Opening Dharma Access: Listening to BIPOC Teachers & Practitioners
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 Takagi
This 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: [email protected]
Further Info at: AccessToZen.org
- Update frequency
- every 12 days
- Average duration
- 30 minutes
- Episodes
- 96
- Years Active
- 2022 - 2025
Season 3 Premiere! The Disquiet & Forwarding Asian American & Asian Diasporic Buddhist Experiences with Rev. Liên Shutt & Rev. Dana Takagi
NEW Co-Host: Reverend Dana Takagi
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Grace Song is an ordained Won Buddhist Kyomunim, meditation teacher, and advocate of interfaith dialogue. She serves as the Chair …
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Resourcing our Practice in Nature with René Rivera
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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 …
Mother Earth Relaxation Meditation with Joe Reilly
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 …
Dharma Songs for Connection with Joe Reilly
GUEST:
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 progres…
Lovingkindness Meditation with Anushka Fernandopulle
A short, but lovingly offered, meditation from Anushka Fernandopulle. Originally offered on Dharma Seed.
Anushka Fernandopulle (she/they) is on the Spirit Rock Teacher's Council and has trained for o…
The Nature of Practice & Teaching with Anushka Fernandopulle
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Anushka Fernandopulle (she/they) is on the Spirit Rock Teacher's Council and has trained for over 30 years in the Theravada Buddhist tradition in the U.S., India, and Sri Lanka. Anushka lives in…
The Voiceless Voice with Rev. Mark Unno
A multidimensional practice of hearing Dharma, chanting, and silent meditation in the Shin Buddhist tradition, offered by Rev. Mark Unno.
Rev. Mark Unno is Professor of Buddhist Studies & Department H…
Going Deep with Rev. Mark Unno
REV. MARK UNNO is Professor of Buddhist Studies & Department Head of Religious Studies at the University of Oregon, specializing in Pure Land, Zen, and Shingon Buddhism. He is the 14th generation min…
Don't Hold On To Anger with Cristina Moon
A reading of a piece from the CMOON Substack Newsletter, by the author, Cristina Moon.
As a strategist, author, and Chozen-ji priest, Cristina Moon works with individuals and organizations to develo…