ROME, Ga. (AP) — Instead of the traditional maroon and gold. tibetan buddhist robeLama Rod Owens wears a white animal-print cardigan over a bright yellow T-shirt with an image of singer Sade on it, and wears an African-shaped medallion and rosary (his most prominent part of Buddhism). signs) were drawn.
“I stopped trying to put on the role of being a Buddhist or a spiritual leader because that wasn’t authentic to me,” Owens, 44, said. person explaining himself As a Black Buddhist Southern Queen.
“For me, it’s not about looking like a Buddhist. It’s about being myself,” he said from his mother’s home in Rome, Georgia. “And I like color.”
of harvard divinity school – An educated lama and yoga teacher, he shares his training in the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism with his pop culture references and his work as a black, queer man raised in the South by his mother, a Christian church minister. It combines my life experiences as a person.
Today, he is an influential voice for a new generation of Buddhist teachers and is respected for his work focused on social change, identity, and mental health.
popular Mindfulness app “Calm”his wide range of courses include “Coming Out,” “Grief Care,” “ fundamental self-care (Sometimes telling listeners to “shake it off” like Mariah Carey). His latest book includes “ new saintsHe mentions Christian saints and spiritual warriors, Buddhist bodhisattvas, and Jewish tzaddikim among those who tried to free people from suffering.
“Saints are ordinary people, doing things that anyone could do,” Owen writes in his book, which combines personal stories, traditional teachings, and meditation instruction. .
“Our time calls for saints who come from this time and place, who speak the language of this moment, and who integrate both social and spiritual liberation. We can all become new saints. and I believe we must,” he wrote.
Rama Rod Owens sits in the garden of his childhood home in Rome, Georgia, on Saturday, March 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jesse Wardalski)
But how? “It’s not about being a superhero,” he said, stressing the need to be considerate of others.
And it’s not reserved for canonized people. “Harriet Tubman is a saint to me,” he said of the 19th century black abolitionist. Known for helping enslaved people escape to freedom On the subway. “She came into this world and she said, ‘I want people to be free.'”
Owens was raised in a devout Baptist and Methodist household. His life revolved around the local church.
When he was 13 years old, his mother wore a baseball cap that read “God’s Girl.” united methodist minister. He calls her girlfriend her single biggest influence in her own life.
“Like many Black women, she embodied wisdom, resilience, and vision. She taught me how to work. And as I watched her change, she taught me how to change.”
He was inspired by her commitment to a spiritual path, especially when she rebelled against the wishes of some people in her family, as in many patriarchal religions. Women should not lead congregations.
“I’m so proud of him,” said the Rev. Wendy Owens, who sat near her son in the living room, displaying his photos and painting his portrait.
Wendy Owens, a United Methodist minister and mother of Lama Rod Owens, displays a robe hanging in her home on Saturday, March 30, 2024, in Rome, Georgia. (AP Photo/Jesse Wardarski)
“He carved out his own path. He walked his own path, or he could have run his own path,” she said. “I don’t know how he got there, but he got there.”
A life dedicated to spirituality seemed unlikely for my son, who enrolled at Berry College, a nondenominational Christian school. It did not deepen his relationship with Christianity. Instead, he stopped attending church. He hoped to “develop a healthy sense of self-worth” about his queerness, but was disappointed by his conservative religious views on gender and sexuality. He felt that God’s methods were too harsh, even vindictive. In other words, in his words, he “made a break with God.”
His new religion, he said, became service. He trained as a sexual assault victim advocate and volunteered on projects related to HIV/AIDS education, homelessness, teen pregnancy, and substance abuse.
“Even if I wasn’t doing this theology anymore, what I was doing was definitely following the way of Jesus: feeding people, protecting people.”
After college, he moved to Boston and joined Haley House, a nonprofit inspired in part by the Catholic Worker movement that ran soup kitchens and affordable housing programs.
Rama Rod Owens poses for a portrait with a flower-covered beard in the garden of his childhood home in Rome, Georgia, on Saturday, March 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jesse Wardalski)
There, he said, he “met people from across a variety of religious traditions, from Hinduism to Christian Science to all sects of Christianity, Buddhists, Wiccans, Muslims.” Monks of various traditions. ”
A Buddhist friend gave him a book, The Cave in the Snow, by Tibetan Buddhist nun Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, which helped him find his spiritual path.
British-born nun spent years isolated in a cave in the Himalayas Following the arduous path of the most dedicated yogis. She later founded a nunnery in India and focused on giving Tibetan Buddhist women some of the opportunities afforded to monks.
“When I started exploring Buddhism, I never thought, ‘Oh, black people don’t do this, or does this conflict with my Christian upbringing?'” Owens said. . May I suffer less. …All I was interested in was how to reduce harm to myself and others. ”
At Harvard Divinity School, he was again immersed in religious diversity. There were even devil worshipers there.
“What I like about Rod is that no matter who he’s with, he’s himself,” said the Harvard Divinity professor who mentored him and now considers him one of his own teachers. Professor Cheryl Giles said.
“When I think of him, I am reminded of the Buddhist concept of a bodhisattva, a deeply compassionate being on the path to enlightenment, who sees the suffering in the world and is determined to help liberate others,” Giles said. Told.
“And I love that he’s black and Buddhist,” she said.
Through Buddhism, mindfulness, and long periods of silent meditation, Owens eventually made peace with God.
“God is not a very grumpy old man sitting on a throne in the clouds,” he said. “God is space, emptiness, energy. God is always this experience, calling us back through our most sacred and sacred souls. God is love.”
His schedule has been busy lately, appearing on podcasts and social media, speaking to college students, and hosting meditation, yoga, and spiritual retreats around the world.
So many things inspire him.he wrote the following book beyonce And I think about the work of choreographer Alvin Ailey. We have Toni Morrison and James Baldwin. He loves Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America.”and a pioneer Fashion journalist Andre Leon Talley In Vogue, he says he taught him the importance of beauty.
“I want people to feel the same way when they experience what I talk about and write about,” Owens said. “That’s part of an artist’s job, to help us feel and not be afraid to feel. To inspire us to dream differently, to move away from rigidity. Shake it up and allow yourself to be more fluid.”
__
Associated Press journalist Jesse Wardalski contributed to this report.
__
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through The Associated Press collaboration Funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and in collaboration with The Conversation US. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
