The Future of American Buddhism

The Future of
American Buddhism

Welcome to the Future of American Buddhism Conference! We're so happy to have you here! Below you'll find video and written resources to help you prepare for the conference. Each day you can navigate to the menu to see the lineup of events.

Warmly,

Judith Simmer-Brown, Susan Skjei, and Dr. Amelia Hall

Bonus Videos

Bonus: America's Racial Karma with Larry Ward

Dr. Larry Ward discusses his book America's Racial Karma - An Invitation to Heal on breaking America's cycle of racial trauma.

Bonus: The Feminine Principle in Buddhism with Judith Simmer-Brown

Judith Simmer-Brown speaks on The Feminine Principle in The Future of American Buddhism.

Bonus: Free 3-Month Subscription to Lion's Roar

The conference organizers and Lion's Roar are pleased to offer a special collection of articles to help you prepare for the event and deepen the conversation. Conference participants who are not already subscribed to Lion's Roar may register for a free, three-month subscription in order to gain access to this collection.

Conference Recordings

Click on the links below to find the recordings from each day of the conference.

Meet The Presenters

Session 1: Tradition & Innovation

How is Buddhism innovating in an American context without losing connection with its Asian roots?

Rev. Myokei Caine-Barrett, Bishop, Nichiren Shu

Myokei Caine-Barrett currently holds the position of Bishop of the Nichiren Shu Buddhist Order of North America. She is the first woman and first American to hold this position. She is also the guiding teacher and priest of Myoken-ji Temple in Houston, which is home to the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Texas. Myokei Shonin is the first American woman and first person of African American-Japanese descent to have been ordained in the Nichiren Shu Order. Myokei Shonin currently volunteers with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as clergy to two prison sanghas. She has been engaged in this work as a full expression of the Lotus Sutra as the teaching of equality. She maintains a focus on anti-racism as well as healing of trauma through the dharma.

Dr. Alejandro Chaoul, Mind, Body, Spirit Institute

Alejandro Chaoul-Reich, Ph.D. has studied in the Tibetan traditions since 1989, and for nearly 30 years in the Bön Tradition with Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, His Holiness Lungtok Tenpai Nyima Rinpoche, and Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. He holds a Ph.D. in Tibetan religions from Rice University and is the director of the Mind Body Spirit Institute at the Jung Center of Houston. He is senior teacher for Ligmincha International and for The 3 Doors: transforming lives through meditation. For the last 20 years he has been teaching and researching the benefits of Tibetan mind-body practices for people touched by cancer. Alejandro is a Contemplative Fellow at the Mind & Life Institute, and is the author of Chöd Practice in the Bön Tradition (Snow Lion, 2009), Tibetan Yoga for Health & Well-Being (Hay House, 2018), and Tibetan Yoga: Magical Movements of Body, Breath, and Mind (Wisdom Publications, 2021).

Rev. Cristina Moon, Daihonzan Chozen-ji

Cristina Moon is a writer, strategist, and Zen priest. After a career in human rights and social change, and graduating from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, she embarked on three years of monastic training at Daihonzan Chozen-ji, a Rinzai Zen temple in Honolulu. While still in residence at Chozen-ji, Cristina continues to train in zazen, Kendo, Chado, and ceramics—and works with individuals and organizations to develop a fighting spirit and the ability to stay calm in the midst of chaos.

Session 2: Leadership, Power, & Empowerment

How are leaders and teachers across genders and diverse identities being empowered?

Dr. Larry Ward, The Lotus Institute

Dr. Larry Ward is a senior teacher in Buddhist Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village tradition, author of the book America's Racial Karma, and co-author with his wife Peggy of Love's Garden, A Guide To Mindful Relationships. Dr. Ward brings twenty five years of international experience in organizational change and local community renewal to his work as director of the Lotus Institute and as an advisor to the Executive Mind Leadership Institute at the Drucker School of Management. He holds a PhD in Religious Studies with an emphasis on Buddhism and the neuroscience of meditation. Larry is a knowledgeable, charismatic and inspirational teacher, offering insights with personal stories and resounding clarity that express his dharma name, “True Great Sound.”

Dr. Ann Gleig, University of Central Florida

Ann Gleig is an Associate Professor of Religion and Cultural Studies at the University of Central Florida. She is the author of American Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Modernity (Yale University Press, 2019). She is currently working on a collaborative book with Amy Langenberg on sexual misconduct and abuse in contemporary Buddhism, which is under advance contract with Yale University Press.

Dr. Susan Skjei, Naropa University and Right Use of Power Institute

SUSAN SKJEI, PH.D. Over the last 25 years Susan has worked with thousands of leaders in the US, Canada and Europe to cultivate mindfulness and authenticity, strengthen relational and strategic skills, and effectively lead the changes they want to see in their organizations and in the world. Formerly Susan was a Vice President and Chief Learning Officer in the technology sector, an international consultant and the founding director of the Authentic Leadership Center at Naropa University. She is a senior teacher in the Shambhala community and currently provides leadership coaching and organizational consulting through her company Sane Systems.

Session 3: Dharma for the Environmental Crisis

How is American Buddhism contributing to solving the critical environmental issues of our time?

