Opening Dharma Access: Listening to BIPOC Teachers & Practitioners

Listen in on this candid and wise interview with Myokei Caine-Barret, Shonin, as she shares about her own path of transformation and how we can all create a deeper experience of refuge for each other in the Dharma. She names the importance of sharing about race and increasing awareness in dharma spaces in the face of resistance. And how empowering it can be to leave space for listening, honoring people's unique experiences, and the importance of offering a warm welcome. She encourages us to learn from the radical hospitality in cultures of color, and describes how she used chanting to work with her rage. She also addresses the challenges of offering the Dharma in BIPOC communities based in Christianity.  We apologize for the brief moments of echo in the recording. ___Myokei Caine-Barrett currently holds the position of Bishop of the Nichiren Shu Order of North America. She is the first woman to hold this position and the first person of African-American and Japanese descent to be fully ordained in the Nichiren Shu order. She is also the chief priest and guiding teacher of Myoken-ji Temple in Houston, TX.     Myokei Shonin is engaged in spreading the Dharma behind bars at Texas Department of Criminal Justice. She supports weekend trainings for Healing Warrior Hearts, a Texas for Heroes project designed to truly welcome veterans home. She is a facilitator in dialogues on racism and mindful cross-cultural conflict resolution, as well as engaging in interfaith and intrafaith dialogue.     Her writings have been published in a variety of Buddhist magazines, including Tricycle and Lion’s Roar, and is featured in The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women.Learn more about Myokei at https://myoken-ji-usa.org/  __TODAY'S HOSTKaira Jewel Lingo began practicing mindfulness in 1997 and is a teacher in the Zen and Vipassana lineages. Author of We Were Made for These Times: Ten Lessons in Moving through Change, Loss, and Disruption (Parallax Press), she teaches Buddhist meditation, mindfulness, and compassion internationally, focusing on waking up in daily life. Ordained for 15 years in Thich Nhat Hanh’s monastic community, Kaira Jewel now teaches both Buddhism and secular mindfulness, writes, and offers spiritual mentoring to groups.Hear more about Kaira Jewel as ODA co-hosts Rev. Liên Shutt and Lama Karma Yeshe interview her about her Dharma experiences as a practitioner and teacher of color. Kaira Jewel also shares with ODA this guided practice on getting grounded. Visit kairajewel.com to learn more about her Dharma offerings. May all beings find refuge!

Listen to this dharma story Thomas created and shared at East Bay Meditation Center in August 2022. This tale deals with our developmental struggles and aversion to what the Path is asking of us, and ends with an invitation to a new perspective about how we can engage with less entanglement. Thomas can be reached at: www.avant-dharam.com

A fascinating conversation with Thomas Davis IV and Rev. Liên about the possibilities of expanding the range for assessing BIPOC teachers' readiness to teach and the connections between the Dharma and the creative process.Thomas Davis IV is a Contemplative Artist based in Los Angeles who explores the connections between the principles of the Dharma, Christian Mysticism, Jazz Ethics, Art and Sciences. Thomas self-identifies as a Contemplative Artist which allows for a consistent and fluid commitment to personal authenticity; and for the exploration of emerging ideas, concepts and individual expressions of Liberation.       Media: Lions Roar Juneteenth Edition 2022Thomas can be reached at: www.avant-dharam.comThis week's Interviewer, Rev. Liên, can be reached at: AccessToZen.org

In this month's practice offering, Bhante Sanathavihari shares a chanting practice central to the novice monastic training in the Sri Lanka tradition. The Pali and English text is available here for those who want to follow along with the chant.The Caturārakkhā, or Four-Fold Protective Contemplations, consists of:(1) Buddhānussati Recollection on the Buddha(2) Mettā Loving-Kindness Meditation(3) Asubha Meditation on Impurities of the Body(4) Maraṇsati Mindfulness of deathThe contemplations in the third and fourth parts of the practice are challenging, in language, import, and emotional impact. In particular, the third contemplation is consistently a topic of vigorous discussion among practitioners (see, for example, this contemporary discussion thread). Considering what does and does not resonate for us, and how we can find ways to relate to the essence of the teaching, despite what jars, can be very helpful. For example, we may consider the meditation on the impurities of the body from the perspective of how it might help overcome misconceptions about the body, in order to connect with our embodied experience in ways that are meaningful, wholesome, and wise. We might also consider how much the cultural context impacts our practice, and in what ways contemporary understanding advances or detracts from the essence of the practice.LOS ANGELES SANATHAVIHARI BHIKKU is a Mexican-American Theravāda monk at the Sarathchandra Buddhist Center in North Hollywood, a Sri Lankan center. He is a student of the late Dr.  Bhante Punnaji, and the director of Casa De Bhavana – an outreach project to bring the Dhamma to the Spanish-speaking world. He is also the co-author of Buddhism in Ten Steps. Bhante is a U.S. Air Force veteran, has a B.A. in Religion, and is a Mindfulness researcher at Mount St. Mary University, Los Angeles, and a Graduate Student in Counseling Psychology at Mount St. Mary University. Visit Bhante Sanathavihari on the web and social media:www.casadebhavana.com https://www.facebook.com/sanathaviharibhikkhu  https://www.instagram.com/casadebhavana/Or on YouTube:Youtube channel (English)Youtube channel (Spanish)And check out Bhante's Spanish-language introduction to Buddhism:Buddhismo en 10 Pasos: Una introducción práctica y sencilla al buddhismo para principiantes (Spanish Edition)

