Teaching Peace: Recent Episodes
Brooklyn Peace Center
Teaching Peace is an online series where cohosts, Addie Banks and Jason Storbakken, engage in conversation with educators, scholars and theologians, community organizers, religious leaders, and practitioners to explore various pedagogies of peacebuilding.
Teaching Peace is produced by Brooklyn Peace Center. To learn more, visit www.brooklynpeace.center
Teaching is not a title—it’s a path of lived wisdom, earned through practice and compassion.
In this final chapter of the Dhammapada, we explore the reimagining of the term Brahmin—traditionally reserved for the priestly caste—as a spiritual teacher whose authority is earned not by birth, but by awakening. In this radical teaching, Gautama Buddha dismantles caste hierarchies and calls for a priesthood of liberation: a community of peacebuilders shaped by wisdom, not lineage.
Jason Storbakken reflects on:
- How Buddhism redefines Brahmin as one who embodies peace, compassion, and nonviolence
- The sramana movement’s roots in renunciation, forest-dwelling, and resistance to ritual domination
- Parallels between Buddha and Jesus as anti-hierarchical teachers calling forth movements of the marginalized
- The call to move beyond trauma and privilege—to choose the path of transformation (v. 384)
- The teacher as one who “neither kills, nor is complicit in killing... but cultivates compassion for all beings” (v. 405)
Drawing from Buddhist teaching, Christian scripture (1 Peter 2:9), and the work of trauma specialist Emily Wanderer Cohen, this episode invites us to embody the role of teacher as healer, transformer, and builder of liberationist communities.
🎧 New episodes drop Mondays at 6 AM EST
🕊️ Support the journey: www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #Teacher #Brahmin #PeaceLeadership #Sramana #JesusAndBuddha #IntergenerationalHealing #Antiviolence #PriesthoodOfAllBelievers #TraumaAndPrivilege #LiberationCommunities
Every path to wisdom begins with the courage to learn.
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore Chapter 25 of the Dhammapada, a chapter that marks a meaningful shift in the text’s arc. As the penultimate chapter—just before “Teacher”—Student reminds us that spiritual growth begins with humility, discipline, and the willingness to learn.
Jason Storbakken reflects on:
- The symbolic progression from student to teacher within the Dhammapada
- Gautama Buddha’s own journey as a student of meditation and ascetic practice
- The role of the bhikku—the alms-dependent learner committed to wisdom and simplicity
- How Buddha’s early companions became his first disciples after witnessing his transformation
- Parallels between Buddhist and Christian discipleship movements, including Jesus and his young followers
- The revolutionary role of students and youth in global movements—from the sangha to SNCC
As Buddha’s life shows us, the student path is not passive—it is deeply engaged, deeply transformative, and, at its best, deeply collective.
🎧 New episodes drop Mondays at 6 AM EST
🕊️ Support the journey: www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #Student #Bhikku #BuddhistDiscipleship #JesusAndBuddha #YouthMovements #SpiritualPractice #FourNobleTruths #SNCC #Sangha #LearningAsLiberation
What’s the difference between wanting something—and needing it so badly it consumes you?
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore Chapter 24 of the Dhammapada, where the Buddha names tanha—craving—as one of the deepest obstacles to liberation. While desire may be natural, craving is something else: a grasping that entangles us in suffering. In Buddhist cosmology, tanha is one of Mara’s children, sent to tempt Siddhartha beneath the Bodhi tree and pull him from the path to awakening.
Jason Storbakken reflects on:
- The subtle but profound difference between desire and craving
- Craving as addiction—and how Buddhist wisdom informs recovery and healing
- The metaphor of the “thirty-six streams” and the six senses as a map of our entanglements
- What it means to break the bonds of Mara through mindfulness, meditation, and insight
As Buddha teaches:
“If you are to break the bonds of Mara… slow down. Deepen in your practice. Dwell in meditation.” (v. 350)
Whether we’re navigating recovery, spiritual practice, or daily distractions, this chapter reminds us that freedom begins with seeing clearly—and letting go.
🎧 New episodes drop Mondays at 6 AM EST
🕊️ Support the journey: www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #Craving #Tanha #AddictionRecovery #BuddhismAndHealing #Mindfulness #RecoveryDharma #LiberationSpirituality #BuddhistPsychology #DesireVsCraving #BreakTheChains
In a noisy world, the one who listens deeply and responds with care becomes truly powerful.
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore Chapter 23 of the Dhammapada, where the Buddha likens a wise person to an elephant on the battlefield—bearing insults and hurtful words with calm endurance. In Indian tradition, elephants symbolize strength, peace, and deep presence. This chapter invites us to embody those qualities not in retreat, but in the heart of conflict.
Jason Storbakken draws connections between the Buddha’s teaching and Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication, reflecting on:
- The emotional impact of harsh words—and the resilience it takes not to internalize them
- How to shift from blame and criticism to empathy and understanding
- The inner strength that comes from seeing beyond someone’s words to the needs and feelings beneath
- Compassionate communication as a spiritual practice—and an act of resistance
As Buddha teaches:
“Like an elephant bearing enemy arrows on the battlefield, I endure others’ hurtful words.” (v. 320)
Through mindful presence and heart-centered communication, we can move through the world with the quiet power of the elephant—steadfast, aware, and unshaken.
