of North America. She is the first woman to hold this position and the first person of African-American and Japanese descent to be fully ordained in the Nichiren Shu order. She is also the chief priest and guiding teacher of Myoken-ji Temple in Houston, TX.
Myokei Shonin is engaged in spreading the Dharma behind bars at Texas Department of Criminal Justice. She supports weekend trainings for Healing Warrior Hearts, a Texas for Heroes project designed to truly welcome veterans home. She is a facilitator in dialogues on racism and mindful cross-cultural conflict resolution, as well as engaging in interfaith and intrafaith dialogue.
Her writings have been published in a variety of Buddhist magazines, including Tricycle and Lion’s Roar, and is featured in The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women.
Learn more about Myokei at https://myoken-ji-usa.org/
