Resiliency Through Change and Grief
Multi-Day Collective Practice with Lama Rod Owens
in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia
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Friday: December 4, 2026 from 9:30am-5pm AEDTÂ
First Nations & People of Color Community Gathering
In-Person Only
Saturday-Sunday:
December 5, 2026 from 10am-6pm AEDT
December 6, 2026 from 10am-4pm AEDT
Open to All
In-Person or Virtual
First Nations & POC Community Gathering - