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:
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:
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
