Opening Dharma Access: Listening to BIPOC Teachers & Practitioners

Solwazi Johnson, a mindfulness meditation teacher, discusses topics such as reclaiming their identity through changing their name, the power of African names, racial discrimination in the military, and the importance of bringing one's identities and cultures to the Dharma practice.

A Dharma Talk by Grace Song. Perfect for the beginning of 2024!GUEST:Grace Song is an ordained Won Buddhist Kyomunim, meditation teacher, and advocate of interfaith dialogue. She serves as the Chair of the Won Buddhist Studies Department at the Won Institute of Graduate Studies. She has traveled to many countries to present and lead workshops and retreats on interfaith dialogue, social justice, mindfulness in education, and spiritual practice in daily life. She is committed to embodying the truth of interconnection and invests her time putting into practice her belief that renewing society starts with renewing our inner lives.Social Media with Grace:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/3/369https://tricycle.org/article/timeless-son/https://tricycle.org/article/mindful-journaling/Connect with her at:https://www.gracesangjinsong.com

An engaging conversation with Grace about creating  space for self, community, & collective inclusion for 21st Century Dharma.GUEST:Grace Song is an ordained Won Buddhist Kyomunim, meditation teacher, and advocate of interfaith dialogue. She serves as the Chair of the Won Buddhist Studies Department at the Won Institute of Graduate Studies. She has traveled to many countries to present and lead workshops and retreats on interfaith dialogue, social justice, mindfulness in education, and spiritual practice in daily life. She is committed to embodying the truth of interconnection and invests her time putting into practice her belief that renewing society starts with renewing our inner lives.Social Media with Grace:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/3/369https://tricycle.org/article/timeless-son/https://tricycle.org/article/mindful-journaling/Connect with her at: https://www.gracesangjinsong.comHOSTRev. 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 2021. In Season 2, she hosts with Lama Karma Yeshe Chödrön, Sister Peace ,and Dalila Bothwell. You can learn more about her work at AccessToZen.orgHer new book, Home is Here: Practicing Antiracism with the Engaged Eightfold Path. See all her offerings at EVENTS

Praise to Tārā with Twenty-One Verses of Homage (Skr. Namastāraikaviṃśati­stotra­guṇa­hitasahita) is a liturgy that consists of twenty-seven verses of praise and reverence dedicated to the deity Tārā. The first twenty-one verses are at once a series of homages to the twenty-one forms of Tārā and a poetic description of her physical features, postures, and qualities.    -  84000 Reading Room Chanted by Pema Khandro Rinpoche and Buddhist Studies Institute dharma friends, using the English translation and melody arranged by the  Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition. The English text used in this practice, with accompanying Tibetan phonetics, is available for free pdf download here, through the courtesy of Maitripa College of Portland, Oregon and the FPMT..................................................................PEMA KHANDRO RINPOCHE is an internationally renowned teacher and scholar of Buddhist philosophy. She is the founder of Ngakpa International and its three projects, The Buddhist Studies Institute, Dakini Mountain and the Yogic Medicine Institute.Visit Khandro-la's website for more resourcesand learn more about the Buddhist Studies Institute here.   You can find Khandro-la on social media on:FacebookInstagramX (formerly Twitter)--------------------------------------------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 Lingointerview 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.Watch her on the Lion's Roar Podcast hosted by Mariana Restrepo, discussing the Vajrayana yidam practice of Chenrezig.Lama Yeshe also shares with ODA this guided practice of tonglen and sacred creativity as well as this guided practice of being love.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. 

PEMA KHANDRO RINPOCHE is an internationally renowned teacher and scholar of Buddhist philosophy. She is the founder of Ngakpa International and its three projects, The Buddhist Studies Institute, Dakini Mountain and the Yogic Medicine Institute. In her work as a Buddhist teacher, she is an authorized Lama and lineage holder of the Nyingma and Kagyu traditions and was enthroned to carry on the lineage of her predecessor, the first Pema Khandro, an early twentieth century yogini from Eastern Tibet. Khandro-la has led a vibrant world-wide community since 1999. Through the Buddhist Studies Institute, she also offers a complete curriculum of training in Tibetan meditation and Buddhist Philosophy. She has a bachelor's degree in Sociology, a Master’s degree specializing in Tibetan studies, and a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Virginia. Her scholarly research focuses on the history of Dzogchen and on Women in Tibetan Buddhism.Visit Khandro-la's website for more resourcesand learn more about the Buddhist Studies Institute here.   You can find Khandro-la on social media on:Facebook Instagram X (formerly Twitter)---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 Lingointerview 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.Watch her on the Lion's Roar Podcast hosted by Mariana Restrepo, discussing the Vajrayana yidam practice of Chenrezig.Lama Yeshe also shares with ODA this guided practice of tonglen and sacred creativity as well as this guided practice of being love.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. 

GUEST:Dr. Rebecca Li, a Dharma heir in the lineage of Chan Master Sheng Yen, is the founder and guiding teacher of Chan Dharma Community. Her books include Allow Joy into Our Hearts: Chan Practice in Uncertain Times and the upcoming book Illumination: A Guide to the Buddhist Method of No-Method. She lives in New Jersey with her husband.Illumination: A Guide to the Buddhist Method of No-Method, clarifies the practice of  "Silent Illumination," (shikantaza in the Japanese tradition) and outlines the potential "traps and snares" that are encountered on the path to Awakening, as well as the potential remedies. Each chapter illuminates mind habits that cause difficulty to earnest meditation students, including: craving mode (striving for enlightenment), aversion mode (trying to eliminate thoughts completely), trance mode (cultivating a peaceful but foggy mind state), Intellectualization mode (substituting concepts for direct experience), quietism mode (dwelling in a cave of no thoughts), and forgetting emptiness (belief in someplace to arrive at and dwell in).CONNECT with her writings, talks, guided meditation, teaching, buy her book, & see the book tour schedule at www.rebeccali.org

Dr. Rebecca Li, author of 'Illumination: A Guide to the Buddhist Method of No-Method', discusses her practice & teachings on Chan Buddhism. Topics include lineage comparisons with Zen Buddhism, the role of lay and English-speaking traditions within the Dharma Drum lineage, understanding diversity among practitioners, addressing inequality in interview sign-ups, the impetus for writing a book, and exploring the concept of the Buddhist Method of No Method.

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.Find René’s talks and guided meditations for EBMC’s Alphabet Sangha on YouTube. Here are also a few of his talks and conversations on Spotify on Gender and No Self, Attachment Trauma Repair, Bringing our Mindfulness to Powerand Bringing Compassion to Conflict.Article in Lion's Roar: Finding Nonself on My Gender Journey

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.Find René’s talks and guided meditations for EBMC’s Alphabet Sangha on YouTube. Here are also a few of his talks and conversations on Spotify on Gender and No Self, Attachment Trauma Repair, Bringing our Mindfulness to Powerand Bringing Compassion to Conflict. Article in Lion's Roar: Finding Nonself on My Gender JourneyHOSTDalila 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.comIG: @moonearthlove

A meditation with guidance by words and song!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 @JoeReillyMusichttps://www.joereilly.org/music/