Resourcing our Practice in Nature with René Rivera

GUEST:
René Rivera (he/him) is a meditation teacher and restorative justice facilitator working and learning in all the spaces in-between race, gender, and other perceived binaries, as a queer Latinx trans man. René teaches heart-centered, trauma-informed meditation, as a core teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center. He has co-led the first residential meditation retreats for transgender, nonbinary and gender expansive people, and offers classes and retreats for many Buddhist centers and groups. René is a restorative justice facilitator for the Ahimsa Collective, working to heal sexual and gender based violence.

Connect with René via:
eastbaymeditation.org

HOST
Rev. Liên Shutt (she/they) is a recognized leader in the movement that breaks through the wall of American white-centered convert Buddhism to welcome people of all backgrounds into a contemporary, engaged Buddhism. As an ordained Zen priest, licensed social worker, and longtime educator/teacher of Buddhism, Shutt represents new leadership at the nexus of spirituality and social justice, offering a special warm welcome to Asian Americans, all BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, immigrants, and those seeking a “home” in the midst of North American society’s reckoning around racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia. Shutt is a co-founder of Buddhists of Color (1998) and founder of Access to Zen (2014). As the creator, producer, and host, she launched a podcast series, “Opening Dharma Access: Listening to BIPOC Teachers,” in 2022 with Lama Karma Yeshe Chödrön, Sister Peace and Dalila Bothwell. You can learn more about her work at AccessToZen.org

Her new book, Home is Here: Practicing Antiracism with the Engaged Eightfold Path was released on Tuesday, Aug. 22! To see when it's in your part of the U.S. or is virtual, go to BOOK TOUR INFO

Dharma Songs for Connection with Joe Reilly

GUEST:
Joe Reilly (he, him) is a singer, songwriter, social worker, and ordained Dharma Teacher in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. Joe was raised Catholic and currently studies and practices progressive Catholicism, Native American spirituality, and engaged Buddhism. Joe has been a student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh since 2004 and is often found singing and writing songs on spiritual retreats. He currently lives in Waawiyatanong/Detroit, where he co-leads the Building Beloved Community Sangha. He is of Cherokee, Choctaw, Italian, and Irish descent and identifies as Native American.

Connect with Joe and LISTEN to more of his music at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joereillymusic/ 
YouTube, Instagram @JoeReillyMusic
https://www.joereilly.org/music/

This EPISODE is in MEMORIAM for Mary Randolph
(Rev. Liên covered for Sr. Peace so she could attend to her sister)

HOST
Rev. Liên Shutt (she/they) is a recognized leader in the movement that breaks through the wall of American white-centered convert Buddhism to welcome people of all backgrounds into a contemporary, engaged Buddhism. As an ordained Zen priest, licensed social worker, and longtime educator/teacher of Buddhism, Shutt represents new leadership at the nexus of spirituality and social justice, offering a special warm welcome to Asian Americans, all BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, immigrants, and those seeking a “home” in the midst of North American society’s reckoning around racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia. Shutt is a co-founder of Buddhists of Color (1998) and founder of Access to Zen (2014). As the creator, producer, and host, she launched a podcast series, “Opening Dharma Access: Listening to BIPOC Teachers,” in 2022 with Lama Karma Yeshe Chödrön, Sister Peace and Dalila Bothwell. You can learn more about her work at AccessToZen.org

Her new book, Home is Here: Practicing Antiracism with the Engaged Eightfold Path was released on Tuesday, Aug. 22! To see when it's in your part of the U.S. or is virtual, go to BOOK TOUR INFO

The Nature of Practice & Teaching with Anushka Fernandopulle

GUEST
Anushka Fernandopulle (she/they) is on the Spirit Rock Teacher's Council and has trained for over 30 years in the Theravada Buddhist tradition in the U.S., India, and Sri Lanka. Anushka lives in San Francisco and teaches retreats and workshops around the world. They also works as a leadership coach and management consultant, influenced by a BA in anthropology and religion from Harvard and an MBA from Yale. Her teaching is informed by nature, creative arts, political engagement and modern urban life.

