The Spirit Underground with Spring Washam and Lama Rod Owens Be Here Now Network

Radically telling his personal truths, Lama Rod Owens talks with Spring Washam about his upcoming book, The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors.

Click HERE to preorder your copy of Lama Rod Owens’ book, The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors

This week on the Spirit Underground, Spring and Lama Rod dive into:Heartbreak, fear, and the freedom of honestyLama Rod’s method of opening up in his upcoming bookInspiration from James BaldwinEmbodying the path of liberation and trusting the processA contemporary understanding of sainthoodRethinking the Bodhisattva traditionHow the idea of being good may mean suppressionTuning into our own needsThe modern love of radical truthThe tough work of spiritual awakening and processing our traumasRecognizing when someone is bypassing their painLama Rod Owens’ dedication to the Black, Queer, and Trans communitiesImpacting the world through personal transformation“When you choose to do the work, you will experience liberation. You will experience the space, the fluidity. You’ll come to understand yourself in a really different way, in such a way that’s full of potential and expansive and generative.” – Lama Rod Owens




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Expanding their conversation on embodied sexuality, Spring Washam and Lama Rod Owens offer fresh perspectives on liberating ourselves from the bonds of shame and reclaiming pleasure.

Be sure to listen to Ep. 6 of The Spirit Underground Podcast for the first part of this conversation!

“We think that exploring and investigating and having these experiences with others is the goal, but really it begins with ourselves. Like I have to figure out who I am; I have to figure out what I find pleasurable. For me, pleasure is just this really awakening energy and experiencing of space.” – Lama Rod Owens

Learn more about Lama Rod's newest book, The New Saints, and pre-order your copy today: The New Saints

In part two of this liberating series on sexuality, Spring and Lama Rod talk about:

- Understanding what it means to embody sexuality

- The capacity to talk about sexuality in our culture

- Power and the doctrine of do no harm

- Self-discovery and authenticity

- Collaborating to experience pleasure

- Wholeness and healing in the realm of sexuality

- Balance, dharma, and tantric practice

- Negotiating our bodies and boundaries

- Meeting needs and helping others

- Monogamy and different types of relationships

- Using meditation and intuitive tools to understand the self

- Reclaiming the word pleasure

- Removing shame and resting in liberation

- Finding freedom to be open about our identities

- How friendships help us move out of contraction and be ourselves

- Celibacy and evaluating where we put our energy

“It’s heavy stuff cutting through the societal baggage with our bodies, with queerness, with identity, and then going back to that word pleasure. How can pleasure be in service of awakening?” – Spring Washam

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This time on The Spirit Underground, Spring Washam and Lama Rod Owens begin a gentle exploration of the intersection of gender identity, sexuality and spirituality.

This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/beherenow

In this exploratory discussion, Spring Washam and Lama Rod Owens gently surface their thoughts on:The binary between sacred and secular sexualityWhy we repress sexuality as a cultureTending to the needs and suffering of the bodyMoving through the ways we’ve been conditioned to think about bodies, attraction, desire, sexuality, gender, etc.Discussing sexuality in spiritual leadershipHolding space for sexual energy on a community level


“If we’re talking about an enlightened society, that is also enlightened sexuality.” – Lama Rod Owens 

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 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. From these intersections, he creates a platform that’s very natural, engaging, and inclusive.

For current offerings and programs, click here. 




“I want us to reach a place of liberation where we love our bodies, where we are fluid, and relating to space and energy.” – Spring Washam 

About Spring Washam:

Spring Washam is a well-known teacher, author, and visionary leader based in Oakland, California. She is the author of A Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Courage and Wisdom in Any Moment and her newest book, The Spirit of Harriet Tubman: Awakening from the Underground. Spring is considered a pioneer in bringing mindfulness-based meditation practices to diverse communities. She is one of the founding teachers at the East Bay Meditation Center, located in downtown Oakland, CA. She has practiced and studied Buddhist philosophy in both the Theravada and Tibetan schools of Buddhism since 1999. She is a member of the teacher’s council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in northern California where she was trained for over a decade.

In addition to being a teacher, she is also a shamanic practitioner and has studied indigenous healing practices since 2008. She is the founder of Lotus Vine Journeys, a one-of-a-kind organization that blends indigenous healing practices with Buddhist wisdom in South America. Her writings and dharma teachings have appeared in many online journals and publications. She currently teaches meditation retreats and leads workshops, and classes worldwide.

Spring currently teaches meditation retreats and leads workshops, and classes worldwide: springwasham.com




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Looking at ancestry and our roots, Spring Washam and Lama Rod Owens describe re-discovering what it means to be home.

"I think a lot of people are going through this multi-lineage, complex awakening to these streams of energy and lineage. I think that creates some guilt as well, it may bring up issues of appropriation. Do I have a right to do this?" – Lama Rod Owens 

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In this episode Spring and Lama Rod explore :Making sense of our place in the worldAncestral work and Indigenous practicesHome and the effects of forcible displacement Spirit elders and channeling traditionsPlant medicine and the Shipibo people of the Amazon rainforestHonoring versus appropriations"When we are talking about these conversations on liberation we are asking people to start to understand their energy and who they are in a much broader awakened state." – Spring Washam 

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Spelunking the depths of the Spirit Underground, Spring Washam and Lama Rod Owens join together for a conversation on liberation and ancestors.

This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/beherenow

In this episode Spring and Lama Rod dive into:What is the Spirit Underground?The intersection of social liberation and spiritual liberationSamsara, suffering, safety, consciousness, and freedomWisdom from Spring's new book, The Spirit of Harriet Tubman: Awakening from the UndergroundGreat Beings sharing wisdom downloads from the spirit realmThe "Spiritual Industrial Complex"Ancestors, repeating history, and connecting with Divine LoveTrauma and letting goChoosing love over hate to overcome oppressive systems"What we're doing is talking about both social liberation and spiritual ultimate liberation, and we're trying to find the intersection of both of those liberations in this moment." – Lama Rod Owens







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Getting down and dirty with liberation, Spring Washam and Lama Rod Owens explore joyfulness and the labor of freedom.

Additional content from this episode: Black & Buddhist

This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/beherenow

"I think Joy helps to smooth the edges of our anxiety around liberation work and it propels it at the same time." - Lama Rod Owens




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