Opening Dharma Access: Listening to BIPOC Teachers & Practitioners

GUESTYUKO WAKAYAMA YAMADA is the abbot of Shogakuji in Tokyo. She currently teaches at the International department of Eiheiji. She is the first nun to teach at Eiheiji, the head monastery of Soto Zen founded by Dogen Zenji. She trained at Aichi Senmon Niso-do, a training temple for female Soto Zen priests, where she also currently teaches. She was ordained in 1999 by the highly respected Rev. Shundo Aoyama-roshi. She was sent to Mt. Equity Zendo in United States for 2.5 years and has also practiced in Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain and Italy. After returning from Europe and finishing 2 more years at the Niso-do she studied at the graduate school of Komazawa University specializing in Chinese Zen History. Prior to becoming a Zen Buddhist nun, Yuko Yamada was a catholic nun in a convent for 3 years.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. 

You are invited to listen in a quiet space with headphones (will be louder) or speakers (will be quieter) at a constant volume. 4 minutes 15 seconds. Eunji Son is based in South Korea, evolving her relationship with ancestral land, and practicing as a photo collage and mixed media artist. She works behind the scenes at A2Z and ODA as a part-time assistant. 

Find out a bit more about Eunji Son, Access to Zen's (A2Z) part-time admin and all-the-time SUPPORT for us all who practice or engage with any A2Z events or digital content. Hear how her own practice and spiritual journey has taken her far, wide -- and deep!GUEST:EUNJI SON is based in South Korea, evolving her relationship with ancestral land, and practicing as a photo collage and mixed media artist. She works behind the scenes at A2Z and ODA as a part-time assistant. CONTACT: You know how to reach her! :) And, here it is for those who don't: Info.Access2Zen@gmail.comHOST: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

Siddhesh Mukerji, a Zen practitioner and scholar of engaged Buddhism living in Ireland, shares profound insights on zazen and navigating difficult emotions. He explores how zazen immerses one in the present, transforming suffering into 'life aching for itself.' Siddhesh discusses the power of metta to soften overwhelming pain and emphasizes the importance of communal healing through embodied practices like swing dancing. With a focus on patience and self-compassion, he encourages embracing fluidity over idealized selves as a path to joy.

In this insightful discussion, Siddhesh Mukerji, a Zen practitioner and scholar of engaged Buddhism, explores the vital intersection of Buddhism and social justice. He emphasizes the importance of bringing awareness from meditation into everyday life and challenges the notion of inaction in Buddhism. Siddhesh advocates for a blend of personal healing and collective response, urging Buddhists to embrace critical social theories to tackle systemic issues. His reflections on the complexities of Asian diasporic practices enrich the conversation, providing a fresh perspective on modern engagement.

Judy Nakatomi shares meditative offerings: Morning Chant from the Plum Village Tradition, guided meditation, and an Offering of Merit from the Shin Tradition in Japanese (Ékoku). The recording of bird sounds was made by Judy at Plum Village. Listen to her full interview with Rev. Liên to hear about Judy's experience with biculturality and the complexity and beauty of practicing Buddhism across traditions. GUEST:JUDY YUSHIN NAKATOMI (she/we) is a mother, partner, auntie, writer and community cultivator, nurturing BIPOC sangha. past work/life as tea ambassador/ importer, congressional field rep and hospice caregiver. Judy  is an ordained dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition, certified ministerial assistant, and descendant of ancestors incarcerated during war; dedicated to understanding the wisdom of intergenerational joy and sorrow.  Writing highlights:https://littleawakenings.blogspot.com/https://www.okaeri.org/okaeri-bookhttps://www.lionsroar.com/the-evolutionary-journey-of-mothering/Connect with Judy:IG: judy_yushin_nakatomiSubtack: Judy Nakatomi

Judy Yushin Nakatomi talks about her practice in the Zen and Shin traditions. She also discusses how she is practicing with her Bodhisattva vows through engaging with the current internment of minority people, while practicing awareness of her own family's history with war wounds. Judy and Rev Liên share with each other some of the nuances of having or not having access to ancestral languages and culture, and how they navigate being Asian American Buddhist practitioners in the United States. People/Organizations mentioned in the episode:Dr. Satsuki Ina  Dr. Duncan Ryūken Williams Bishop Marvin Harada Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh  Tsuru for SolidarityVista Buddhist TempleGUEST:JUDY YUSHIN NAKATOMI (she/we) is a mother, partner, auntie, writer and community cultivator, nurturing BIPOC sangha. past work/life as tea ambassador/ importer, congressional field rep and hospice caregiver. Judy  is an ordained dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition, certified ministerial assistant, and descendant of ancestors incarcerated during war; dedicated to understanding the wisdom of intergenerational joy and sorrow.  Writing highlights:https://littleawakenings.blogspot.com/https://www.okaeri.org/okaeri-bookhttps://www.lionsroar.com/the-evolutionary-journey-of-mothering/Connect with Judy:IG: judy_yushin_nakatomiSubtack: Judy NakatomiHOST: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

Buddhist teachings on how we have been conditioned to interpret raw data; which then drives us to behave. -- An excerpt from Rev. Liên's book, Home is Here, to accompany Professor Michael Omi's in-depth interview on racial formation this month.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

Professor Michael Omi joins Rev. Dana to help us contextualize the current climate of racial formation, namely the propagation of a far-right ideology of an oppressed white race, in a much longer history of constant changing in definitions of and associations with racial identities. In Buddhist terms, we can see the theory that Michael co-developed contains an essential Buddhist perspective, namely that of Mental Formations. Stay tuned later this month for a practice offering from Rev. Liên!Michael Omi (he/him/his) is Professor Emeritus of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the co-author, with Howard Winant, of Racial Formation in the United States (Third Edition, 2015), a groundbreaking work that transformed how we understand the social and historical forces that give race its changing meaning over time and place. He is also the co-editor of Japanese American Millennials: Rethinking Generation, Community, and Diversity (2019). At Berkeley, he served from 2012-2016 as the Associate Director of the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society (HIFIS), and in 2020 he was the inaugural Chair of the Asian American Research Center (AARC). Professor Omi is a recipient of UC Berkeley’s prestigious Distinguished Teaching Award --- an honor bestowed on only 285 Berkeley faculty members since the award’s inception in 1959.

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.