Teaching Peace

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
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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
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#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
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#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
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#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