ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Welcome to our podcast, Between Bells.
In this episode, Dharma Gates Co-Founder and Executive Director interviews renowned Buddhist Teacher, Lama Rod Owens.
Throughout their conversation, Lama Rod reveals how confronting suffering through honest self-awareness is essential for navigating an era of systemic upheaval. You'll learn why overconsumption and societal expectations keep us disconnected from our true selves, and how embracing discomfort can open the door to freedom. They explore topics like trusting your inner guidance, exploring relationship with unseen beings, and cultivating compassion as a revolutionary act. Lama Rod discusses his own journey from rigid traditions to a fluid, inclusive Dharma that honors ancestral practices, anti-capitalist ethics, and the complexity of multi-layered identity.
About Lama Rod Owens: 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 with a focus on the intersection of social change, identity, and spiritual practice. Author of The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors and 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. Highly sought after for talks, retreats, and workshops, his mission is showing you how to heal and free yourself.
A leading voice in a new generation of Buddhist teachers with over 11 years of experience, Lama Rod is highly respected among his peers and the communities that he serves. “It can be confusing for people to see Tantric Buddhist teachings coming from someone who’s Black and queer, southern, and fat, but I love it. It's who I am.” he says.
From these intersections, he creates a platform that’s very natural, engaging, and inclusive. Applauded for his mastery in balancing weighty topics with a sense of lightness while still speaking truth to power, this Queen has been featured by CNN, Good Morning America, BBC, The Washington Post, PBS, NPR, Ebony, and more.
Connection is Lama Rod’s second language; authenticity is his first. Meeting people where they are and speaking to them rather than at them with words they can relate to makes his delivery digestible and highly sought after.
Honoring his southern roots, he refers to his healing approach as “laying hands.” His laying of hands, however, is guidance. It's showing you how to do the work of making the necessary choices in your day-to-day relationships and routines to heal and free yourself from the traumas that bind you to self-sabotaging behaviors.
1. Introduction and framing (0:03–3:17)
2. Core advice for young people: tell the truth (3:17–8:29)
3. Trusting yourself and taking one step at a time (8:29–13:16)
4. Young adulthood as a time of exploration, not conformity (13:16–18:54)
5. Dharma as a broad path of liberation (18:54–24:48)
6. Redefining sainthood and the bodhisattva path (24:48–31:16)
7. Activism, abolition, and telling the truth about systems (31:16–36:51)
8. Healing begins with oneself (36:51–41:18)
9. Responding to harm without reactive entanglement (41:18–45:14)
10. The value of long-term practice (45:14–48:13)
11. Working with unseen beings and ancestral relationships (48:13–53:59)
12. Normalizing the extraordinary (53:59–57:32)
13. Not everyone will be a movement leader — and that’s okay (57:32–60:45)
14. Closing and resources (60:45–62:17)
Learn more about Lama Rod Owens.
Learn more about Dharma Gates.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dharmagates.substack.com