Los Angeles Sanathavihari Bhikkhu is a Mexican-American Theravāda monk at the Sarathchandra Buddhist Center in North Hollywood, a Sri Lankan center. He is a student of the late Dr.  Bhante Punnaji, and the director of Casa De Bhavana – an outreach project to bring the Dhamma to the Spanish-speaking world. He is also the co-author of Buddhism in Ten Steps. Bhante is a U.S. Air Force veteran, has a B.A. in Religion, and is a Mindfulness researcher at Mount St. Mary University, Los Angeles, and a Graduate Student in Counseling Psychology at Mount St. Mary University.Visit Bhante Sanathavihari on the web and social media:www.casadebhavana.com https://www.facebook.com/sanathaviharibhikkhu  https://www.instagram.com/casadebhavana/Or on YouTube:Youtube channel (English)Youtube channel (Spanish)And check out Bhante's Spanish-language introduction to Buddhism:Buddhismo en 10 Pasos: Una introducción práctica y sencilla al buddhismo para principiantes (Spanish Edition)TODAY’S HOSTLAMA 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. Their work is featured in Tricycle Magazine, Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Guide, and Lion's Roar Dharma en Espanol.In addition to Opening Dharma Access, Lama Yeshe co-hosts Prajna Sparks, a podcast for listening to, contemplating, and meditating on the Buddhadharma.Hear more about Lama Yeshe as ODA co-hosts Rev. Liên Shutt and Kaira Jewel Lingo interview them about their Dharma experiences as a practitioner and teacher of color.Lama Yeshe also shares with ODA this guided practice of tonglen and sacred creativity.Join the Prajna Fire global community and follow Lama Yeshe on Instagram @karmayeshechodron to learn more about their Dharma offerings.May all beings benefit!

A short, guided meditation on breath with Rev. Dana TakagiDana is a retired professor of Sociology and also a zen priest.  She spent 33 years teaching sociology and Asian Am history at UC Santa Cruz, she is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies.  Zen practice since 1998.2022: Sutra and Bible: an Interview with Duncan Ryūken Williams2020: Most Intimate, Ordinary Way, Recollections of Katherine Thanas  (co-eds. with Eugene Bush; 2nd printing 2022)More of Dana at: https://danatakagizenlife.squarespace.com/

Check out this in-depth interview with Rev. Dana Takagi on being Japanese American practicing convert Soto Zen.Dana is a retired professor of Sociology and also a zen priest.  She spent 33 years teaching sociology and Asian Am history at UC Santa Cruz, she is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies.  Zen practice since 1998. 2022: Sutra and Bible: an Interview with Duncan Ryūken Williams2020: Most Intimate, Ordinary Way, Recollections of Katherine Thanas  (co-eds. with Eugene Bush; 2nd printing 2022)More of Dana at: https://danatakagizenlife.squarespace.com/

A meditation offering from  Margarita LoinazShe has trained in the Tibetan and Theravada traditions.  She met her root teacher Kalu Rimpoche in 1977 and is a Dzogchen student of Lama Drimed Norbu.  She is a graduate of the first Community Dharma Leader’s Program at SRMC and began teaching in l997 leading the Women of Color Sitting Group in Marin City with Marlene Jones and co-organizing the first People of Color Retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in 1999.  Her current teaching integrates Dzogchen practice with social justice and environmental awareness.  As a physician, she served Day Laborers, the Latinx and Homeless communities in San Francisco.  She is a grandmother and originally from the Dominican Republic.Talks and Videos present on Youtube, Vimeo  and Dharma Seed,  EBMC POC Sangha recordings, and Spirit Rock Meditation Center recordings on programs such as BIPOC Voices,  day-longs and BIPOC retreats.She can be reached at:  greatmotherinquiry@gmail.com

Margarita Loinaz and Rev. Liên talks about how practice and teachings to & from BIPOCs was challenging, shifted and transformed in the SF Bay Area since they first met at the Women of Color group in 1996. Margarita Loinaz, MD has trained in the Tibetan and Theravada traditions.  She met her root teacher Kalu Rimpoche in 1977 and is a Dzogchen student of Lama Drimed Norbu.  She is a graduate of the first Community Dharma Leader’s Program at SRMC and began teaching in l997 leading the Women of Color Sitting Group in Marin City with Marlene Jones and co-organizing the first People of Color Retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in 1999.  Her current teaching integrates Dzogchen practice with social justice and environmental awareness.  As a physician, she served Day Laborers, the Latinx and Homeless communities in San Francisco.  She is a grandmother and originally from the Dominican Republic.Talks and Videos present on Youtube, Vimeo  and Dharma Seed,  EBMC POC Sangha recordings, and Spirit Rock Meditation Center recordings on programs such as BIPOC Voices,  day-longs and BIPOC retreats.She can be reached at:  greatmotherinquiry@gmail.com

Stay tuned after the meditation for Comfortable with the Fluidity of East-West, Tradition-Modernity,  Dungse-la’s interview with ODA co-host Lama Karma Yeshe Chödrön.DUNGSE JAMPAL NORBU is son and Dharma Heir of Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche in the Mangala Shri Bhuti community. His mother is Dharma teacher Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel.Dungse la has lived and traveled extensively in Asia, but spent much of his youth in Colorado. If you were to ask Dungse la how long he has been studying the Buddhist path, he would say, “Since I was born.”When Dungse la was still an infant, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche instructed Kongtrul Rinpoche to train Dungse la to uphold and continue Kongtrul Rinpoche’s lineage, particularly that of Mangala Shri Bhuti.With the foundation of his life-long guidance and education from Kongtrul Rinpoche, Dungse la also teaches widely and engages in an annual 100-day retreat at Longchen Jigme Samten Ling. Dungse la’s anecdotal style and first-hand curiosity about how Buddhism relates to actual experience imbue his teaching with a fresh perspective, and reveal a natural wisdom and humor.Check out Dungse-la’s Dharma talks on the EveryBodhi Podcast