Opening Dharma Access: Listening to BIPOC Teachers & Practitioners
Rev. Liên Shutt & Rev. Dana Takagi
Welcome to "Opening Dharma Access," a podcast where we hear stories from BIPOC teachers & practitioners about their Dharma experiences and practice, and how those inform the ways they are sharing & practicing the Dharma today. Season 3 description: Hosted by Rev. Liên & Rev. Dana TakagiThis season, we will have a new focus: Uplifting and Forwarding Asian American/Asian Diasporic Buddhist Experiences in the West.With our guests and audience, we will explore the specificities of Asian American/Asian Diasporic experiences. We take as given that there are generational differences (hence the historical moment matters!) and we hope to also delve into Asian family norms and values, our inchoate understanding of ancestor worship, issues of identity, representation, stereotypes about sexuality and sexual identity, and Asian American depression. A theme we'll be using to help guide our conversations is The Disquiet - a term we are adapting from writer/poet Fernando Pessoa (The Book of Disquiet) -- which, in our view, signals a complex recognition of self, mind, and body. The evidence for the foregoing includes scholarly research indexed in aggregate statistics on depression, youth suicide, and other issues in immigrant or first-generation families. While Asian Americans are not alone in experiencing trauma, the racial languages and discourses of othering are different for us than for other groups. What do we hope is the outcome of this podcast? Our first aim is to give voice to the range and depth of Buddhism in Asian and Asian American generations. We hope, in doing so, we help to shine a light on the limited or myopic envisioning of race in primarily white sanghas. Asian and Asian American diasporic truths about practice are a teaching for contemporary dharma organizations and centers. We recognize the depth and range of Asian and Asian Diasporic Buddhists is a wisdom mirror for organized Buddhism in the West.Thank you to the Hemera Foundation for their generous support of Season 3! Contact us at: Info.Access2Zen@gmail.comFurther Info at: AccessToZen.org
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 15, 2025 • 14min
I Vow to Save All Beings: Insisting on My Own Humanity with Rev. Dana Takagi
This practice offering is from co-host Rev. Dana Takagi, in connection with Professor and Historian Alice Yang's interview, "Our Heritage of Othering and Resistance" which dropped July 1st.Dana speaks to the need to address specific kinds of suffering as Buddhist teachers and practitioners, as not all suffering is the same. She reflects on the vow to save all beings, and how this stems from a grounded embodiment of our own humanity to understand the humanity of others who need our support the most in these times. Your hostREVEREND DANA TAKAGI (she/her) is a retired professor of Sociology and zen priest, practicing zen since 1998. She spent 33 years teaching sociology and Asian American history at UC Santa Cruz, and she is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies.
Jul 1, 2025 • 36min
Our Heritage of Othering and Resistance with Historian Alice Yang
Professor Alice Yang helps us put the systematic othering we are seeing in the U.S. today into historical context. She discusses the oppression and disappearance of people, and points out how protest movements are often erased from the history Asian American and other immigrant groups in the United States, when the truth is that we can embrace and continue a deep heritage of resistance. Alice emphasizes the urgency of knowing our history to expand what we think is possible in the present, and why it is important to resist the othering of any community member whether they are in our ethnic group or not. GuestALICE YANG is Chair and Professor of History at UCSC. She is also a founding faculty member of the Critical Race and Ethnic Studies Department at UCSC. Her publications include What Does the Internment of Japanese Americans Mean? Historical Memories of the Japanese American Internment and the Struggle for Redress, and Major Problems in Asian American History. She co-directs the Center for the Study of Pacific War Memories and recently curated the exhibit Never Again is Now: Japanese American Women Activists and the Legacy of the Mass Incarceration.HostREVEREND DANA TAKAGI (she/her) is a retired professor of Sociology and zen priest, practicing zen since 1998. She spent 33 years teaching sociology and Asian American history at UC Santa Cruz, and she is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies.