🎧 New episodes drop Mondays at 6 AM EST
🕊️ Support the journey: www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #TheElephant #CompassionateCommunication #NonviolentCommunication #MarshallRosenberg #Ahimsa #SpiritualResilience #BuddhismAndEmpathy #PeacefulStrength #ElephantWisdom
What if hell isn’t a place—but a condition of the heart?
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore Chapter 22 of the Dhammapada, where Gautama Buddha speaks to the lived reality of despair—not as eternal punishment, but as the result of harmful choices, moral denial, and disconnection from the sacred path.
Jason Storbakken reflects on:
- The Buddhist understanding of “hell” as a state of despair rather than a place of damnation
- How lying, blame-shifting, and hypocrisy fuel cycles of harm and spiritual desolation (vv. 306–318)
- The warning against religious performance without integrity—a timeless caution that still echoes today
- The way out: intentional practice, honest self-examination, and compassionate connection
As the Buddha teaches:
“A person who lies or denies the harm they have caused chooses the path of despair.” (v. 306)
The path toward liberation is not built on fear or shame, but on truth-telling, humility, and sacred community. In a world rife with harm cycles and moral confusion, this chapter reminds us that we can choose a different way—one of healing, accountability, and collective light.
🎧 New episodes drop Mondays at 6 AM EST
🕊️ Support the journey: www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #Despair #SpiritualIntegrity #CyclesOfHarm #BuddhismAndLiberation #HealingPath #Accountability #CompassionateConnection #ReligiousHypocrisy #Wakefulness
What holds a life together isn’t always one big truth—but many small ones, lived with care.
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore Chapter 21 of the Dhammapada—a collection of varied yet deeply connected teachings from the Buddha. From reflections on solitude to practices of nonviolence, these verses offer practical wisdom for navigating a complex and often disconnected world.
Jason Storbakken reflects on:
- The distinction between solitude and loneliness, with insight from Maggie Nelson and Rupi Kaur
- The U.S. Surgeon General’s call to confront the epidemic of loneliness through connection, presence, and care
- The foundational Three Gems of Buddhism—Buddha (teacher), Dharma (teaching), and Sangha (community)—and three embodied practices: the body, harmlessness, and meditation
- The path of harmlessness, nonviolence (ahimsa), and antiviolence as a spiritual and societal ethic
As Buddha teaches:
“Even alone in the wilds of the forest, peace is theirs.” (v. 305)
This chapter reminds us that even in solitude, we are never truly alone—and that the path to liberation is built on small, intentional acts of compassion.
🎧 New episodes drop Mondays at 6 AM EST
🕊️ Support the journey: www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #Solitude #Loneliness #Nonviolence #ThreeGems #BuddhaDharmaSangha #Ahimsa #MaggieNelson #RupiKaur #CommunityHealing #Mindfulness
The path to liberation doesn’t begin with certainty—it begins with a single step.
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore Chapter 20 of the Dhammapada, where the Buddha invites us to reflect on The Path—not as a fixed road, but as one made by walking. Jason Storbakken traces Siddhartha Gautama’s journey from prince to seeker, from privilege to awakening, and the lessons he discovered in choosing intention over status, and purpose over comfort.
This episode explores:
- How Gautama left behind the path handed to him to discover the one that leads to freedom
- The Middle Path—not moderation, but a dynamic third way that resists extremes
- Insights from Bob Marley, Jesus of Nazareth, and Antonio Machado on the meaning of “the way”
- How walking the path transforms us—through meditation, intention, and community
- The spiritual and psychological power of holding multiple perspectives with compassion
As Buddha said: “I have walked this path that leads to liberation, and by walking this path I have shown the way.” (v. 275b)
🎧 New episodes drop Mondays at 6 AM EST
🕊️ Support this journey: www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #ThePath #MiddleWay #LiberationSpirituality #BobMarley #AntonioMachado #JesusSaid #ThirdWay #Mindfulness #TheoryOfMind #SacredPath #WalkingTogether
What holds us together when the world feels like it’s falling apart?
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore Chapter 19 of the Dhammapada, centering on the concept of Dharma—that which upholds. Rooted in the Sanskrit word dhri, Dharma represents both inner discipline and cosmic order. For Buddhists, it is the teaching of the Buddha. For seekers, it is the path to liberation.
Jason Storbakken reflects on Dharma’s resonance across traditions—from Torah and Sharia to Gospel and Tao—and how the Wheel of Dharma, much like the turning gears of a bicycle, signifies progress on the spiritual path.
This episode explores:
- Dharma as spiritual gravity—what holds and propels us
- The sage who “lives from the heart… beyond good and evil” (v. 267)
- Parallels with Christian ideas of Alpha and Omega, and MLK’s “arc of the moral universe”
- The balance between detachment and commitment in the face of suffering
- Nelson Mandela’s wisdom on sitting with what is—without needing it to be different
When we walk the path of Dharma, we move through life with clarity, discipline, and heart—guided by a vision of justice, harmony, and awakening.
🎧 New episodes drop Mondays at 6 AM EST
🕊️ Support this work: www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #Dharma #SpiritualPractice #WheelOfDharma #LiberationPath #MartinLutherKing #NelsonMandela #AlphaAndOmega #Tao #Gospel #Torah #Sharia #BuddhismAndJustice
How do we care for the soul when life wears it down?
