Opening Dharma Access: Listening to BIPOC Teachers & Practitioners

In this mindful dharma talk, Rahil invites us all to feel into our bodies and stay with our experience as we contemplate the 5th Precept: Non-intoxication or Clear Heart-Mind. Rahil talks about his own initial aversion to speaking on the Precepts, and the beauty of relating to this framework and tradition of guidance as a path toward deepening our presence to our lives. Rather than seeing them as...

bruni dâvila talks about the fourth precept, not lying/honoring truths. What does that look like in practice? bruni gives some examples for the times we are living in together.  GUEST   BRUNI DÁVILA (she/they) has practiced Insight and Zen meditation since 1995. They graduated from the IMS/IRC Teacher Training Program, and has been guided and supported by various wonderful teachers and sanghas, an...

Rev. Willie discusses the 3rd Precept, not misusing sexuality, and frames it as how to be safe and not hurt with sexuality. After his talk, there is a discussion with Rev. Dana Takagi and Rev. Liên Shutt going deeper into what boundaries in sanghas and practice centers might look like, and how awareness of power is an important part of this precept.  You can also watch the talk on YouTube REVEREND...

In week 2 of Precepts for Skillful Engagement: Cultivating loving interactions in turbulent times (BIPOC Teachers, Series 1), Dana talks about the importance of deeper and creative understandings of the precept of not stealing. Drawing from her personal background as an academic, and as a priest and teacher, Dana examines the precept of not stealing when framed in terms of who believes they have e...

First of 6 parts series from AccessToZen.org. For the video of this talk (& Deep Listening prompts & participants' comments, see link at end of show notes). Week 1 of Precepts for Skillful Engagement in Turbulent Times series: Rev. Liên gives an overview of 3 ways to practice with the precepts which she connects to how Sama has been translated as "Right," "Wise," &...

Opening Dharma Access podcast, season 4 compilation of highlights of all our fantastic guests this past season. We hope you enjoy! Guests in order of appearance: Rev. syd yang, Siddhesh Mukerji, Reverend/Kumu June Tanoue, Rev. Dana Takagi, Judy Nakatomi, Professor Alice Yang, Professor/Rev. Joseph Cheah, Abbess Yuko Yamada, Rev. Liên Shutt, Professor Michael Omi, Mushim Ikeda, Professor Sharon Suh...

Rev. Liên & Rev. Dana tries -- & about what it might be our future, too! Zen Fools! :) The Co-Host reflect on 2 Seasons forwarding Asian American (AA) & Asian Diasporic (AD) Buddhist teachers & practitioners; along with other AAs who have shaped our collective understanding of race and racialization in the U.S. We thank Rev. Dana Takagi for her dedication to these aims for the last...

As our world continues to tumble, here's a Soto Zen chant for Well-being. Kannon, or Kanzeon, are the Japanese names for the Bodhisattva of Compassion. This chant is calling on her/them to support us to be with "the cries of the world." Traditionally, just a chant. Here, Rev. has embedded it with a meditation, offering guidance to reflect on how to practice being with and be nourish...

Reverend Joseph Cheah sits down with Dana to discuss his research and writings which push back against dominant understandings of Asian religions that were propagated by Western frameworks. He brings his combination of familial and cultural Buddhist roots with his Catholic faith and livelihood to also offer the idea that anti-hate activism by Asian organizers is a deep kind of spiritual social pra...

This month on Opening Dharma Access, we continue to shift from our regular schedule to focus on the ongoing ICE occupation and state-supported destruction impacting the globe. Rev. Dana Takagi reflects on her personal experience of returning to some foundational practice tools during a time of grieving, and the necessity as practitioners to double down in times of intense hatred and anger. She als...

This month on Opening Dharma Access, we continue to shift from our regular schedule to focus on the ongoing ICE agency violence. Rev. Dana Takagi speaks about the many ways to respond to fascism from a Dharma perspective, whether that be peaceful protest or staying educated on which systems can be used as shields for the vulnerable. Dana recommends some reading, watching and podcasts, to understan...

The 5 Ways of "a superior person's gift" are (as ordered in this talk): right time, respectfully, with a generous heart, without denigration, & out of faith.  Given the heart-breaking events in the US this week, ODA will present a series of offerings from both hosts, Rev. Liên Shutt & Rev. Dana Takagi. This episode is from a talk at Access to Zen, Rev. Liên's sangha. Vi...

A reading from Sharon's edited and author of Emergent Dharma (& go get the book!) Sharon A. Suh is Professor of Buddhism and Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship and Strategic Initiatives at Seattle University. She is author of Being Buddhist in a Christian World: Gender and Community in a Korean American Temple (University of Washington Press, 2004), Silver Screen Buddha: Buddhism in A...

Reading an excerpt from their chapter in Emergent Dharma. Enjoy (& go get the book!) Rev. Syd Yang , MDiv (they/them), is a mixed race/Taiwanese American queer trans/non- binary Buddhist Minister, movement chaplain, spiritual counselor and writer who engages decolonial possibilities for shared liberation through their practice, Blue Jaguar Healing Arts. Syd’s work and writing finds its resonan...

Join us for this embodied & inclusive-focused discussion! It'll leave you wanting more so go out and get Emergent Dharma: Asian American Feminist Buddhist on Practice, Identity, and Resistance! Guests: Sharon A. Suh is Professor of Buddhism and Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship and Strategic Initiatives at Seattle University. She is author of Being Buddhist in a Christian World: Gend...

Rev. Dana Takagi reflects on the significance of Abbot Yuko Yamada being the first woman teacher at the founding temple of Soto Zen, Eiheiji. Dana also highlights Yamada's teaching of the Denkōroku, a text written by the ancestor Keizan who emphasized making Buddhism accessible to the masses and not just monastic residential practitioners. Dana emphasizes Abbot Yamada's ongoing contribut...

GUEST YUKO 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. Sh...

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 med...

"Practice" part of convo between Siddhesh Mukerji & Rev. Liên. GUEST: SIDDHESH MUKERJI (he/him) is a Zen practitioner and a scholar of engaged Buddhism and Buddhist social work. He was born in India, grew up in the United States, and currently lives in Ireland. HOST: REV. LIÊN SHUTT (she/they) is a recognized leader in the movement that breaks through the wall of American white-cente...

Tune in to this soulful conversation between Siddhesh Mukerji and Rev. Liên on the intersections of Engaged Buddhism & Buddhist Social Work.  GUEST: SIDDHESH MUKERJI (he/him) is a Zen practitioner and a scholar of engaged Buddhism and Buddhist social work. He was born in India, grew up in the United States, and currently lives in Ireland. Siddhesh writes and does research on social work and en...

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 acro...

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...

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 we...

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, namel...