Connect with Anushka at:

https://www.anushkaf.org/

HOST
Rev. Liên Shutt (she/they) is a recognized leader in the movement that breaks through the wall of American white-centered convert Buddhism to welcome people of all backgrounds into a contemporary, engaged Buddhism. As an ordained Zen priest, licensed social worker, and longtime educator/teacher of Buddhism, Shutt represents new leadership at the nexus of spirituality and social justice, offering a special warm welcome to Asian Americans, all BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, immigrants, and those seeking a “home” in the midst of North American society’s reckoning around racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia. Shutt is a co-founder of Buddhists of Color (1998) and founder of Access to Zen (2014). As the creator, producer, and host, she launched a podcast series, “Opening Dharma Access: Listening to BIPOC Teachers,” in 2022 with Lama Karma Yeshe Chödrön, Sister Peace and Dalila Bothwell. You can learn more about her work at AccessToZen.org

Her new book, Home is Here: Practicing Antiracism with the Engaged Eightfold Path launches on Tuesday, Aug. 22! Join her in-person or livestream at Book Inc Berkeley

For full info on all her offerings: EVENTS

A short, but lovingly offered, meditation from Anushka Fernandopulle. Originally offered on Dharma Seed.

Going Deep with Rev. Mark Unno

ABOUT OUR GUEST FOR THIS EPISODE

REV. MARK UNNO is Professor of Buddhist Studies & Department Head of Religious Studies at the University of Oregon, specializing in Pure Land, Zen, and Shingon Buddhism. He is the 14th generation minister of Shin Buddhism in his family. He is also the President of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies.

Read articles by Rev. Mark Unno at Lion's Roar Magazine online

Visit his website for more resources

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HOST LAMA KARMA YESHE CHÖDRÖN is a scholar, teacher, and translator of Tibetan Buddhism at Rigpe Dorje Institute at Pullahari Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal and co-founder of Prajna Fire.

Hear more about Lama Yeshe as ODA co-hosts Rev. Liên Shutt and Kaira Jewel Lingo interview her about her Dharma experiences as a practitioner and teacher of color here.

In addition to Opening Dharma Access, Lama Yeshe co-hosts Prajna Sparks, a podcast for listening to, contemplating, and meditating on the Buddhadharma.

Check out Lama Yeshe's articles published in Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Guide, Lion's Roar Magazine, and Tricyle Magazine.

Join the Prajna Fire global community and follow Lama Yeshe on Instagram @karmayeshechodron. 

I Belong Everywhere with Cristina Moon

About Our Guest for this Episode

As a strategist, author, and Chozen-ji priest, Cristina Moon works with individuals and organizations to develop the sensitivity and spiritual strength needed to lead in today’s challenging world. 

Cristina ordained as a Zen priest in December 2020 at Daihonzan ChInozen-ji, a Rinzai Zen temple in Hawaii in the Tenryu-ji line. Cristina publishes a Substack newsletter called CMOON, with published work appearing in Tricycle, Lion's Roar, and Buddhadharma magazines. Cristina's memoir is coming out in June 2024 with Shambhala Publications.

Find out more about Cristina at:
www.cristinamoon.com
https://cmoon.substack.com
Instagram: @moon.c.moon


About Our Host for this Episode

Dalila Bothwell (she/her), a Dharma practitioner in the Insight Meditation/Theravada Buddhist tradition and a graduate of Spirit Rock's Community Dharma Leader Program.  She served as Deputy Director of New York Insight Meditation Center for nearly a decade where she learned the priceless value of sangha and the role relationships play in embodying the teachings and in creating kinder human beings.  With a formal education in food and nutrition, her practice meets at the intersection of physical and emotional wellbeing while being Black and queer and her love of recovery, nature, community, and justice. A native of the Southwest, Dalila currently lives in Papago / Tohono O'odham territory in Arizona with her handsome pup, Brisco.

To connect with Dalila in other ways:
www.dalilabothwell.com
IG: @moonearthlove

When Action is Graced with Compassion: A Conversation with Dr. Ava Avalos

Sister Peace interview of Dr. Ava Avalos from the Order of Interbeing (OI) branch of the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition. 

BIO: 
Dr. Ava Avalos was ordained as a Dharma teacher in 2018, after over 20 years of study and Zen practice. She facilitates the Tshedisa Sangha in Botswana - the first African Sangha established in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh on the continent. 

