“To remember who we were is to remember our most authentic self. Who we are is liberation itself. We are free. And none of us can be free if others are not free.”—Lama Rod Owens
On a chilly spring evening, an audience of over 100 Harvard Divinity School students, faculty, and community members gathered in the James Room on the HDS campus to be in conversation with Lama Rod Owens, MDiv ’17.
The special event, “Becoming A New Saint: Exploring the Path of Emerging as Warriors from Our Broken Hearts,” allowed participants to study and practice with Lama Rod as he gave teachings from his recent book, The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors.
Sponsored by Harvard Divinity School’s Buddhist Ministry Initiative (BMI) and supported by the Center for the Study of World Religions, the program aligned closely with the BMI’s efforts to provide opportunities for HDS students and community members to learn directly from Buddhist spiritual leaders who are embodying ministry work in innovative ways.
After an introduction by Assistant Dean for Field Education Laura Tuach, Lama Rod began his talk with a practice of gratitude for, and communion with, our ancestors—a theme that would prove a consistent thread of connection throughout the program.
“When we walk the land, each step should be appreciation for it, remembrance of what the land has lost, and a further dedication to restore what has been decimated, to return back to healing,” Lama Rod said.
Drawing on the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, Indigenous and African traditions, Queer spiritualities, and other wells of deep wisdom, Lama Rod called upon those gathered to become New Saints in this moment of apocalypse—of “unveiling.”
"New Saints" are described as those who embody awakened care, taking the suffering of all beings both personally and seriously and returning to sites of trauma and violence again and again to set people free, as did ancestors like Harriet Tubman and others embodying the Bodhisattva tradition.
“When we choose to be free, we become the embodiment of all of our beloved ones and ancestors, even in the face of violence,” said Lama Rod.
In allyship with these ancestors (spiritual and familial), Lama Rod explained that we can embody radical self-care even as we care for others, disrupting cycles of violence and colonization as we weave new stories together.
A self-described “Black Buddhist Southern Queen,” Lama Rod has emerged as a leading voice in new generation of Buddhist teachers, activating the intersections of his identity to create a platform that is at once natural, engaging, and inclusive. The depths of Lama Rod’s spiritual practice—and his ability to clearly translate it for budding New Saints—was on full display during the evening's program.
Another important thread of Lama Rod’s talk encouraged audience members to lean into the work of liberation when it becomes uncomfortable.
“If the work is easy, it’s probably not your work,” he explained.
Our world is conditioned by trauma and violence, and it can often be messy, hard, and discouraging. New Saints, however, constantly recommit themselves, Lama Rod said, to helping all beings become free because they recognize that all are radically interconnected and that all have the same luminous and spacious nature of mind.
Following Lama Rod’s teaching session, two current HDS students joined him on stage for a discussion. Destiny Taylor, MDiv ’25, and bobbie arrington, MDiv ’26, engaged Lama Rod in several profound lines of inquiry arising from their own reading of The New Saints, ranging from communing with our ancestors in love and allyship rather than oppression; to participating in Indigenous plant medicine traditions; to the evolution of spiritual journeys from the traditions in which we grew up to the ones that resonate with us in adulthood.
Taylor and arrington’s engagement with the text, as well as their conversation with Lama Rod, enriched the program and allowed the discussion to flow freely and in fresh directions.
After the talk, many in attendance spoke of continuing the work of social and spiritual liberation in their own contexts, saying they felt inspired to take up the mantle of the New Saint in solidarity with each other and all beings.
After all, as Lama Rod said: “Who we are is liberation itself. We are free. And none of us can be free if others are not free.”
—by Jonathan Makransky, multireligious ministry initiatives coordinator