I began my journey in the Buddhadharma in 2004 at the London Buddhist Center in Bethnal Green. Over the years I have trained in a range of Buddhist contexts and traditions, but I remain rooted in the Triratna Buddhist Order, to which I was ordained in 2018.
Professionally, my background is in leadership development, executive education and coaching. Following the wake-up call of the 2016 elections, I entered Union Theological Seminary in New York, where, as a seminarian, I studied Buddhism and Interreligious Engagement. My scholarship has focused on the 20th-century Dalit leader Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and his radical Buddhist imagination, which I place into conversation with Womanist and Black liberation theologies. At present, I am pursuing doctoral work in Religious Studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
With a group of dear friends, I co-founded Awareness is Revolutionary, a collective of Buddhists committing to cultivating Beloved Community and accelerating racial literacy within a Dharmic framework. I also teach in secular contexts as a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher, and have practiced as an interfaith chaplain in hospice and hospital settings.
When the pandemic hit New York City, my partner Jon Aaron and I co-founded Space2Meditate, which offers online meditation sessions seven days a week and is still going strong. Inspired by our grounding in various lineages and our training as mindfulness teachers, Space2Meditate has evolved organically into a non-denominational mindfulness community, with a love of poetry as an aide to deepening practice. Members have a diverse range of backgrounds, both secular and contemplative.
I now live between Chicago and New York City. I was born and raised in France.
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• Doctoral student at the University of Chicago’s Divinity School since 2023
• Teaching Fellow and Research Assistant, Union Theological Seminary, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2022.
• STM, concentration in Inter-religious Engagement, Union Theological Seminary - NYC 2021-2022. Extended Paper topic: “Womanist-Buddhist Encounters and New Buddhist Imaginaries.”
• MDiv, concentration in Buddhism & Inter-religious Engagement, Union Theological Seminary - NYC 2018-2021. Thesis topic: “Igniting Buddhist Imagination: the Liberative Storytelling and Dharmology of DR. B.R. Ambedkar.”
• MSc in Business, ESSEC - AACSB accredited leading French business school - Paris, France, 2001
• BA and MA in philosophy, final research thesis accepted with honors - Sorbonne University - Paris, France, 2000. Thesis topic: “Gender difference as a philosophical problem”
• Ecole Normale Supérieure, leading French graduate school in humanities, full fellowship grant in philosophy, 1996-2000
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• Training within the Triratna Buddhist Community since 2004. Began ordination training in 2009. Ordained as a Dharmacharini in 2018.
• Retreats several times a year, group and solitary, from 3 days to 3 months, since 2004. Full listing available upon request.
• Black Feminism and Buddhism, Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad and Aishah Shahidah Simmons, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and New York Insight, 2021.
• Anapanasati Sutta and Satipatthana Meditation Courses, led by Ven. Analayo and team, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and New York Insight, 2021 and 2023.
• “Self & Not-Self,” 8-week program with Brian Lesage and Sebene Selassie, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, May 2017.
• Radical Dharma Camp at the Omega Institute, with Rev. angel Kyodo williams Sensei, Dr. Jasmine Syedullah, and Lama Rod Owens, Aug 2017.
• Yearlong Integrated Study and Practice Program (ISPP), Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and New York Insight, 2013.
• “Looking Closely at What the Buddha Taught: Year-long Study of the Pali Canon.” New York Insight, 2011.
• Study of Early Buddhism with Dharmapunx and teacher Josh Korda, 2009-2011.
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• Clinical Pastoral Education, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, 2021-2022
• Clinical Pastoral Training for Clergy and Religious Leaders with the Center for Pastoral Care of the Jewish Theological Seminary of New York, 2019-2021
• Foundational Training in Spiritual Caregiving with the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, 2009-2010
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• MBSR Teacher Certification from the Mindfulness Center of Brown University School of Public Health, May 2020
• Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School:
• 7 day in Mind-Body Medicine - Summer 2017
• One-to-one Supervision in Teaching MBSR, 2016
• Teacher Development Intensive in MBSR - Spring 2014
• Practicum in MBSR - Summer 2010
• Breathworks Training for MBSR/MBCT instructors, Garrison Institute, May 2015 (retreat organizer as well)
• Certified Senior Trainer in Corporate-Based Mindfulness Training with The Potential Project, 2014
• Ethics of Contemporary Mindfulness Interventions, L. Monteiro & F. Musten, BCBS, July 2015
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• Principles and Practices of Organizational Development, Certificate Program, Columbia University, 2014
• Certificate in Leadership Development Programs, American Society for Training and Development, 2013
• Certificate in Designing Learning, American Society for Training and Development, 2012
• Professional Certificate in Human Capital Management, New York University SCPS - 2010
• MSc in Business, ESSEC - AACSB accredited leading French business school - Paris, France, 2001
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• Hogan Certification, Jun 2020.
• Certified MBTI practitioner, Steps I and II, CPP, 2017
• Coaching for Transformation®, ICF certified professional coach training, Leadership That Works, 2015
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A particularly altering and life-giving aspect of my journey has involved the on-going work of dismantling the ways in which my mind has been conditioned by whiteness, unlearning the ways in which I participate in systems of institutionalized racism and perpetuate racialized harm. Nothing has brought me closer to seeing through delusion and spiritual death than anti-racism work. This work is never ending. Some precious opportunities so far have included:
• Part of an anti-racist Triratna Order Chapter, 2020-2022
• Mentoring with the incredible and wonderful Chris Crass, 2020-2021.
• Untangling the Tangle: Exploring Diverse Views on Race and Anti-Racism with Brian Lesage and Jessica Locke, 5 week course, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, Winter 2022
• 3 Day Intensive “Seeing the Racial Water” with Robin DiAngelo and Carlin Quinn, Education For Racial Equity, Aug 2020.
• Study of My Grandmother’s Hands (Resmaa Menakem), and participation in the Dismantling Whiteness Group of Union Theological Seminary, 2018-2019.
• “Self & Not-Self,” 8-week program with Brian Lesage and Sebene Selassie, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, May 2017.
• Cultural Spiritual Bypassing , Brian Lesage and Sebene Selassie, 4 day retreat, BCBS, May 2017
• The Dukkha of White Privilege, week-end retreat with Arinna Weisman, New York Insight, 2012
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French and English: fluent.
Italian: elementary, conversational.
Hindi: intermediate low.
Pali: basic reading.
Sanskrit: beginner.
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Luraschi, Savanna Jo (Upayadhi). "A Review of Rima Vesely-Flad’s Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation," in CrossCurrents, vol 72, n. 4, December 2022.
Find me here: https://upayadhisavannajoluraschi.academia.edu