Originally from San Diego, California, for the last 22 years she has worked as HIV/TB specialist physician and AIDS activist in Africa. In addition to clinical care, she focuses medical research on optimizing anti-retroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS patients, preventing the development of HIV drug resistance and improving implementation of public health programs. 

She currently leads the Botswana National Advanced HIV Care Initiative, is a Research Associate of the Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Initiative and Botswana-Baylor Children’s Centre for Clinical Excellence and sits on the Editorial Board of the Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine. 

She also does her best to keep up with her two high spirited pups, paints, teaches yoga and dances as often as she can.

3 Links to connect with Dr. Avalos:
1. Facebook: Studies in Zen Buddhism Botswana.

2.  The next Africa based retreat I am facilitating: 

Sacred Body - Wonderful Body- Coming Home to Ourselves
Tara Rokpa Centre, Groot Marico, South Africa. October 13, 14, & 15th, 2023
Inquire at careenahealth@gmail.com

3. Tshedisa Sangha holds monthly Days of Mindfulness on the first Sunday of each month. Inquire at careenahealth@gmail.com

Frank Dharma with Dalila Bothwell

Get to know ODA's Season 2 other new co-host, Dalila Bothwell, as she shares with Rev. Liên frank talk about what it takes to teach and stay true to their experience as queer, Black, and other social locations in predominantly white convert-Buddhist settings.

Dalila Bothwell (she/her) is a Dharma practitioner in the Insight Meditation/Theravada Buddhist tradition and a graduate of Spirit Rock's Community Dharma Leader Program.  She served as Deputy Director of New York Insight Meditation Center for nearly a decade where she learned the priceless value of sangha and the role relationships play in embodying the teachings and in creating kinder human beings.  With a formal education in food and nutrition, her practice meets at the intersection of physical and emotional wellbeing while being Black and queer and her love of recovery, nature, community, and justice. A native of the Southwest, Dalila currently lives in Papago / Tohono O'odham territory in Arizona with her handsome pup, Brisco.

To connect with her in other ways:
www.dalilabothwell.com
IG: @moonearthlove

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Host Info:
Rev. Liên Shutt (she/they) is a recognized leader in the movement that breaks through the wall of American white-centered convert Buddhism to welcome people of all backgrounds into a contemporary, engaged Buddhism.

As an ordained Zen priest, licensed social worker, and longtime educator/teacher of Buddhism, Shutt represents new leadership at the nexus of spirituality and social justice, offering a special warm welcome to Asian Americans, all BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, immigrants, and others seeking a “home” in the midst of North American society’s reckoning around racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia.

Home is Here: Practicing Antiracism with the Engaged Four Noble Truths is her new book coming out Aug. 22, 2023. Published by North Atlantic Books.

Pre-Order options HERE

Connect with Rev. Liên & all her offerings at: AccessToZen.org  (including soon to-be-added info on an upcoming LGBTQIA+ Yoga & Dharma retreat over Labor Day & an 8-month Asian American affinity group for precepts studies!)

Unmasked When We Are Together with Sister Peace

SISTER PEACE spent five years in government work before realizing that something was missing. Feeling spiritually bereft, she began practicing at the Washington Mindfulness Community where she encountered the teachings of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. 

Compelled by his teachings, she relocated in 2006 to the Plum Village Monastery in France to deepen her mindfulness practice and where she was ordained a Buddhist nun in 2008, and received the Dharma Lamp Transmission in 2017.

She has dedicated her life to bringing the practice of mindfulness to people around the world –from educators and teenagers to artists and politicians. In particular, Sister Peace is interested in helping people understand the aspiration of Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to build the “Beloved Community.” 

Sister Peace has organized retreats in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America; and facilitated retreats for People of Color, Business Leaders, Silicon Valley, Educators, Artists and others. Most recently, her heartfelt focus of service and practice has been with the children in the Shelby County Juvenile Detention Center – a jail for children in Memphis, Tennessee.  She is on a virtual team offering Mindfulness and the Arts during the COVID-19 Crisis with students at East High School in Memphis. 

Sister Peace currently resides in Memphis, Tennessee, where she practices Engaged Buddhism.  

You can find Sister Peace in Meditations on the Plum Village app, as well as articles in Lions Roar and The Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation Newsletter - The Raft, the Mindfulness Bell Magazine, and an upcoming article in the Arrow Magazine.

