The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde — Rima Vesely-Flad in conversation with Lama Rod Owens

This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast, Charis’ virtual event platform. This event is free, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Register here: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/the-fire-inside. Please read the in-person event guidelines at the bottom of this page to be sure you can participate in the event.

Charis welcomes Rima Vesely-Flad in conversation with Lama Rod Owens in celebration of The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde, an exploration of the writings of Audre Lorde and James Baldwin through a Dharmic lens, revealing how two of America’s greatest literary voices reflect—and expand—Buddhism’s most timeless truths toward justice and liberation.

Black, queer, feminist, Buddhist: The Fire Inside casts a fresh new light on the radical literary legacies of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde.

Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad dives deeply into a dharma of liberation as lived by Baldwin and Lorde, offering timely lessons to help us each meet this moment. She explores the writers’ enduring legacies to show that liberation depends not only on organizing and mass movements, but the generative power of inner well-being, authenticity, art, and embodiment. Each chapter shares how looking inward is the way forward, examining Baldwin and Lorde through key Buddhist principles:

– Suffering as a teacher: how Baldwin and Lorde investigated suffering in their own lives—and how expanded and disrupted interpretations of the Dharma
– Denial, impermanence, and death: on Baldwin’s exploration of white supremacy and fear of death and Lorde’s understanding of illness and inevitable change
– Ultimate and relative reality: how honoring race, gender, sexuality, and difference lies at the heart of Buddhist liberation
– Karma and not-self: how the doctrine of karma can be reclaimed to cultivate inner liberation and support activists working to dismantle oppression
– Anger and compassion: how we metabolize internalized rage, reject hatred, and embrace compassion toward transformation
– Erotic paths to enlightenment: on the power of sensuality and erotic energy; rejecting dominant heteronormativity; and attaining enlightenment through sexual union

This book offers space for emerging conversations within spiritual communities—ones that don’t shy away from difficult or uncomfortable truths; that center—and celebrate—Black, queer, radical thought; and that embrace the ways our inner lives, creative fire, sensuality, and expressions of love can ignite and sustain revolutionary liberation.

About the Author

Rima Vesely-Flad, PhD, is the author of Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation (NYU Press, 2022) and Racial Purity and Dangerous Bodies: Moral Pollution, Black Lives, and the Struggle for Justice (Fortress Press, 2017). She is the founder of the Initiative for Black Buddhist Studies and the recipient of grants from the Fetzer Institute, the Henry J. Luce Foundation, the Fredrick P. Lenz Foundation, the Crossroads Program, and the US Department of State Fulbright program. You can follow her work at www.blackbuddhiststudies.org and on Instagram@blackbuddhiststudies.

About the Conversation Partner

Lama Rod Owens is a Black Buddhist Southern Queen. An international influencer with over 11 years of experience and a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist Studies from Harvard Divinity School. A leading voice featured by various national and international news outlets. Author of The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors, 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.

Lama Rod’s mission is showing you how to heal and free yourself. He activates the intersections of his identity to create a platform that’s natural, engaging, and inclusive. Learn more at lamarod.com.

The event is free and open to all people, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event.

Charis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking, two ramps, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website.

In-person event guidelines:

– All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.
– We will begin seating people at 7:00 PM ET.
– This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast. Register here: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/the-fire-inside
– As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event.

If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304.

Please contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don’t hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org.

By attending our event, whether in person or virtually, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.