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
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
Feb 25, 2025 • 13min
Breath, Perfect Harmony, and a History More Beautiful and More Terrible w/ Rev. Dana Takagi
Rev Dana follows up on her dharma talk from the last episode dropped on February 18th. She adds to her perspective on the current historical conditions of our time in the United States, talks about breath practice, and offers a chant she's used often for the dying, from Thich Nhat Hanh.Check out the 2011 book Dana discusses in this episode:More Beautiful and More Terrible: The Embrace and Transcendence of of Racial Inequality in the United States by Professor Imani Perry Ph.D, JD
Feb 18, 2025 • 31min
Widening Our View and The Challenge of Seeing Perfection w/ Rev. Dana Takagi
Hello, listeners of Opening Dharma Access, for February, we're doing things a little bit different by offering you some meditations and Dharma talks on current conditions as 2025 brings to the United States a whole bunch of difficult circumstances: the L.A. fires; the current administration.This dharma talk is from co-host Rev. Dana Takagi. Dana speaks on what wisdom could look like in times like these, and how to expand our vision as well as awareness about our current national systems work, and the history of how they were built over time, as they are being dismantled. May it be for the benefit of all beings.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.
Feb 11, 2025 • 20min
Meditation on Safety with Rev. Liên Shutt
Meditation to find stability in the midst of current threats in our world: nationally, world-wide, and with climate justice. -- Given at EBMC BIPOC SanghaREV. 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 Pathis being used for one of it's original purposes! Join us in takingThe Dharma of Being Antiracist: Accessing Skillful Engagement for Healing (for all racial locations) Feb. 17-May 12, 2025.See all her offerings at EVENTS
Feb 4, 2025 • 34min
Talk: Healing in Time & Space with Rev. Liên Shutt
Hello, listeners of Opening Dharma Access, for February, we're doing things a little bit different by offering you some meditations and Dharma talks on current conditions as 2025 brings to the United States a whole bunch of difficult circumstances: the L.A. fires; the inauguration.NOTE: This talk was given at a BIPOC group, addressing specific fears & issues of people of color in extremely challenging U.S. political and social justice contexts. May it be for the benefit of all beings. 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 Pathis being used for one of it's original purposes! Join us in takingThe Dharma of Being Antiracist: Accessing Skillful Engagement for Healing (for all racial locations) Feb. 17-May 12, 2025.See all her offerings at EVENTS
Jan 21, 2025 • 30min
Meditating on Trees with Ram Appalaraju
RAM APPALARAJU was brought up as a Hindu and has been on a spiritual path since 90's, first studying Vedanta and pursuing Buddhism since 2012. After years of practice he chose to pursue a path of service and became a chaplain focused on Ecology as well as supporting marginalized people in prisons and homeless shelters. He is now on the faculty at Sati Center for Buddhist Studies' Eco Chaplaincy program. He also serves as a board member and an advisor at several nonprofits focused on climate education and offers various services to marginalized communities. Connect with Ram on X/Twitter: @Mindful_Ram