Here are a few links to her teachings:

YOUTUBE video
Uncomfortable Spaces - Cultivating Love & Peace for Racial Healing

Articles in the Mindfulness Bell
Ancestral Insights Article
When Giants Meet

Click here to learn more about the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh and Plum Village.

Season 2 BEGINS!

Co-Hosts (L to R; Top to Bottom): Rev. Liên Shutt, Sister Peace, Dalila Bothwell, Lama Karma Yeshe Chodrön

Deborah Svoboda: https://outoftheshadowsmedia.com/

Practicing to Touch Our Edges with Noliwe Alexander

Noliwe Alexander has been a student of Vipassana meditation for over 20 years. Throughout this time of deep devotion to the Dharma, Noliwe has become a dedicated practitioner, meditation teacher of various retreats and sitting groups, day-longs and class series programs. She dedicates much her BuddhaDharma practice and teachings to the BiPOC, LGBTQIA+, At Risk and Elder communities. She is a graduate of Spirit Rock's CDL4 program, EBMC's Commit 2 Dharma program in 2010 and is a graduate of Spirit Rock Teacher Training from 2017-2020. Noliwe is the co-founder of Peace At Any Pace, Inc. a non-profit organization that offers a Journey to Healing from Intergenerational & Ancestral Trauma retreats and Elder & Youth programs, which are exclusively for people from the African Diaspora. Noliwe is a wisdom keeper and humbled by the presence of her ancestor’s spirit that lives within and walks beside her.

You can reach her at Deep Time Liberation and Peace at Any Pace 

And writitng at:
https://www.lionsroar.com/free-at-last/
https://www.lionsroar.com/heal-the-wounds-and-trauma/

Below is a meditation from a POC Retreat at Spirit Rock 2020

You Can Polish the Mirror of Your Life with Myokei Caine-Barret, Shonin

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. 
___

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/

Fusion Dharma with Thomas Davis IV

A fascinating conversation with Thomas Davis IV and Rev. Liên about the possibilities of expanding the range for assessing BIPOC teachers' readiness to teach and the connections between the Dharma and the creative process.

Thomas Davis IV is a Contemplative Artist based in Los Angeles who explores the connections between the principles of the Dharma, Christian Mysticism, Jazz Ethics, Art and Sciences. Thomas self-identifies as a Contemplative Artist which allows for a consistent and fluid commitment to personal authenticity; and for the exploration of emerging ideas, concepts and individual expressions of Liberation.

Media: Lions Roar Juneteenth Edition 2022

Thomas can be reached at: www.avant-dharam.com

Meeting La Familia Where They Are At with Bhante Sanathavihari

Los Angeles Sanathavihari Bhikkhu is a Mexican-American Theravāda monk at the Sarathchandra Buddhist Center in North Hollywood, a Sri Lankan center. He is a student of the late Dr.  Bhante Punnaji, and the director of Casa De Bhavana – an outreach project to bring the Dhamma to the Spanish-speaking world. He is also the co-author of Buddhism in Ten Steps. Bhante is a U.S. Air Force veteran, has a B.A. in Religion, and is a Mindfulness researcher at Mount St. Mary University, Los Angeles, and a Graduate Student in Counseling Psychology at Mount St. Mary University.

Visit Bhante Sanathavihari on the web and social media:

www.casadebhavana.com 

https://www.facebook.com/sanathaviharibhikkhu  

https://www.instagram.com/casadebhavana/

Or on YouTube:

Youtube channel (English)

Youtube channel (Spanish)

And check out Bhante's Spanish-language introduction to Buddhism:

Buddhismo en 10 Pasos: Una introducción práctica y sencilla al buddhismo para principiantes (Spanish Edition)

A Real Take on Race & Dharma in Convert Soto Zen: Conversation with Rev. Dana Takagi

Check out this in-depth interview with Rev. Dana Takagi on being Japanese American practicing convert Soto Zen.

Dana is a retired professor of Sociology and also a zen priest. She spent 33 years teaching sociology and Asian Am history at UC Santa Cruz, she is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies. Zen practice since 1998.

