David Nichtern – CSM Podcast – Ep. 54 – Seven Sorrows of the New Saint: Getting Real About Obstacles on the Spiritual Path with Lama Rod Owens

Facing the obstacles on a spiritual path, Lama Rod Owens, David Nichtern, and Michael Kammers, discuss the seven sorrows of the new saint.

Grab Lama Rod’s new book, The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors
In this episode, David, Michael and Lama Rod chat about:
  • Realizing that liberation is driven by uncomfortable contradictions
  • The seven great sorrows of the new saint
  • Leaving people behind on a spiritual journey
  • Offering space to paradoxes in order to find clarity
  • Support on the Boddhisatva path
  • Focusing our energy on ourselves
  • Prayer as an imperative part of spiritual work
  • Being relevant and speaking the language of the times
  • Teachers who inspired and helped Lama Rod
  • Being yourself and using your own qualities to help others
  • Commitment to a reduction of violence
  • Getting active in getting free

“The whole project of The New Saints was to delve into the frustrations of paradox, of contradictions. One of the things that deepens our suffering is our attempt to make everything make sense. That’s how we get trapped in delusion, trying to make it make sense when instead we are trying to transcend it.” – 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.

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Listen to more from David Nichtern:
David sits down with psychologist and author Daniel Goleman for conversation around the intersection of awareness, creativity and business, inCSM Ep. 1.
Krishna Das joins David for chanting and chatting about transforming negative karmas, the path of surrender, & the connections between Hinduism and Buddhism, in CSM Ep. 13
David speaks with his longtime friend, Jamie Lee Curtis, about her meditation practice, the bhav of creativity, and playing to your strongest suits in life, in CSM Ep. 2
Emmy-winning composer Sean Callery and David discuss true fearlessness, how Trungpa Rinpoche heard music, and the symphony of impermanence –  Composing Dharma
David Nichtern