- January 14, 2021
- 7:00 pm
- Online (U.S. Pacific Time)
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This live online conversation was recorded on our CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.
Considered one of the leaders of a current generation of Buddhist teachers, Lama Rod Owens is a Buddhist minister, author, activist, and an authorized Lama—or Buddhist teacher—in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism. Through his writings, teachings, and travels Lama Rod invites everyone into his life intersections as a Black, queer male who was born and raised in the South, and heavily influenced by the church and its community. Key to his work today, and informed by his experiences, is his exploration of love, but also an emotion that we rarely speak about—rage.
White supremacy in the United States has long necessitated that Black rage be suppressed, repressed, or denied, often as a means of survival—a literal matter of life and death. For Lama Rod, speaking about emotion, both universally, but also from a unique point of view as a Black man, is both healing and liberatory.
Lama Rod shares a potent vision of anger and rage that acknowledges and honors their power as vehicles for radical social change and enduring spiritual transformation.
Join Executive Director of the Counter Narrative Project, Charles Stephens, for a conversation with Lama Rod exploring how unmetabolized anger—and the grief, hurt, and transhistorical trauma beneath it—needs to be explored, respected, and fully embodied to heal from heartbreak and begin to walk the path of liberation.
Exploring and loving our anger can set us free.
Please note that this conversation will be hosted live online and includes an audience Q&A. Instructions on how to join the conversation will be included in your event confirmation email. If you need additional assistance finding or joining the event, please email publicprograms@ciis.edu.
Lama Rod Owens is a Buddhist minister, author, activist, yoga instructor and authorized Lama, or Buddhist teacher, in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism, and is considered one of the leaders of his generation of Buddhist teachers. He holds a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist Studies from Harvard Divinity School and is a co-author of Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation. Owens is the co-founder of Bhumisparsha, a Buddhist tantric practice and study community. Has been published in Buddhadharma, Lion’s Roar, Tricycle and The Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and offers talks, retreats and workshops in more than seven countries.
Charles Stephens has been engaged in social justice movement work for over 15 years, working with a wide range of organizations including HIV, LGBT, racial justice organizations, and the arts.
Currently, he serves as the Executive Director of the Counter Narrative Project, which he founded in 2014. He is also a member of HIV Racial Justice Now and the Alliance Theatre Advisory Board.
He received the Georgia State University College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Alumni Award and received the Gentleman of the Year Award from the Gentlemen’s Foundation. He has also been a CDC Institute for HIV Prevention Leadership Fellow, an Arcus Foundation Executive Director Fellow, and a Rockwood Leader in the HIV movement fellow.
The anthology he co-edited Black Gay Genius, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. His writings have appeared in AJC, Atlanta Magazine, Creative Loafing, and the Advocate.
A native Georgian, Charles received his B.A. from Georgia State University.
