The Point of Belonging: How We Return to and Reclaim Self

Called "the most intriguing African American Buddhist," Rev. angel Kyodo williams is an author, activist, master trainer, and founder of The Center of Transformative Change. Her acclaimed first book, Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living with Fearlessness and Grace, was hailed by Alice Walker as “an act of love.” Her newest work, Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love & Liberation, is igniting long-overdue conversations about waking up to what hinders the liberation of self and society.

In a country like the U.S., where people have wildly different backgrounds, our human need to be with one another and in community is tested again and again. Over the centuries, the idea of who among us truly belongs, and, by extension, who we can be, who we can love—even who we can agree with—has been painfully communicated through our laws, culture and politics. The result? Separation reigns, conflicting with our innate sense of connection and compassion, and corrupting the essence of true belonging we all yearn for in this life.

In this recording, Rev. angel challenges us to disavow the fixation on the individual self that’s at the heart of our psycho-emotional problems, and embrace a practice of returning to a self that’s capable of disrupting division and the often toxic state of urgency many of us live in.