Lama Rod Owens, the Harvard Divinity School-educated lama and yoga teacher blends his training in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism with pop culture references and experiences from his life as a Black, queer man, raised in the South by his mother, a pastor at a Christian church.

"It's a mistake to think we can peel away these post-biblical traditions—the Oral Torah, the teachings of Talmud and Midrash, for the Jews; the New Testament and church tradition for the Christians; or, for that matter, the Quran, the only scripture they have for Muslims. And, say, let's get back to the Abraham of Genesis. Well, the Abraham of Genesis is interpreted differently by Jews and Christians. And Genesis itself is not canonical scripture for Islam," says Professor Jon Levenson.

"As a Zen Buddhist, I regard these questions not simply as theoretical issues to be determined by doctrine but as lived inquiries illuminated through practice. I have long felt a profound kinship with plants, one that first called me to a decade-long career in environmental policy and, most recently, into graduate work at Harvard Divinity School," writes MDiv candidate Rachael Petersen.

Hussein Rashid, Assistant Dean for Religion and Public Life and Lecturer on Religion and Public Life at HDS, discusses the question, "What is the most difficult question your flock is struggling with?" these days.