On the teachings and vitality in discomfort, and the smallest moments of recognition and awareness that can quietly change us all.

A conversation surrounding the individual and group work of developing compassionate and diversely represented spaces.

• 0:41 – Introducing Rahshaana Green; https://www.rahshaanagreen.com/
• 3:20 – Inviting people to occupy and be in discomfort with me. Avoiding discomfort becomes a barrier in creating and maintaining community.
• 7:10 – Working with organizations on confronting and being with various aspects of tension and discomfort on behalf of diversity, equity and inclusion.
• 10:15 – The brain is naturally wired for bias and habit patterns. Even well intentioned, it may not be optimized for inclusion or equity.
• 12:45 – Facilitating belonging through the work we do. Less ‘othering’, more connection.
• 16:55 – Build a bridge; incrementally change the world.
• 18:15 – Yoga/Mindfulness/Compassion – based organizations risk bypassing this work because simply knowing concepts is not the same as daily application.
• 20:15 – Small things speak to the foundational shifts of introspection. Belonging in a space means the ability to show up in an authentic way.
• 24:55 – Go put yourself into a position that isn’t comfortable. Listen and learn. Find opportunities to learn about ourselves in community.
• 27:30 – This is not just beneficial for people of color, or marginalized groups. We all learn and grow with diverse representation.
• 29:40 – The core of cultivating belonging – As our hearts grow, others feel seen, understood and heard.
• 32:30 – Create opportunities for you to get deeply uncomfortable with the status quo in order to change it. Create safe spaces around curiosity.

On the life-giving, natural practice of listening well, the core of poetry and the inextricable ties between Buddhism and true shamanism.

On The Shamanic Bones of Zen and the practice of zazen as a portal for wisdom. A conversation addressing the importance of ritual and ceremony in connection with our self and ancestors.

• 6:15 – The Naked Nothing – Joy in just sitting. Being awake to life.
• 8:10 – Discovering poetry. Being a conduit, writing the essence of something, and finding a voice in writing poetry.
• 12:05 – Letting go and finding new words. “Explaining magic strips the ocean of its waves.”
• 14:45 – Who will show up in an inner monastery for poetic solitude? Rituals and Ceremonies are to be lived.
• 17:00 – Recognizing the parallels and merging of the shamanism and zen. The power of ritual and ceremony.
• 19:25 – The daily devotion to things unseen. ‘Zazen is good for nothing.’ Not looking to gain anything, but seeing deep into life.
• 24:45 – Becoming completely intimate with yourself. Through this intimacy, the possibility of intimacy with another arises.
• 27:00 – Chanting spells – In transporting the breath the inhalation must be full…
• 29:20 – The practice and purpose of zazen. Zazen is a portal for wisdom. Chanting gives you the rhythm that goes along with the stillness and silence. The indigenous bone is the voice of the drum.
• 32:15 – Celebration and initiation rituals; speaking to the ancestors is part of many earth based traditions. The ancestors are inside of us, we are them.
• 36:20 – Taking the vows; standing at the gateway of freedom; making the vow to live a particular way; receiving a new dharma name.
• 40:40 – The Gate of Sweet Dew; To engage the body and mind in ritual and ceremony will reveal the soul and spirit of your own life.
• 51:10 – You cannot achieve Buddhist teachings. There’s nothing to show that you have become accomplished, but there is a way of seeing how life is experienced through each other.