2022: Sutra and Bible: an Interview with Duncan Ryūken Williams
2020: Most Intimate, Ordinary Way, Recollections of Katherine Thanas (co-eds. with Eugene Bush; 2nd printing 2022)

More of Dana at: https://danatakagizenlife.squarespace.com/

Receiving & Understanding: An Interview with Margarita Loinaz

Margarita Loinaz and Rev. Liên talks about how practice and teachings to & from BIPOCs was challenging, shifted and transformed in the SF Bay Area since they first met at the Women of Color group in 1996.

Margarita Loinaz, MD has trained in the Tibetan and Theravada traditions. She met her root teacher Kalu Rimpoche in 1977 and is a Dzogchen student of Lama Drimed Norbu. She is a graduate of the first Community Dharma Leader’s Program at SRMC and began teaching in l997 leading the Women of Color Sitting Group in Marin City with Marlene Jones and co-organizing the first People of Color Retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in 1999. Her current teaching integrates Dzogchen practice with social justice and environmental awareness. As a physician, she served Day Laborers, the Latinx and Homeless communities in San Francisco. She is a grandmother and originally from the Dominican Republic.

Talks and Videos present on Youtube, Vimeo and Dharma Seed, EBMC POC Sangha recordings, and Spirit Rock Meditation Center recordings on programs such as BIPOC Voices, day-longs and BIPOC retreats.

She can be reached at: greatmotherinquiry@gmail.com

Comfortable with the Fluidity: East-West, Tradition-Modernity

DUNGSE JAMPAL NORBU is son and Dharma Heir of Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche in the Mangala Shri Bhuti community. His mother is Dharma teacher Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel.

Dungse la has lived and traveled extensively in Asia, but spent much of his youth in Colorado. If you were to ask Dungse la how long he has been studying the Buddhist path, he would say, “Since I was born.”

When Dungse la was still an infant, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche instructed Kongtrul Rinpoche to train Dungse la to uphold and continue Kongtrul Rinpoche’s lineage, particularly that of Mangala Shri Bhuti.

With the foundation of his life-long guidance and education from Kongtrul Rinpoche, Dungse la also teaches widely and engages in an annual 100-day retreat at Longchen Jigme Samten Ling. Dungse la’s anecdotal style and first-hand curiosity about how Buddhism relates to actual experience imbue his teaching with a fresh perspective, and reveal a natural wisdom and humor

Check out Dungse-la’s Dharma talks on the EveryBodhi Podcast.

You Can't Touch This: A Journey towards Self-Love with La Sarmiento

So many of us struggle to truly accept and understand ourselves, to find our own place of belonging and feeling at home in ourselves. In this intimate conversation between friends, La shares their powerful journey to fully loving and honoring themselves as a trans, immigrant, Filipinx, ukelele-playing dharma teacher and how they practice to transmit this dharma of radical self-acceptance, and resistance to oppression, to other BIPOC practitioners in the dharma world.

To connect with La: www.lasarmiento.com, Instagram: @bodhila, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BodhiLa

Photo Credit: Suzanne Kulperger

Mind to Mind Connection with Venerable Thuần Tuệ

Venerable Thuần Tuệ, Abbess of Diệu Nhân Zen Monastery in Rescue, CA, is interviewed by Rev. Liên Shutt. They first met when Rev. Liên practiced at Trúc Lâm Zen Monastery in Đà Lạt, Vietnam in 2006-2007.

Born in Vietnam, Venerable Thuần Tuệ was ordained in 1979 by Venerable Zen Master Thích Thanh Từ, Founder of the Trúc Lâm (Bamboo Forest) Zen lineage. She practiced at Bát Nhã Zen Monastery, Viên Chiếu Zen Monastery and Trúc Lâm Zen Monastery in Vietnam. Since 2012, she has traveled to England, Belgium, France, Germany, Canada, and many states in the U.S. to give Dharma talks and lead Zen retreats in mostly Vietnamese communities.

Her books include Keys to Buddhism (Vietnamese & English. Translation with Huyen Bach & Rev. Thuy Liên Shutt - Publication 2011), Tâm Bình Thường (Publication 2016- in Vietnamese) and Từ Một Tâm Trong Lặng (Publication 2019 - in Vietnamese)

For more info go to dieunhan.net

Thank you to Sister Phương Thiền and lay person Thanh Ngữ for their translation support.

May this be for the benefit of all beings.

Venerable Thuần Tuệ, Abbess of Diệu Nhân Zen Monastery, shares a short meditation from a visit at Folsom Prison.