Sebene Selassie is an African American Buddhist teacher. She has been studying Buddhism for 30 years and teaching for 10. She has worked extensively for not-for-profit organisations everywhere from the Tenderloin in San Francisco to refugee camps in Guinea, West Africa. This year, she published her first book via HarperOne titled You Belong: A Call for Connection.

In this enriching conversation we tackle the kind of tough subjects that we all think about but need to talk about more. Why have women been sidelined in Buddhist lineages? How can the Dharma respond to racial strife and injustice? And how we can heal cultures of harm wherever we find ourselves.

Show Notes

First experiences with bhakti yoga
History of women in Buddhism
Sebene's journey through Buddhist schools
Kuan Yin and devotional practice
The question of cultural appropriation
How studying history can aid liberation
The complex problem of unconscious bias
What was left out when Buddhism was exported
Good ol’ psychedelics
Ancestral healing
How we might heal racism in dharma communities
It’s not about separation
Guilt vs responsibility
“The Dharma answers its context”

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#25 Sebene Selassie – You Belong!