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore Chapter 17 of the Dhammapada, where the Buddha likens the human heart to a home—one that falls into ruin if not tended. Just as rust corrodes metal, so too can worry, ignorance, and distraction eat away at our spirit. But through daily spiritual practice, the light within can be restored.
Jason Storbakken weaves together the teachings of Gautama Buddha, Ella Baker, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Rabbi Abraham Heschel to offer a multi-tradition reflection on what it means to clear away inner decay and step into clarity, stillness, and liberation.
This episode explores:
- Buddha’s wisdom: “A house falls into ruin when no one dwells in it.”
- How disciplined practice, silence, and stillness help us return to ourselves
- The power of shamatha (calming) and vipashyana (insight)
- Sabbath wisdom from Rabbi Heschel: menuha as peace, rest, and real joy
- Ella Baker’s guiding light: “Give light and people will find the way.”
Whether through Buddhist meditation, Jewish Sabbath, or simple mindful pauses, the path forward begins with stillness. In silence, we repair the house of the soul.
🎧 New episodes drop Mondays at 6 AM EST
🕊️ Support this work: www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #Ruin #Stillness #Shamatha #Vipashyana #Menuha #EllaBaker #ThichNhatHanh #AbrahamHeschel #SpiritualPractice #InnerPeace #LiberationSpirituality
What if anger isn’t the root—but the symptom?
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore Chapter 17 of the Dhammapada, where the Buddha calls us to understand and transform the fire of anger. Drawing from both ancient wisdom and contemporary insight, Jason Storbakken reflects on how anger often masks more vulnerable emotions like fear and sadness—what psychologists call a “secondary emotion.”
Through the lens of pop culture, neuroscience, and lived experience, this episode journeys into:
- The origin story of the Incredible Hulk and how Bruce Banner’s rage traces back to generational trauma
- A bike ride through Brooklyn that became a moment of fear, anger, and eventually self-awareness
- How the nervous system responds to threat, and how mindfulness can shift us from reactivity to reflection
- The liberating practice of naming what we feel—and offering ourselves compassion
Buddha teaches not to suppress anger but to understand it. When we pause, breathe, and connect with our deeper truth, we can move from harm to healing—and begin breaking the cycles that keep us bound.
🎧 New episodes drop Mondays at 6 AM EST
🕊️ Support the journey: www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #Anger #EmotionalHealing #TheHulk #TraumaInformed #SelfCompassion #Mindfulness #LiberationSpirituality #GenerationalHealing #BuddhismAndPopCulture
In this double episode of Teaching Peace, we explore sukha—the deep, enduring joy found in Buddhist teachings—as distinct from fleeting pleasure or the pursuit of happiness.
Jason Storbakken reflects on Chapters 15 and 16 of the Dhammapada, where the Buddha reminds us that true joy is not something we chase—it’s something we cultivate. While pleasure is often tied to circumstance, joy is rooted in safety, trust, and meaningful connection. It is a quality of inner life that sustains us through both celebration and sorrow.
In this episode, we reflect on:
- The difference between sukha (joy) and piya (pleasure)
- How joy emerges from trust and inner peace rather than pursuit
- Buddha’s teachings on relationships, safety, and liberation: “Foster trust in relationships. In all this, seek liberation.” (v. 204b)
- The insights of Bessel van der Kolk and Allen Ginsberg, linking joy, trauma healing, and cosmic connection
From ancient scripture to modern poetry, joy is revealed as a sacred and sustaining force—one that helps us live well, love deeply, and move toward liberation.
🎧 New episodes drop Mondays at 6 AM EST
🕊️ Support this work: www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #Sukha #JoyVsPleasure #TraumaHealing #InnerPeace #Relationships #BuddhismAndPoetry #SpiritualPractice #SafeConnections #LiberationSpirituality
What does it mean to awaken—not just for oneself, but for the liberation of all?
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore Chapter 14 of the Dhammapada through the lens of the Buddha—the Enlightened One, the Knower, the Awakener. Just as “Christ” is a title that signifies transformation and divine presence, “Buddha” is more than a name—it is an invitation. An invitation to embody awareness, compassion, and liberation.
Jason Storbakken reflects on the declaration:
“More than a conqueror, the awakener moves beyond the cycle of conquering and being conquered.” (v. 179)
Drawing parallels with Christian scripture (“...we are more than conquerors...” – Romans 8:37), this episode explores how both traditions subvert domination and point toward healing. We journey through:
- The meaning of “Buddha” as a path and aspiration
- The Four Noble Truths as a spiritual response to suffering
- How awakening intersects with struggles for racial, gender, and economic justice
- The call to become Awakeners—people who transform pain into peace
With insights from Black and Buddhist by Cheryl A. Giles, this episode centers the First Noble Truth as an act of courage: to face suffering with compassion, and to begin walking the path of liberation—together.
🎧 New episodes drop Mondays at 6 AM EST
🕊️ Support the work: www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #Awakener #BuddhaNature #FourNobleTruths #BlackAndBuddhist #LiberationSpirituality #AntiRacism #HealingJustice #BuddhismAndChristianity #MoreThanConquerors #CompassionInAction
What world do you call home? In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore Chapter 13 of the Dhammapada, where the Buddha invites us to “peel away illusory worlds and unveil the ground of being” (v. 169). Through the lens of loka—the Pali word for “world”—we reflect on how worldviews shape our sense of belonging, purpose, and collective liberation.