Dr. Diane Little Eagle, Interior Wellness Healers and The Lotus Institute

Diane A Little Eagle is an Alaska Native, Canadian Native, and Austrian. She started meditating in the early 70s, and in the early 80s began her training with Thich Nhat Hanh and became a dharma teacher in the Plum Village Tradition in 2018. Diane has also studied with Khentrul Rinpoche, Garchen Rinpoche, The Dalai Lama, Tukulu Yeshe and her Elders...they have taught her so so much. Diane is a traditional singer and has a great commitment to our young people and to ceremony. She has done work with Interior Wellness Healers, Native youth & Elders Culture Camps, Homeless Youth Shelter, Fairbanks Street Outreach Program, Fairbanks Native Association and Veterans Outreach Program/Standown. Diane has a Doctorate of Oriental medicine, is a Certified Classical homeopath, Herbalist, and Medical Qi Gong teacher in practice for more than 40 years.

Dr. Stephanie Kaza, University of Vermont Emerita

Stephanie Kaza is professor emerita of environmental studies, University of Vermont, and Soto Zen practitioner. Her books include Green Buddhism: Practice and Compassionate Action in Uncertain Times; Hooked! Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire, and the Urge to Consume; and Conversations with Trees: An Intimate Ecology. She has written numerous articles and book chapters on Buddhist environmental thought; her most recent book is the tribute volume: A Wild Love for the World: Joanna Macy and the Work of Our Time. She currently works on climate issues in Portland, Oregon, where she pursues her love of trees, tides, and deep time.

Dr. Adam Lobel, GreenFaith, One Earth Sangha

Adam Lobel, PhD, Harvard University, M.Div. Harvard Divinity School, is a Buddhist minister and a scholar of philosophy and religion and served as an acharya in Shambhala from 2005-2019. His research focuses on Great Perfection (Dzogchen) Tibetan Buddhism, phenomenology, and inoperative studies. He has a longstanding interest in contemplative education, philosophy as a way of life, and transformative pedagogy. He is a GreenFaith fellow, a Guiding teacher for One Earth Sangha, has taught alongside Joanna Macy and others in the Ecosattva Training, and is active in ecological and social justice movements. He lives and teaches in Pittsburgh, PA with his wife and two sons.

Session 4: Engaged Buddhism

What new examples of engaged initiatives in America bring contemplative methods to social, educational, and political issues?

Ven. Pannavati, Embracing Simplicity Hermitage and Heartwood Refuge

Ven. Dr. Pannavati Theri, is a Theravada and Mahayana female monk with vajrayana empowerments. Abbot of Embracing Simplicity Hermitage and Co-founder of Heartwood Refuge, she is authorized to share the teachings of her Master, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, overseeing a vajrayana academy and 5 vidyas school under the tutelage of Zhaxi Zhouma Rinpoche. She is known for her straightforward teaching style, humanitarian service worldwide and music that brightens the heart.

Dr. Fleet Maull, Engaged Mindfulness Institute

Fleet Maull, PhD, CMT-P is an author, meditation teacher, social entrepreneur, consultant and trainer. He is an Acharya (senior Dharma teacher) in the global Shambhala Meditation Community and a Roshi (senior Zen teacher) in the international Zen Peacemaker Order. Dr. Maull founded Prison Mindfulness Institute and National Prison Hospice Association and co-founded the Rwanda Bearing Witness Retreat, the Center of Mindfulness in Public Safety, and the Engaged Mindfulness Institute. He trains prisoners, business leaders, correctional officers, clinicians, chaplains and public safety professionals and other first responders in mindfulness-based approaches to wellness & resiliency. He is the author of Radical Responsibility: How to Move Beyond Blame, Fearlessly Live Your Highest Purpose and Become an Unstoppable Force for Good and Dharma in Hell: The Prison Writings of Fleet Maull. He leads meditation retreats throughout the world and recently organized and hosted both the Global Resilience Summit and the Global First Responder Resilience Summit

Dr. Duncan Ryuken Williams, University of Southern California

Duncan Ryuken Williams was ordained as a Soto Zen Buddhist priest at Kotakuji Temple (Nagano, Japan) in 1993 and then served as a Buddhist chaplain at Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. Currently, he is the Chair of the University of Southern California's School of Religion and Director of the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture. Williams is the author of the LA Times bestseller American Sutra: A Story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War (Harvard University Press, 2019) about Buddhism and the WWII Japanese American internment; The Other Side of Zen (Princeton University Press, 2005), and editor of 7 other books centered on Buddhism as well as race, religion, and American belonging. He is a co-organizer of the “May We Gather” national Buddhist ceremony for Asian American ancestors and is currently writing a book about a Buddhist approach to racial reparations.

Session 5: BIPOC Wisdom & Skillful Means

How are BIPOC, Asian-American and other communities bringing new structures and modalities to American Buddhism?

