What is it like to spend 15 years as a Buddhist nun, and how does that experience shape a life beyond the monastery? In this episode, Dharma teacher Kaira Jewel Lingo takes us inside her journey of entering monastic life in Thich Nhat Hanh’s community and the profound transition to lay life. We’ll explore the challenges of leaving the monastery, how her Black identity influenced her spiritual path, and the valuable lessons she learned about mindfulness, embodiment, and social justice. Kaira shares her insights on how the dharma can help us navigate change, heal from disruption, and live with greater presence in uncertain times. Join us for an intimate conversation with a teacher whose life bridges spiritual depth and engaged action in the world.

Speaker bio: Kaira Jewel Lingo is a much-loved Dharma teacher who has been practicing mindfulness since 1997. She lived as an ordained nun for 15 years, during which time she trained closely with her teacher, Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh. Speaking five languages, she shares Buddhist meditation, secular mindfulness​,​ and compassion ​practice ​internationally, providing spiritual mentoring to individuals and communities working at the intersection of racial, climate, and social justice. ​Her teaching focuses on activists, educators, artists, ​youth and ​families, and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and includes the interweaving of art, play, nature, ecology, and embodied mindfulness practice. Kaira Jewel teaches in the Plum Village Zen tradition ​​and in the Vipassana tradition. She lives in New York.