Jason Storbakken draws connections between Buddhist and Christian teachings, linking loka to the Greek oikos (home), Tillich’s “ground of being,” Isaiah’s call for justice, and Dr. King’s moral imperative to resist unjust laws. Across traditions, the message is clear: liberation is not only personal—it’s social, ecological, and cosmic.
This episode explores:
- What it means to live in alignment with the “ground of being”
- How peeling away illusion reveals truth, connection, and justice
- Parallels between Buddhist teachings, Hebrew prophecy, and Christian liberation theology
- A vision of sacred activism rooted in compassion, resistance, and transformation
As the world groans for redemption, this teaching calls us not to escape the world—but to awaken within it.
🎧 New episodes drop Mondays at 6 AM EST
🕊️ Support the work: www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #TheWorld #Loka #LiberationTheology #GroundOfBeing #Tillich #MLK #Isaiah #Ecospirituality #SacredActivism #BuddhismAndChristianity #JusticeAndCompassion
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore Chapter 12 of the Dhammapada, turning inward to examine the Buddhist view of atman—the self that is no self.
Jason Storbakken reflects on how Buddhist teachings disrupt common understandings of the soul. Unlike many world religions that affirm an eternal, individual soul, Buddhism invites us into a different truth: the self is not fixed or separate but an illusion shaped by transient experiences. Yet this illusion points toward a deeper reality—what some call the absolute, the all-self, or no-self at all.
This episode considers:
- The contrast between Buddhist atman and the Abrahamic view of the soul
- How the illusion of self contributes to suffering—and how awakening leads to liberation
- Why these philosophical differences matter for interreligious dialogue, environmental ethics, and social justice
- The role of mindfulness and meditation in seeing through the illusion of separateness
Rather than a denial of the soul, Buddhism offers a nuanced path that neither clings to permanence nor erases existence—it points to the possibility of freedom beyond ego.
🎧 New episodes drop Mondays at 6 AM EST
🕊️ Support this work: www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #Buddhism #Atman #NoSelf #Soul #Mindfulness #Interfaith #LiberationSpirituality #TraumaInformedFaith #EnvironmentalEthics #SocialJustice
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore Chapter 11 of the Dhammapada, a meditation on decay, impermanence, and the unraveling of harmful systems. Drawing from the Buddhist concept of jaramarana—the cycle of aging, deterioration, and death—we reflect on how things fall apart not only within us, but around us: in our relationships, communities, and the world.
Jason Storbakken takes us from ancient wisdom to contemporary resonance, connecting the Dhammapada’s verse 154 with The Roots’ album Things Fall Apart, inspired by Chinua Achebe and illustrated by a photo of police violence in 1960s Brooklyn. This imagery evokes the deep entanglement of personal and systemic collapse—yet also the potential for post-traumatic growth.
What does it mean to acknowledge decay, not as the end, but as the opening to transformation? From the entropy of systems to the liberation of the spirit, this episode weaves together trauma-aware spirituality, liberation theology, and Buddhist insight. We hear echoes of Audre Lorde—“the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house”—as a call for revolutionary change through nonviolence and compassion.
We explore:
- Jaramarana and the law of entropy
- Healing from decay through breath, awareness, and intention
- Why systems built on violence can’t be reformed—they must be replaced
- The Buddha’s declaration: "House-builder, you are seen. The structure shall not be rebuilt." (v. 154)
🎧 New episodes drop Mondays at 6 AM EST
🕊️ Support the work: www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #ThingsFallApart #Jaramarana #LiberationTheology #AudreLorde #Buddhism #Antiviolence #TraumaHealing #NonviolentResistance
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore Chapter 10 of the Dhammapada: Violence (Pali: donda, literally “the stick”)—a sobering meditation on the roots, cycles, and transformation of violence, from interpersonal harm to systemic injustice.
Through a trauma-aware and liberationist lens, Jason Storbakken reflects on the Buddha’s powerful insight:
“Those who oppress others to maintain their own happiness transfer sorrow even to the next generation.” (v. 131)
Drawing on Johan Galtung’s typology of violence—direct, structural, and cultural—we consider how violence is normalized and transmitted across generations. Yet, Gautama Buddha offers a liberative alternative: resisting oppression through the pursuit of personal and collective liberation. From the breath-based wisdom of Hawaiian Aloha to the transformative practice of deep listening, this episode highlights how peace begins within and ripples outward into relationships, communities, and systems.
We also trace the spiritual lineage of dreadlocks from Indian ascetics to Caribbean Maroons, and hear the Buddha’s challenge to religious performance without inner peace:
“A close-minded, hard-hearted religious devotee... remains far from the noble path.” (v. 141)
Join us as we examine how violence is sustained—and how it can be disrupted through breath, presence, and compassionate action.
🔔 New episodes drop every Monday at 6 AM EST.
🎧 Subscribe & share to support this journey of peace and wisdom.
🕊️ Donate to the Brooklyn Peace Center to help us continue producing trauma-aware, liberationist content — www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #Violence #AntiviolentSpirituality #GautamaBuddha #Nonviolence #DeepListening #LiberationTheology #PeaceBuilding #Aloha #TraumaInformedFaith
This episode of Teaching Peace, the podcast from Brooklyn Peace Center, turns inward to spotlight Little by Little—a performance residency and curatorial project founded by Isabella Thorpe-Woods. Over the past two years, Little by Little has welcomed seven resident artists into a space shaped by care, slowness, and relational process, rather than urgency or polished outcomes.
