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Our upcoming events.

Shining a Light of Wisdom on Patriarchy & Queerness

Sunday, 26 February

6-8 pm GMT | 1-3 pm ET | 10 am-12 noon PT

We gather to honour and celebrate LGBTQIA+ History month (UK) and Black History Month (USA) by shining a mindful light on patriarchy, its impact on Buddhism and especially, on our Queer, Trans and Non-Binary BIPOC/Global Majority family. 

Together we will explore how mindfulness and Buddhist wisdom can free us from the shackles of patriarchy towards healing, reconciliation and liberation.We explore the  deep lived wisdom from Lama Rod Owens (he/his, USA), Bhante Tashi Choedup (they/her India) and Fresh “Lev” White (he/they, USA).

This event is a collaboration between Buddhist across Traditions (BAT), Jamyang Rainbow Sangha and Rainbow Sangha Ireland standing in a spirit of kinship and solidarity to support our Queer and Queer BIPOC/Global Majority friends at this event.

In the spirit of collective growth and healing towards inclusion this event is open to all – all identities, cultures and ethnicities are welcome!

Venerable Tashi Choedup (they/her) is a Trans feminine Buddhist monastic (nunk) with almost a decade and a half of experience in human rights and community work. They are a member of the Telangana State Government’s Welfare Board for Transgender Persons. They are currently the National Coordinator (India) at the Foundation for Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). They are an executive committee member at the Anveshi Research Centre for Women’s Studies and a core group member of the National Ecumenical Forum For Gender and Sexual Minorities (NEFGSM) at the National Council of Churches of India. They also engage with queer folks as a peer counselor. They are a fellow at Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum. They are one of the founding members of Telangana Hijra Intersex Transgender Samiti and Queer Swabhimana Yatra. They are a student of Buddhist philosophy and psychology. Their primary areas of interest are community building, faith, religion, mental health, and queer rights

Lama Rod Owens  (he/his) is an author, activist, and authorized Lama (Buddhist Teacher) in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism. Lama Rod is the co-founder of Bhumisparsha, a Buddhist tantric practice and study community. He holds a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist Studies from Harvard Divinity School where he focused on the intersection of social change, identity, and spiritual practice. He is the author of Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation Through Anger, and a co-author of Radical Dharma, Talking Race, Love, and Liberation, which explores race in the context of American Buddhist communities. Lama Rod has been a teacher with the Daishin Zen Buddhist Temple, the Urban Yoga Foundation, Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme), a visiting teacher with Natural Dharma Fellowship and the Brooklyn Zen Center. He has been a faculty member for the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s professional education program in mindfulness for educators and has served as a guest faculty member for the school’s course Mindfulness for Educators. Lama Rod has been published and featured in several publications including Buddhadharma, Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, The Harvard Divinity Bulletin, Spirit Magazine. He has offered talks, retreats, and workshops for many organizations and universities including New York University, Yale University, Harvard University, Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School, Tufts University, University of Vermont, and Boston College. Lama Rod can be reached at www.lamarod.com.

Fresh “Lev” White (he/they) is a love and compassion activist. He offers mindfulness, coaching, mediation, and diversity trainings as tools for shifting towards more authentic, conscious, and passionate living, working with individuals, households, and professional teams. Lev is a  certified professional co-active coach (CPCC), and professional trainer and is  mindfully and lovingly grounded at the East Bay Meditation Center, in Oakland, CA, grateful graduate of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leadership (CDL) and Dedicated Practitioner (DPP) programs.  Lev is also trained in Mindful Self-Compassion as offered by the Center for Mindful Self Compassion founded by Kristin Neff and Chris Germer.

Lev offers secular mindfulness and non-secular meditation, talks on empathy, compassion. He encourages team building through his workshops which include “Dismantling Microaggressions”, “Compassion in the Workplace”, “White Allyship 101”, and “Trans, Gender Expansive, and LGBQIA+ Ally Awareness”  in both corporate, spiritual, and private settings. He also offers grief circles, and mediation for groups. 

Education for the Ecological Crisis using Buddhist Ethics

Saturday, 4th March

7-9am PST | 3-5pm GMT | 6-8pm Kampala | 8.30-10.30pm India (IST)

Join us in conversation with three amazing Buddhist practitioners who are innovating and actively transforming education of children, as they share how Buddhist ethical foundations of love, compassion and interconnection are being universally adopted into the present day learning centers of tomorrow. 

We are grateful for this unique opportunity to bring together Bhante Bhikkhu Buddharakkhita (Bhante B., Uganda), Lobsang Phuntsok (Genla, India) and Brother Chan Pháp Dung (Br Pháp Dung, USA) from across 3 continents to connect with YOU and share in this vital global conversation, as we learn how humane-based education is being used to grow resilience, creativity and joy in the face of our ecological crisis. 

Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community: Established in 2006, JGCC is a home and lifelong learning center for abandoned, and vulnerable children ranging from toddlers through college age. Jhamtse Gatsal means “garden of love and compassion” in Tibetan.

The Community is located at the trijunction of India, Tibet, and Bhutan in the remote foothills of the Himalayas. Jhamtse Gatsal was featured in the Emmy Award winning documentary film Tashi and The Monk.

What was once called a “brave social experiment”, Jhamtse Gatsal has become a pedagogical model (educating the heart, mind and body) that is changing education throughout India and around the world. The Community’s sustainable and mindful living practices are impacting surrounding villages and inspiring people and communities on a global basis. 

The Uganda Buddhist Centre: UBC was founded by the Most Ven. Bhante Buddharakkhita (the first African Buddhist monk) on April 10, 2005. The Centre was founded to introduce and preserve the Buddha’s teachings within the context of African culture, and to exemplify the Buddhist practice through service to the public. Presently, UBC achieves this through organizing meditation retreats, its humanitarian services, and through the activities of promoting world peace. UBC has established the first ever Buddhist School in Africa, called  Buddhist Peace School and combining the preschool and a primary school. This includes combine novice monks at the Temple, orphans and vulnerable children from the surrounding communities. Inclusivity is one of the core –  to  provide inclusive education to all individuals from a wide range of backgrounds. Children and staff from the different  religions, races, spiritual traditions, genders etc are included.  The schools philosophy is to train students in the 5 H’s (head, heart, hands, health and happiness). More information about the center  and its school program can be found on  https://ugandabuddhistcenter.org/

PLum Village – Wake Up Schools : Wake Up Schools is an initiative of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village community. We help educators to be happy and free through the practices of mindfulness and applied ethics.

By living mindfully, teachers, students and their wider communities can experience more peace, learn how to take care of difficult emotions and create conditions for a happy school and a healthy planet