Dawa Tarchin Phillips, International Mindfulness Teachers Association

Dawa Tarchin Phillips is dharma teacher, author, speaker, researcher and polymath. He is Founder/CEO of Empowerment Holdings and President of the International Mindfulness Teachers Association, a professional organization for Mindfulness teachers from over 30 countries. Dawa completed two 3-year meditation retreats and teaches mindfulness and meditation, awakened leadership and conscious business around the world. He is a classically trained Buddhist lama, a member of the prestigious Transformational Leadership Council and the Association of Transformational Leaders, a passionate social venture entrepreneur and an award-winning contributing author for Shambhala Publications, Mindful magazine, Tricycle magazine, and Lion’s Roar; his work has been featured in the New York Times, Huffington Post, Men’s Fitness, Forbes and Fast Company

Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde, Lion’s Roar Magazine

Pamela Ayo Yetunde, J.D., Th.D., is a Community Dharma Leader trained at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She is a pastoral counselor in private practice and the co-founder of Center of the Heart, a wellness practice. Ayo is the co-editor of Black and Buddhist and the author of Object Relations, Buddhism, and Relationality in Womanist Practical Theology and Buddhist-Christian Dialogue, U.S. Law, and Womanist Theology for Transgender Spiritual Care. Her next book, provisionally titled Casting Indra’s Net: Wisdom for Fostering Spiritual Kinship, Respecting Difference, and Moving toward Wholeness Together, will be published by Shambhala in 2023. Ayo co-founded "Buddhist Justice Reporter" and is an associate editor for Lion's Roar.

Chenxing Han, May We Gather and author

Chenxing Han is the author of Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists (North Atlantic Books, 2021). She holds a BA from Stanford University, an MA in Buddhist Studies from the Graduate Theological Union, and a certificate in Buddhist chaplaincy from the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California. She co-organized May We Gather: A National Buddhist Memorial for Asian American Ancestors, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Session 6: Digital Dharma & Virtual Sangha

What new platforms and venues are propagating dharma in America, and how has this changed the face of American Buddhism?

Devon Matsumoto, Co-Founder of Young Buddhist Editorial

Devon Matsumoto grew up on the land of the Muwekma-Ohlone peoples which is also known as the Bay Area, California. Matsumoto received his Masters of Social Work from Seattle University and currently works as a program coordinator at an organization dedicated to dismantling the school to prison pipeline. In his free time Matsumoto is a community organizer in the Japanese American community and helped to found The Young Buddhist Editorial, an organization dedicated to sharing the experiences of young Asian American Buddhists while preserving the history of those who came before us. He is also a student at the Institute of Buddhist Studies pursuing a Certificate of Shin Buddhist Studies.

Dr. Nikki Mirghafori, Spirit Rock and Artificial Intelligence Scientist

Nikki Mirghafori, PhD, is a Buddhist teacher and Artificial Intelligence scientist. She is a lineage holder in the Theravada tradition. She serves on the Teachers Council and Board of Directors at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA, and also as a Teacher at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA. She's also a Stanford-trained compassion cultivation instructor, a Berkeley ex-academic, and author. Nikki is of Persian heritage, and aspires to serve as a doula for wisdom and compassion.

Jeff Richardson, Rama Meditation Society and Technologist

Jeff Richardson is an American Buddhist, technologist and composer. Jeff is a direct student of the Buddhist teacher Rama -- Dr. Frederick Lenz. As Technical Director of Rama Meditation Society, Jeff published the catalog of audio and video teachings of Dr. Lenz online, and fostered a digital community for Dr Lenz's students. Jeff co-produced the short film “Signs of a Rebel Buddha”, which explores Dr. Lenz's approach to Buddhist teaching. The film has won numerous awards, including the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Druk International Film Festival in Bhutan. As a lifelong learner, Jeff is engaged in online education aligned with his personal and professional interests. He also enjoys sharing Buddhist practice online.

Vince Fakhoury Horn, Founder, Buddhist Geeks

Vince Fakhoury Horn is part of a new generation of teachers, facilitators, & translators bringing dharma to life. A computer engineering dropout turned full-time contemplative, Vince spent his 20s co-founding the ground-breaking Buddhist Geeks podcast, while simultaneously doing a full year, in total, of silent retreat practice. Vince began teaching in 2010 and has since been authorized in both the Pragmatic Dharma lineage of Kenneth Folk, and by Trudy Goodman, guiding teacher of InsightLA. Vince has been called a “power player of the mindfulness movement” by Wired magazine and was featured in Wired UK’s “Smart List: 50 people who will change the world.” He currently lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains outside of Asheville, North Carolina with his partner Emily Horn and their son Zander.

Session 7: Grant Funding Panel and Open Space Conversations

After the conference ends, the Lenz Foundation will give out grants based on the six themes of the conference. Preference will be given to groups with one or more representatives at the in-person conference or livestream. Lenz Foundation grants (currently with a 2022 grant pool of $250,000) follow its Grant Policy. During this unique funding panel, supporting sponsors—other foundation representatives—will discuss their successful grant programs and criteria for Buddhist and/or Buddhist-aligned initiatives.

During this time, we will also be offering Open Space Conversations. These provide an opportunity for conference participants to host conversations on the topics that matter to them.

Need help? Reach out to us at support@futureofamericanbuddhism.com.