Host Jason Storbakken is joined by Thorpe-Woods to explore what it means to curate from the margins, to reimagine corners as sites of community and resistance, and to hold space for vulnerability, experimentation, and unfinished work. Together, they reflect on the role of performance in sacred architecture, the politics of visibility in the arts, and the quiet, subversive power of creating without capital-driven demands.
This conversation invites listeners into an emerging model of arts practice—rooted in hospitality, intergenerational and intercultural connection, and the radical possibility of building peace little by little.
📍 Learn more at www.brooklynpeace.center and follow @littlebylittlebrooklyn on Instagram.
🎧 Until next time: keep listening, keep learning, and keep building peace.
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore Chapter 9 of the Dhammapada: Harm (Pali: papa)—a word often translated as evil or sin, but here rendered as harm, pointing to the real and measurable ways suffering is caused, carried, and passed on.
Through a trauma-informed lens, Jason Storbakken unpacks how harm moves through bodies, communities, and generations. Drawing from Gautama Buddha, Richard Rohr, and Resmaa Menakem, this episode reveals how unhealed pain becomes patterned and transferred—unless disrupted.
The teachings in this chapter challenge us to break free from cycles of reactivity and retribution. As the Buddha teaches, “Be mindful that the harm you cause does not become a pattern.” And as Jesus of Nazareth urges: “Love your enemies… pray for those who harm you.” Together, these paths guide us toward interrupting harm with compassion, transforming pain with love, and advancing steadily on the noble path.
Join us as we reflect on how to stop the spiral of generational harm and walk a path of healing, accountability, and transformation.
🔔 New episodes drop every Monday at 6 AM EST.
🎧 Subscribe & share to support this journey of peace and wisdom.
🕊️ Donate to the Brooklyn Peace Center to help us continue producing trauma-aware, liberationist content — www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #Harm #TraumaInformedSpirituality #GenerationalHealing #LiberationistFaith #RichardRohr #ResmaaMenakem #BuddhistWisdom #LoveHeals
In part two of our conversation, Sister Maria Nina Benedicta Krapic joins host Zipporah Storbakken to share her personal journey—from Croatian journalist to Vatican communicator and Sister of Mercy. Speaking with warmth and conviction, she reflects on what it means to love courageously in a wounded world.
In this episode, Sister Nina shares:
- How community brought her back to faith
- Why she chose Edith Stein (St. Benedicta of the Cross) as her spiritual guide
- What mercy means—beyond theory, as maternal, embodied love
- Insights from her work with migrants and survivors of violence
- The evolving role of women in the Church
Part of our special Sister Sister series, uplifting the voices of women healing a broken world.
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we reflect on Chapter 8 of the Dhammapada: Thousands (Pali: sahassa)—a powerful teaching on the value of presence over performance, and substance over spectacle.
Gautama Buddha reminds us that a single verse rooted in peace is worth more than a thousand hollow ones. He challenges superficial religiosity and instead calls for a path of deep engagement, compassion, and inner transformation. This chapter critiques the temptation to use religion as a shield—what modern psychology calls spiritual bypassing—and offers a way forward grounded in authenticity and mercy.
Jason Storbakken explores these truths through the lens of his work at The Bowery Mission, where many in recovery wrestle with replacing harmful behaviors with spiritual language that avoids real healing. With echoes of the Hebrew prophet Hosea and Jesus of Nazareth, this episode encourages us to move beyond fear-based religion toward a life of mercy, mindfulness, and meaningful action.
Join us for a timely conversation on words that heal, actions that liberate, and the sacred journey beyond dualities.
🔔 New episodes drop every Monday at 6 AM EST.
🎧 Subscribe & share to support this journey of peace and wisdom.
🕊️ Donate to the Brooklyn Peace Center to help us continue producing trauma-aware, liberationist content — www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace #Dhammapada #Thousands #SpiritualBypassing #LiberationistSpirituality #Mindfulness #CompassionOverRitual #BuddhistWisdom #TraumaInformedFaith
In this episode, recorded in Rome and Brooklyn, Teaching Peace host Jason Storbakken speaks with Sister Maria Nina Benedicta Krapic, a Sister of Mercy of St. Vincent DePaul and communications specialist at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication.
Speaking in her personal capacity, Sister Nina offers heartfelt reflections on:
- What it was like in St. Peter’s Square during Pope Leo’s election
- The preferential option for the poor and how it reshapes our worldview
- How women religious are leading anti-trafficking and abuse-prevention efforts in 77+ countries
- The Church’s call to create communities of care, mercy, and justice
- Why relationship is the heart of moral clarity
- Social media as a space for public witness rooted in love
- Why the living Church is found not in headlines, but in local communities
📍 “If you want to know the Church, go to the parishes. Look for people who feed the hungry, who love the guilty, who share their tables.” — Sister Nina
This is part one of a two-part conversation. Part two will appear in our Sister Sister series, centering women’s voices in the work of healing a broken world.
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we turn to Chapter 7 of the Dhammapada: The Noble—a text that introduces a third path beyond the binary of wisdom and foolishness. Drawing from the Sanskrit arhat and Pali arahant, this chapter explores what it means to live a life worthy of honor—not bystatus or wealth, but through liberation from cycles of harm and generational suffering.