Jun 17, 2025 • 40min
"10 Vows" with Rebecca Nie
We hope you enjoy this dharma talk from Rebecca Nie, "10 Vows". GUEST BIO:ZEN MASTER REBECCA DAWN NIE is the founder of MV Sanctuary and Vice President of the Maitreya Association for Buddhist College Chaplains. As Stanford’s Chaplain-Affiliate, she oversees the Buddhist religious and spiritual life for students, faculty, and staff. Her offerings ranges from Continental Zen to Buddhist Yoga, offering healing wisdom for contemporary life through dharma teaching, translation, and new media art.Learn more about Rebecca athttp://mvseon.com/Highlighted WorksYin Mountain: The Immortal Poetry by Three Daoist Women (2022, Shambhala). Heart Sutra: A Network Audio Technology-Assisted Visual Music Composition
Jun 3, 2025 • 38min
Big Heart Resilience with Rebecca Nie
Rebecca Nie talks about the common misconception that China is an ethnic monolith, and how she identifies with her Huaren heritage. Although her spiritual path was discouraged in her early life, she discusses being connected to a centuries old heritage of a resilient Dharma that allows us to dream without limitations even through turbulent times.Rebecca also mentions a book-in-progress which will be a translation of Chan Zen Master poems responding to turbulent historical moments, pointing out how there is much more to Zen poetry than peaceful monks in serene mountains.GUEST BIO:ZEN MASTER REBECCA DAWN NIE is the founder of MV Sanctuary and Vice President of the Maitreya Association for Buddhist College Chaplains. As Stanford’s Chaplain-Affiliate, she oversees the Buddhist religious and spiritual life for students, faculty, and staff. Her offerings ranges from Continental Zen to Buddhist Yoga, offering healing wisdom for contemporary life through dharma teaching, translation, and new media art.Learn more about Rebecca athttp://mvseon.com/Highlighted WorksYin Mountain: The Immortal Poetry by Three Daoist Women (2022, Shambhala). Heart Sutra: A Network Audio Technology-Assisted Visual Music CompositionHOSTREVEREND DANA TAKAGI (she/her) is a retired professor of Sociology and zen priest, practicing zen since 1998. She spent 33 years teaching sociology and Asian American history at UC Santa Cruz, and she is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies.
May 20, 2025 • 11min
Heart Sutra Fragment 3: Introduction & Reading by Mushim Ikeda
Mushim Patricia Ikeda is an internationally-known secular mindfulness and Buddhist teacher working primarily with justice activists and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) meditation practitioners and with people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. A core teacher at East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, California, she is an author whose writing has been published in Lion's Roar, Tricycle, Buddhadharma and various anthologies. Mushim was selected by Lion's Roar Buddhist media magazine as one of twenty-six "Great Buddhist Teachers" in the January 2022 issue. Connect with Mushim at:Website: www.mushimikeda.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/mushim.ikedaBluesky: mushimikedaX / Twitter: @MushimCA1Instagram: mushimikedaLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mushim-patricia-ikeda-5307279/
May 6, 2025 • 55min
Grow Up in the Dharma with Mushim Patricia Ikeda
Secular & Buddhist teacher Mushim Patricia Ikeda in convo with Rev. Liên on how mature practice can help us deal with the current conditions of our world.GUESTMushim Patricia Ikeda is an internationally-known secular mindfulness and Buddhist teacher working primarily with justice activists and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) meditation practitioners and with people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. A core teacher at East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, California, she is an author whose writing has been published in Lion's Roar, Tricycle, Buddhadharma and various anthologies. Mushim was selected by Lion's Roar Buddhist media magazine as one of twenty-six "Great Buddhist Teachers" in the January 2022 issue. Connect with Mushim at:Website: www.mushimikeda.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/mushim.ikedaBluesky: mushimikedaX / Twitter: @MushimCA1Instagram: mushimikedaLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mushim-patricia-ikeda-5307279/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 founder of Access to Zen (2014). You can learn more about her work at AccessToZen.org. Her new book, Home is Here: Practicing Antiracism with the Engaged Eightfold Path. See all her offerings at EVENTS
