The Institute of Buddhist Studies (IBS) in Berkeley, California, will launch a new public conversation series this month bringing Black and Asian-American Buddhist scholars, teachers, and practitioners together to discuss race, culture, lineage, and Buddhist practice in the United States.

Titled “How do we meet each other? Black-Asian Dialogue in Buddhist America,” the seven-part series will begin on 30 September and continue through April 2027. The monthly discussions will be held online via Zoom and are open to the public with advance registration.

The series is being organized by Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad, founding director of the Initiative for Black Buddhist Studies and a research fellow at IBS. According to the institute, conversations will explore questions surrounding ancestral practice and culture, cultural appropriation and erasure, solidarity between Buddhist communities, and how Buddhist traditions are responding to contemporary social and political conditions in the US.

“This series comes out of a simple but urgent question: how do we actually meet each other across our different histories and traditions? I wanted to create a space where that meeting could happen in public, out loud, with real care and real accountability,” Dr. Vesely-Flad said. (Institute of Buddhist Studies)

The initiative is funded by the Henry J. Luce Foundation in partnership with IBS.

Rev. Dr. Takashi Miyaji, dean of IBS, described the project as an opportunity to examine the diversity of Buddhist life in the US.

“This conversation series represents an overview of where we are as Buddhists in America. It is exciting to see how Buddhists can offer their thoughts on a number of issues that are impacting our world today,” Rev. Dr. Miyaji said. (Institute of Buddhist Studies)

The opening session on 30 September will feature Rev. Dr. Miyaji in conversation with Dr. Vesely-Flad on Shin Buddhism and Black culture. Rev. Dr. Miyaji is a minister and professor at IBS.

On 21 October, Dr. Vesely-Flad will speak with University of Southern California professor Dr. Duncan Ryūken Williams, author of American Sutra, about Buddhism and incarceration in the US.

The series will continue on 4 November with Dr. Jessica Zu, author of Just Awakening, in a discussion centered on a Buddhist reading of the work of American science-fiction writer Octavia Butler.

Sessions scheduled for 2027 include a 20 January conversation with the founder and executive director of Equality Labs Thenmozhi Soundararajan, on Buddhist practices for challenging domination. On 3 February, Ven. Clear Grace Dayananda, founder of Sangha House NOLA, will discuss the teachings and practices of Vietnamese Zen master Thích Nhất Hạnh.

Author Chenxing Han, whose works include Be the Refuge, will join the series on 3 March for a discussion titled “Constellating Buddhist America.” The final session, scheduled for 7 April, will feature Rev. Victor Ogundipe, a Jodo Shinshu priest and IBS student, discussing Black Buddhist experience within Jodo Shinshu sanghas.

Dr. Vesely-Flad is the author of The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde (North Atlantic Books, 2026) and Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition (NYU Press, 2022). Her scholarship examines Buddhism, Black culture, and religious responses to systemic violence. She has taught at Union Theological Seminary, Sarah Lawrence College, Warren Wilson College, and Sing Sing Correctional Facility, and has twice served as a Fulbright Scholar.

Founded in 1949, the Institute of Buddhist Studies is a member school of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. One of the oldest Buddhist seminaries in the US, IBS offers graduate-level Buddhist education and training aimed at applying Buddhist teachings to personal and social transformation.

All seven discussions will begin at 4 p.m. Pacific Time and 7 p.m. Eastern Time. Registration links are available through the Institute of Buddhist Studies events page.

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New conversation series brings Black and Asian-American Buddhist leaders together for public dialogue (Institute of Buddhist Studies)
Institute of Buddhist Studies (Facebook)

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