Asian American Buddhists will gather on Saturday, March 16, 2024 to mark the three-year memorial of the 2021 Atlanta-area shootings. We remember that these shootings are woven into a broader tapestry of anti-Asian animus, religious bigotry, and injustice against women. The suffering of racial, religious, and gender violence affects us all.

Join me in an intimate conversation with author, speaker, and educator Chenxing Han about her new memoir, one long listening: a memoir of grief, friendship, and spiritual care. This event is for paid newsletter subscribers and coaching clients.

I’ll be joining the Natural Dharma Fellowship’s program, “Confronting Race & Injustice on the Path to True Freedom”, in dialogue with Duncan Williams Sensei, to discuss our work to confront Asian erasure in American Buddhism.

I will be joining Rima Vesely-Flad, Visiting Professor of Buddhism and Black Studies at Union Theological Seminary, for a virtual event on April 11.

I was honored to speak to the congregation of Reverend Blayne Higa’s Kona Hongwanji Buddhist Temple on Hawaii Island for Nirvana Day, the anniversary of the historical Buddha’s enlightenment. Video coming soon!

I joined Olivia Clementine as a guest on her podcast, “Love & Liberation with Olivia Clementine”. It was a great conversation where I spoke about what I’ve learned about leadership through Zen training, and on the value of training in Zen through the martial arts and Asian culture.

I was so pleased to be invited to give a guest teisho (Zen lecture) to the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care on December 22. Here is the video of my teisho, which addressed the role of martial arts in Zen and the discomfort we experience in Zen training—and how important for our training that discomfort is. Full video.

I joined a panel of Asian American women Buddhist teachers for the Vista Buddhist Temple’s annual community gathering to address how our community of AA+PI Buddhists can find resources from Buddhism to care for ourselves amidst the growing tide of anti-Asian violence.

I joined this panel called Lineage of Embodiment Panel: Cultural Roots & Embodiment hosted by The Embodiment Institute, joining Prentis Hemphill, Nazbah Tom, and Mark-Anthony Johnson to share my own perspective on the role of cultural appropriation and colonization in spirituality.

On June 30, 2022, I joined Reverend Mike Mui Lewis in speaking to the 12-month course, “Zen Foundations”, hosted by the Eon Zen Center. We had a great talk about the role of ceremony, ritual, and liturgy (chanting) in our respective Zen temples. Full video.

My talk at the Future of American Buddhism conference about how Kendo as Zen training is a Buddhist innovation—and how critiques of Buddhist "tradition" can actually signal discomfort with Buddhism's Asian roots.

On July 22, 2021 I gave a talk to the International Zen Peacemakers group entitled, “To Live Is To Kill: A Starting Point For Our Training As Peacemakers”. It was a very sweet discussion with excellent questions and sincere engagement around topics of Zen and how we make change in the world. Full video.

On May 7, 2021, I was pleased to join HIFF and the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Honolulu as a speaker on the #LiveTogether Virtual Panel, which happened in conjunction with a free virtual screening of the Oscar winning film MINARI, about a Korean American family that settles in rural Arkansas. Full video.

On May 5, 2021, I was honored to be one of six speakers and 49 Buddhist clergy from many different lineages and sects in a 49th day memorial service for the victims of the March 16, 2021 Atlanta shootings and other victims of anti-Asian violence. You can watch the event in its entirety above, or watch my dharma talk on the paramita of virya on YouTube.

I was happy to deliver one of the weekly Dharma Talks to the student body of the Pacific Buddhist Academy, one of few Buddhist high schools in the United States.

On March 24, I was happy to join Kathleen Lee on “Connecting Hawaiʻi Business” on ThinkTech Hawaiʻi. Watch the segment to hear how we addressed how to discuss the rising tide of anti-Asian violence in the workplace, and what people can do personally and politically to prevent further violence and more harm. Full video.

On January 14, 2021, I was pleased to speak to members of the US-Japan Council on the mental health and spiritual challenges presented by the COVID-19 global pandemic—and strategies for still staying calm, strong, and grounded despite the chaos. Full video.