Jason Storbakken guides us through this vision of nobility: one that is wild, free, grounded in Dharma, and rooted in the profound truth that both everything belongs to us and nothing does. Drawing on metaphors of flight andfreedom, the noble ones are likened to swans—no longer domesticated by the world, but attuned to their true nature.
Through a trauma-aware and liberationist lens, we reflect on the emptiness of false identity and the awakening of the higher self, with wisdom from both the Buddha and Sufi mystic Rumi.
Join us as we contemplate what it means to melt “the self of the self” and soar into sacred nobility.
🔔 New episodes drop every Monday at 6 AM EST.
🎧 Subscribe & share to support this journey of peace and wisdom.
🕊️ Donate to Brooklyn Peace Center to help us continue producing trauma-aware, liberationistcontent — www.brooklynpeace.center
Dhammapada #TeachingPeace #BuddhistWisdom #TraumaInformedSpirituality#TheNoble #LiberationPath #Rumi #Arhat #Mindfulness
Teaching Peace, the flagship podcast of Brooklyn Peace Center, returns with a new season of conversations on liberation, transformation, and the radical practice of peace.
In this episode, host Jason Storbakken speaks with Kazu Haga—author, activist, and longtime practitioner of nonviolence. From Buddhist monasteries to movement spaces, Haga’s journey is one of rupture and reconnection, ancestral wisdom and embodied action. Together, they explore the intersections of trauma, healing, justice, and what it means to resist without reproducing harm.
Haga reflects on his interfaith pilgrimage tracing the Middle Passage, the teachings that guide his work with the Fierce Vulnerability Network, and his evolving practice of cultivating peace through daily ritual, community, and relationship.
This conversation rings like a bell—an invitation to slow down, listen deeply, and reimagine the world we’re building together.
🎧 Featuring:
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- Embodied learning through pilgrimage, ritual, and lived experience
- How peace centers and intentional communities are modeling new ways of being
- Interdependence as a spiritual, social, and political truth
- Grief rituals, restorative circles, and the sound of a bell in protest
Follow, share, and join the Teaching Peace community in shaping a future grounded in justice, compassion, and collective healing.
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore the contrasting paths of the fool (bala) and the wise (pandita) as taught in Chapters 5 and 6 of the Dhammapada. The Buddha teaches that wisdom and foolishness are not based on education, family, or status—but on the choices we make. The fool is one who knows what is right yet refuses to act accordingly, while the wise live in harmony with right understanding.
Fools chase status, deflect accountability, and perpetuate blame. The wise, on the other hand, cultivate the “seven factors of awakening”: mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity. These inner riches guide individuals and communities toward maturity, balance, and liberation.
🔔 New episodes drop every Monday at 6 AM EST.
🎧 Subscribe & share to support this journey of peace and wisdom.
🕊️ Donate to the Brooklyn Peace Center to help us continue producing trauma-aware, liberationist content — www.brooklynpeace.center
Dhammapada #TeachingPeace #BuddhistWisdom #Mindfulness #TraumaInformedSpirituality
🎧 Sister Sister Ep. 3: Congo ResilienceIn this moving episode of Sister Sister, Zipporah Storbakken speaks with Onyx Myanda Nyringabo—a Congolese peacemaker, activist, and poet—about war, sisterhood, and the work of healing.
Highlights include:
- A powerful primer on the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo—from colonization to cobalt mining
- Onyx’s journey from medical school to grassroots peacebuilding
- The resilience and labor of Congolese women, often overlooked but essential
- The emotional and psychological toll of sexual violence and the importance of trauma-informed care
- What peace means in a place marked by conflict—and why trust is foundational
- Onyx’s vision for youth-led change, justice-centered leadership, and what gives her hope
Quote of the episode:“There is no you without others, and no others without you.” — Onyx Myanda defining Ubuntu
📍 Sister Sister is a special series of Teaching Peace, the podcast of Brooklyn Peace Center, amplifying the voices of women from regions impacted by war, genocide, and displacement.
🗓️ New episodes drop every Thursday at 6 AM.🎧 Subscribe and share to uplift these stories of global sisterhood and peacebuilding.
SisterSisterPodcast #TeachingPeace #BrooklynPeaceCenter #DRC #CongoRising #WomenForPeace #EndGenocide #GlobalSisterhood #YouthVoices #OnyxMyanda #Ubuntu #JusticeMatters
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we move into Chapter 4 of the Dhammapada: Flowers—a poetic meditation on impermanence, beauty, and the urgency of the spiritual path.
These verses use the imagery of flowers to reflect on the fleeting nature of life and the importance of inner practice over outer appearances. Through a liberationist and trauma-informed lens, Jason Storbakken explores what it means to gather the flowers of wisdom—not merely to admire them, but to live by them. How do we move from surface-level spirituality to deep-rooted transformation?
Join us as we reflect on the delicacy of life, the fragrance of virtue, and the call to walk the path with intention and grace.
🔔 New episodes drop every Monday at 6 AM EST
🎧 Subscribe & share to support this journey of peace and wisdom.
