Issues of African American Buddhist Conversion

(Netherlands Radio)

What are the unique challenges facing African Americans who convert to Buddhism?  Lama Choyin Rangdrol discusses in this 2008 radio interview from Amsterdam.

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The Art of Listening - Sweden

An interview with Lama Choyin Rangdrol published in Sweden's Leva Magazine, November 2008.  Lama Rangdrol explains how listening is essential to transform negative feelings into positive and constructive engagement.

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Cambodia Project - Do Something Bigger

In July 2007, I traveled to Cambodia and spent time at the Angkor Monuments, a sixty square mile complex that is the largest spiritual site in the world. I was blown away by the huge stonework of the ancient Mahayana Buddhist kingdom, and deeply inspired by the spirit of the Cambodian people. 

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Black Buddha - Bringing the Tradition Home

Choyin Rangdrol is a Vajrayana teacher in the Nyingma tradition whom I had the good fortune to meet at the historic African-American Buddhist retreat held last summer at Spirit Rock in Woodacre, California. After listening to his nuanced teaching on the importance of both honoring cultural heritage and transcending it in order to achieve complete realization, I visited his website, www.rainbowdharma.com and requested a meeting. We have been in communication ever since. 

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The Path To World Peace
An Interview with Ven. Khenpo Gyurmed Trinley Rinpoche

The Venerable Khenpo Gyurmed Trinley Rinpoche is a Dzogchen master, a Chöd-pa, monk, and a scholar in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism as well as being trained in the Kagyu, Shakya, and Gelugpa schools. At a very early age, Khenpo began training at HH Dudjom Rinpoche's monastery at Tso Pema.

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Las Seis Perfecciones - Mexico

Lama Rangdrol's interview with Khenpo was published in issue 15 of Cuadernos de budismo - read the Español version here.

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Dharma and Diversity:

The changing face of U.S. Buddhism has raised issues of race and privilege within a spiritual practice that includes new immigrants, communities of color and the trendy elite.

Sitting in my half-lotus position in a Zen center in Northern California I find myself among a hundred people, but one of the few people of color in the room. Where have all the people of color gone? I wonder.

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What Makes A Man

When Rebecca Walker first discussed the possibility of putting together an anthology of writings about redefining masculinity in the twenty-first century I was intrigued. The concentrism of masculinity and feminism is a topic that represents openness in identity discourse that fits well within the Buddhadharma. Walker asks, "Could it be that conventional masculinity, with its stoicism and violence, has become so toxic that men themselves are refusing to take it on?"

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Legitimate Heirs. Not Invited Guests
A Diversity Perspective

Like many of my American dharma brothers and sisters, I took my first steps on the Buddhist path because an Asian monk came to this country and showed me the way. I was in college, and within a year of reading several slim, inspiring volumes, I decided to make Buddhism my spiritual home. Even though I had concerns about the patriarchal underpinnings of mandatory celibacy in the Catholic Church, I revered the celibates of Buddhism.

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Broadening the Mindscape of Masculinity

Lama Rangdrol attends Conference in Tallin, Estonia

The country of Estonia nestles the western border of Russia. Its small provincial setting was host to an international confernce whose keynote speakers included researchers, scholars and media from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Russia, England, Canada, and the United States of America.

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Centered in the Dharma

After pursuing a career in counseling, Choyin Rangdrol was called by a vision to Vajrayana Buddhism. Today he is a teacher in the Tibetan tradition and the founder of Rainbow Dharma in Oakland, California. In 2002, he was awarded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award For Community Service for pioneering Buddhist teaching in Oakland. He is author of Buddhist Meditations for African Americans and Black Buddha: Living Without Fear. John W. Ellis IV talked with him in his home in the spring of 2005.

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Lama Rangdrol Receives Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award

My friends, Dr. King new as much about his faith as anyone of his time and yet he saw the value of crossing lines in the name of peace. He crossed the line when he openly looked into the work of Ghandi, a Hindu. He crossed the line again when he later nominated Tich Naht Han, a Buddhist, for the Nobel Prize for Peace. What greater respect can a human being express than to want for another what he has achieved for himself?

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White Buddha

How can American Buddhism create an inclusive environment that transcends racial boundaries?  How do we face and overcome the unique challenges of our cultural biases?  Read Lama Rangdrol's heartfelt essay, a personal letter from a struggling Buddhist of color, and discover resources that can help liberate our obstructive ideas of race.

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