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:

• ​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