🕊️ Donate to the Brooklyn Peace Center tohelp us continue producing trauma-aware, liberationist content — www.brooklynpeace.center
Dhammapada #TeachingPeace #BuddhistWisdom #Mindfulness #SpiritualPractice #TraumaInformedSpirituality #Impermanence #HealingJourney
In this episode of Sister Sister, host and teen peacebuilder Zipporah sits down with Kawsar Yasin, a Uyghur student and activist at Harvard, to explore what it means to speak out in the face of genocide.
Together, they unpack the history of state violence and cultural erasure in East Turkestan (Xinjiang), the criminalization of Uyghur identity and faith, and how sisterhood, memory, and joy are radical acts of resistance.
From secret prayer circles to student protests, from ancestral shrines to Harvard classrooms, Kawsar shares her journey of reclaiming voice, honoring community, and building global solidarity.
📍 Sister Sister is a special series from Brooklyn Peace Center’s podcast Teaching Peace, amplifying the voices of women from regions impacted by war, genocide, and displacement.
🗓️ New episodes drop Thursdays at 6 AM EST.
🎧 Subscribe and share to support this journey of peace and justice.
SisterSisterPodcast #UyghurJustice #TeachingPeace #BrooklynPeaceCenter #WomensVoices #GenocideAwareness #FaithAndResistance #YouthActivism #KawsarYasin #PodcastLaunch
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we explore Chapter 3 of the Dhammapada: Mind Matters—a focused reflection on the restless, powerful, and often untamed nature of the mind.
These verses describe the mind as elusive and difficult to control—yet capable of shaping our entire existence. Through a liberationist and trauma-informed lens, Jason Storbakken invites us to consider how taming the mind is central to spiritual practice and personal transformation. What happens when we learn to guide, rather than be ruled by, our thoughts?
Join us as we contemplate the discipline, compassion, and awareness needed to cultivate a mind that leads us not toward harm, but toward healing and peace.
🔔 New episodes drop every Monday at 6 AM EST
🎧 Subscribe & share to support this journey of peace and wisdom. 🕊️ Donate to the Brooklyn Peace Center tohelp us continue producing trauma-aware, liberationist content — www.brooklynpeace.center
Dhammapada #TeachingPeace #Mindfulness #MentalHealth #TraumaInformedSpirituality #BuddhistWisdom #HealingJourney
🎙️ Sister Sister | A series of the Teaching Peace podcast by Brooklyn Peace Center
In this powerful episode, Zipporah sits down with Sudanese writer, feminist, and activist Reem Abbas for an unflinching conversation on Sudan’s history of resistance and the movement for justice amid ongoing conflict. From smuggling banned books to organizing women-led movements, Reem shares how everyday acts—from cultural salons to cups of tea—can become powerful forms of resistance.
Together, they explore the roots of Sudan’s war, the lasting wounds of impunity, and the revolutionary role of Sudanese women who dare to lead, speak, and rebuild a nation. Reem also reflects on motherhood, exile, solidarity, and what it means to walk the long road to feminist peace.
💡 Topics include:
- The roots of Sudan's current conflict
- Feminist resistance under dictatorship
- How culture, community, and sisterhood sustain hope
- Practical ways to support peace and justice in Sudan
📍 Guest: Reem Abbas – Sudanese journalist, feminist peacebuilder, and author of Undoing Resistance.
Book recommendation from Reem: Leaving Beirut by Mai Ghoussoub
Affirmation Song provided by Snoop Dogg's Doggyland. Find them on YouTube, Kidoodle or HappyKids.
Follow, subscribe, and share to support this global sisterhood.
SisterSisterPodcast #Sudan #FeministPeace #TeachingPeace
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we continue our journey through the Dhammapada with Chapter 2: Care-fullness—a powerful teaching on appamada, or mindful vigilance, which the Buddha called the path to immortality.
These verses remind us that liberation is not accidental. Through a trauma-aware and liberationist lens, Jason Storbakken explores how care-full presence—what the Buddha calls appamada—is essential on the path of peace. What does it mean to live with intentionality in a world that numbs, distracts, and divides?
Join us as we reflect on the power of mindful action, the danger of carelessness, and how sustained awareness becomes a foundation for freedom.
🔔 New episodes drop every Monday at 6 AM EST
🎧 Subscribe & share to support this journey of peace and wisdom🕊️ Donate to the Brooklyn Peace Center tohelp us continue producing trauma-aware, liberationist content — www.brooklynpeace.center
Dhammapada #TeachingPeace #Appamada #Mindfulness #TraumaInformedSpirituality #LiberationPath #BuddhistWisdom
Chapter 1: Dualities
In this episode of Teaching Peace, we begin our deep dive into the Dhammapada with Chapter 1: Dualities—a powerful opening that sets the foundation for the Buddha’s path to wisdom and liberation.
These verses reveal how our thoughts shape our reality, emphasizing the connection between mind, suffering, and peace. Through a liberationist and trauma-aware lens, Jason Storbakken unpacks the implications of these teachings for personal and collective healing. How do our inner narratives create cycles of harm—or pathways to freedom?
Join us as we reflect on the transformative power of the mind and the role of awareness in breaking free from suffering.
🔔 New episodes drop every Monday at 6 AM EST.
🎧 Subscribe & share to support this journey of peace and wisdom.🕊️ Donate to the Brooklyn Peace Center to help us continue producing trauma-aware, liberationist content —www.brooklynpeace.center#Dhammapada #TeachingPeace #BuddhistWisdom #Mindfulness #TraumaInformedSpirituality
Dhammapada – Episode 1
Welcome to Teaching Peace, the official podcast of the Brooklyn Peace Center. In this first episode of our new series, we begin an exploration of the Dhammapada, one of the most revered Buddhist scriptures, through a liberationist and trauma-aware lens.
