225 - Lama Rod Owens - Heartbreak and Liberation on the Tantric Path
“My choice to be free is not a judgment against you. It only feels like a judgment because you haven't done that same level of work for yourself.” - Lama Rod Owens
My guest procurement process is pretty standard: a social follow or professional acquaintance morphs into an invite and eventual recording session. For this episode, however, I gotta thank the gods of analog alignment. They placed me in my favorite wellness collective at a personal low point. Here, I encountered a flier announcing a special event featuring Lama Rod Owens. The topic? Tantric Buddhism.
Sidebar for all my elder Millennials and above: If your only reference point for Tantric anything is based on the mid-90s sexploits of a certain English musician and his wife, this ain’t that. Instead, Lama Rod is distilling liberation to its most profound, heartbreaking, and, yes, pleasurable essence.
“Tantra goes into everything, including pleasure. Pleasure becomes a doorway to freedom because we can embrace pleasure but don't have to be fixated on it. It's just an experience.” That’s the brief on Tantra from Lama Rod Owens, a Black Buddhist Southern queen, international influencer with a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist studies from Harvard Divinity School, and author. His teaching centers on freedom, self-expression, and radical self-care, and he’s a leading voice in a new generation of Buddhist teachers.
“Tantric Buddhism, for me, is an indigenous-based system of practice and magic held by an ethical system that seeks to liberate people from the causes and conditions of suffering, that dualism, to help us remember who we are beyond all the chaos and the drama.” Lama Rod’s invitation to reclaim my agency and commit to collective freedom broke a dam within me. Tears were shed at that live event, an emotional release he calls breaking your own heart. Oof, yeah. It’s as painful and powerful as it sounds.
The breakdown is part of our healing process. If you think you’re exempt, you’re derailing the journey. “You offer the heartbreak to the work, the heartbreak of becoming who you need to be in this life,” says Lama Rod. That level of liberation is risky in a world addicted to conformity and superficial pleasures. Lama Rod reminds us that to continually connect to the struggle of the world and the struggle within ourselves is to be in relationship with the world.
All of Lama Rod Owens’ work is donation-based. If you’re moved by his wisdom, please consider supporting his ongoing projects here.
SUPPORT FOR THERAPISTS
Be Your Own Boss Private Practice Workshop
Thursday, November 9, 2023, 9:00am - 4:00pm, and Friday, November 10, 2023, from 9:00am to 4:00pm
DePaul University Loop Campus - DePaul Center 1 E. Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604
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Register now: https://tinyurl.com/naswprivatepractice
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation
Resmaa Menakem: Embodied Anti-Racist Education
GUEST CONTACT AND BIO
Booking inquiries: bookings@lamarod.com
Lama Rod Owens is a Black Buddhist Southern Queen. An international influencer with a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist Studies from Harvard Divinity School. Author of Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation through Anger and co-author of Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation, his teachings center on freedom, self-expression, and radical self-care. A leading voice in a new generation of Buddhist teachers with over 11 years of experience, Lama Rod activates the intersections of his identity to create a platform that’s very natural, engaging, and inclusive. His new book, The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors is available for pre-order now!
All of Lama Rod Owens’ work is donation-based. If you’re moved by his wisdom, please consider supporting his ongoing projects here.
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