Opening Dharma Access: Listening to BIPOC Teachers & Practitioners

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.
TODAY’S 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.

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 female-identified 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!

SISTER PEACE spent five years in government work before realizing that something was missing. Feeling spiritually bereft, she began practicing at the Washington Mindfulness Community where she encountered the teachings of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Compelled by his teachings, she relocated in 2006 to the Plum Village Monastery in France to deepen her mindfulness practice and where she was ordained a Buddhist nun in 2008, and received the Dharma Lamp Transmission in 2017.
She has dedicated her life to bringing the practice of mindfulness to people around the world –from educators and teenagers to artists and politicians. In particular, Sister Peace is interested in helping people understand the aspiration of Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to build the “Beloved Community.”
Sister Peace has organized retreats in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America; and facilitated retreats for People of Color, Business Leaders, Silicon Valley, Educators, Artists and others. Most recently, her heartfelt focus of service and practice has been with the children in the Shelby County Juvenile Detention Center – a jail for children in Memphis, Tennessee. She is on a virtual team offering Mindfulness and the Arts during the COVID-19 Crisis with students at East High School in Memphis.
Sister Peace currently resides in Memphis, Tennessee, where she practices Engaged Buddhism.

You can find Sister Peace in Meditations on the Plum Village app, as well as articles in Lions Roar and The Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation Newsletter - The Raft, the Mindfulness Bell Magazine, and an upcoming article in the Arrow Magazine.
Here are a few links to her teachings:
YOUTUBE video
Uncomfortable Spaces - Cultivating Love & Peace for Racial Healing

Articles in the Mindfulness Bell
Ancestral Insights Article
When Giants Meet

Click here to learn more about the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh and Plum Village.
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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 Lingo interview 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.
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.

Opening offering from Rev. Liên Shutt of Access to Zen. Come back for our official LAUNCH on March 1st when all three hosts' interviews will be shared!

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 over 30 years in the Theravada Buddhist tradition in the U.S., India, and Sri Lanka. Anushka lives in San Francisco and teaches retreats and workshops around the world. They also works as a leadership coach and management consultant, influenced by a BA in anthropology and religion from Harvard and an MBA from Yale. Her teaching is informed by nature, creative arts, political engagement and modern urban life.

Connect with Anushka at:

https://www.anushkaf.org/
HOST
Rev. 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 2022 with Lama Karma Yeshe Chödrön, Sister Peace and Dalila Bothwell. You can learn more about her work at AccessToZen.org
Her new book, Home is Here: Practicing Antiracism with the Engaged Eightfold Path launches on Tuesday, Aug. 22! Join her in-person or livestream at Book Inc Berkeley
For full info on all her offerings: EVENTS

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