This episode features the introduction and first three chapters, originally published in the University of Hawaii Press Journal of Buddhist-Christian Studies. Jason Storbakken shares insights into the translation process, the ethics of interpretation, and how the Dhammapada speaks to those seeking healing from cycles of harm and oppression.
Expect reflections on wisdom, mindfulness, and liberation, as we engage the verses not just as ancient text but as living wisdom for today’s struggles. Listen in as we unpack the beauty, depth, and power of these sacred teachings.
🔔 Subscribe to Teaching Peace for weekly contemplative episodes.
🎧 Follow & share if this speaks to you.🕊️ Donate to the Brooklyn Peace Center to help us continue producing trauma-aware, liberationist content — www.brooklynpeace.center
Dhammapada #TeachingPeace #BuddhistWisdom #TraumaInformedSpirituality
Rita Nakashima Brock is Senior Vice President and Director of the Shay Moral Injury Center at Volunteers of America. She leads the organization’s efforts to deepen understanding about moral injury in the many populations who experience it.
A noted theologian, Dr. Brock was the Founding Director of the Soul Repair Center at Brite Divinity School where she also was a Research Professor of Theology and Culture. Among other books, she is co-author of Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury after War, and Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering and the Search for What Saves Us. She is a leading national expert on moral injury in combat veterans and has offered trainings for VA mental health providers, for professional chaplains, and for veterans and their families.
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Chloe and Elgin Storbakken, guest cohosts, are in conversation with Madison Banks and Peony Walcott. Madison and Peony are MCC Summer Service Program Leaders at Groundswell and Radical Living, respectively.
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Iris de León-Hartshorn has served Mennonite Central Committee (1996-2007) and Mennonite Church USA (2007-present) in various leadership roles. Previously the denomination’s director of transformative peacemaking, the Portland, Oregon, resident is now its associate executive director for operations, a new position that encapsulates the roles of chief of staff and key advisor to the executive director. She has been a strong advocate for racial and gender justice in the church and its related institutions.
In this episode of Teaching Peace, Addie and Jason are in conversation with Alexandra Meneses, cofounder of Quite Peace Center, coordinator for Project for Refugee People, and former pastor at Quito Mennonite Church. Also joining us is Peter Wigginton, Ecuador partnership coordinator for Mission Network, who provided interpretation.
Addie and guest cohost Greg Vanderbilt are in conversation with Gordon McDade. Gordon is a peacebuilder in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Along with Karen Sethuraman, Gordon facilitates a peace & reconciliation hub called Soulspace (and the Down Community).
Jason and Addie are in conversation with Oscar Nceba Siwali, founder and executive director of a South African peace center called Southern African Development and Reconstruction Agency (SADRA). https://sadra.co.za/
In the inaugural episode of the second season of Teaching Peace, Jason Storbakken and Addie Banks are in conversation with Sue Park-Hur, Denominational Minister for Transformative Peacemaking in the Mennonite Church USA, and co-director of ReconciliAsian, a peace center in Los Angeles specializing in conflict transformation and restorative justice for immigrant churches.
BringThePeace
Addie and Jason are in conversation with Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simpson, executive director of Fellowship of Reconciliation.
Addie and Jason talk with Cesar Garcia, general secretary of the Mennonite World Conference, a global communion of Anabaptist related churches that serves some 1.5 million members around the world, distributed in more than 10,000 Mennonite, BIC, and other Anabaptist congregations. Rev. García is from Bogotá, Colombia, and his appointment in 2011 marked the first time a leader from the global South has served in this leadership role.
https://mwc-cmm.org/
www.brooklynpeace.center
Addie and Jason are in conversation with Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee, a Liberian peace activist, trained social worker and women’s rights advocate.
www.brooklynpeace.center
TeachingPeace
Jason and guest cohost Kayla Berkey talk with Dr. Malinda Elizabeth Berry, ethicist and theologian, about Shalom Political Theology as the connective tissue and intersectional space that holds together liberation theologies and practical peacemaking for long-term social transformation.
Addie Banks and guest cohost Gregory Vanderbilt talk with Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Soto Albrecht about uprooting generation family violence through practicing peacemaking. Dr. Soto Albrecht is author of "Family Violence: Reclaiming a Theology of Nonviolence" (Orbis Books) and the forthcoming "Liberating the Politics of Jesus: Renewing Peace Theology through the Wisdom of Women."
www.brookynpeace.center
Addie and Jason talk with Jayne Docherty, the executive director of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University.
www.brooklynpeace.center
In this episode of Teaching Peace, Addie Banks and Jason Storbakken talk with Stanley Hauerwas about the ethics and theology of peacebuilding. Hauerwas is the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Divinity and Law at Duke University. He is considered to be one of the world's most influential living theologians and was named "America's Best Theologian" by Time magazine in 2001.
www.brooklynpeace.center
In this first episode of Teaching Peace, Addie Banks and Jason Storbakken talk with, Glen Guyton, the executive director of Mennonite Church USA, the largest denomination of Peace Christians in the United States. They explore themes related to peacemaking in institutions and congregations.
www.brooklynpeace.center