Apr 15, 2025 • 5min
June Tanoue Reads "Dwell Nowhere and Browse That"
June Kaililani Tanoue, Kumu Hula, reads her blog post, "Dwell Nowhere and Browse That." Listen as she reflects on a conversation with her husband Roshi Robert Joshin Althouse. Together they are cofounders of Zen Life & Meditation Center of Chicago. You can find the written piece on the Halau i Ka Pono website.About JuneJune Ryushin Tanoue, B.S., MPH is co-founder of Zen Life & Meditation Center. Practicing Zen since 1993, she received Transmission in 2014 as a fully empowered Zen Teacher/ Zen Buddhist Priest and Inka as a Roshi in 2022.June is a Kumu Hula and founded Halau I Ka Pono, the Hula School of Chicago in 2009. Read June's piece, "The Hula Sutra" at Lion's Roar. zlmc.orghalauikapono.orgHalau I Ka Pono FacebookInstagram: @JuneTanoueJune's blog posts: https://halauikapono.org/news
Apr 1, 2025 • 36min
Hula As Resistance w/ June Tanoue
June Kaililani Tanoue, Kumu Hula, talks about how to practice observing our thoughts rather than holding onto them, whether times are easy or tough. Hear about how June started Halau I Ka Pono as an offshoot of the Zen Life & Meditation Center after she moved to Chicago, and how Hula is the dance of being a pillar in one's community. About JuneJune Ryushin Tanoue, B.S., MPH is co-founder of Zen Life & Meditation Center. Practicing Zen since 1993, she received Transmission in 2014 as a fully empowered Zen Teacher/ Zen Buddhist Priest and Inka as a Roshi in 2022.June is a Kumu Hula and founded Halau I Ka Pono, the Hula School of Chicago in 2009. Read June's piece, "The Hula Sutra" at Lion's Roar. zlmc.orghalauikapono.orgHalau I Ka Pono FacebookInstagram: @JuneTanoueJune's blog posts: https://halauikapono.org/news
Mar 18, 2025 • 29min
Season 4 Premiere: Engaged Asian American/Asian Diaspora Buddhism for Our Times
In the season 4 premiere, Rev. Liên Shutt and Rev. Dana Takagi discuss the need to continue to forward Asian American and Asian Diaspora Buddhist voices in these tumultuous times. Thank you to everyone who has listened so far, and continue to tune in!It's not too late to take our listener survey! Respond by March 21st and get access to an exclusive meditation recording by Rev. Liên: "Tenderhearted Buddhas for these Times".
Mar 4, 2025 • 13min
Season 3 Compilation - A Beautiful Web of Asian Heritage Buddhists
On season 3, we co-created and witnessed an amazing example of how the Net of Indra weaves and connects. We heard from 13 Buddhist practitioners and teachers of Asian American or Asian Diaspora heritage, and in their own words, spoke to what the AA/AD Buddhist experience is for them. Season 3 is officially a wrap! Thank you to everyone who listened with us, and we hope you join us for more Asian American/Asian Diaspora forwarding conversations and offerings in season 4. Full list of guests, and their featured episodes, in order:Co-hosts Rev. Liên Shutt and Rev. Dana Takagi - Forwarding Asian American & Asian Diasporic Buddhist Experiences with Rev. Liên Shutt & Rev. Dana TakagiChenxing Han - Reflections with the 2024 May We Gather Co-OrganizersMihiri Tillakaratne - Bodhi Leaves: The Asian American Buddhist Monthly Co-Associate Editors Rev. Jean Paul (JP) de Guzman - O'kagesama-de (All thanks are due to you...)Paula Arai - There is No Buddhism Without WomenSharon Suh - Silence is Not the WayFunie Hsu - Reflections with the 2024 May We Gather Co-OrganizersBo Hee Moon - Meeting with My Asian Sangha TonightRyan Lee Wong - Zen Practice As Community BuildingRam Appalaraju - Eco-Dharma Care Yenkuei Chuang - Insight Dialogue & Further Relationality Rev. Duncan Ryūken Williams - Reflections with the 2024 May We Gather Co-OrganizersLisa Nakamura - Platforms for Zazen: The Cushion to the Computer Noel Alumit - Bodhi Leaves: The Asian American Buddhist Monthly Co-Associate Editors
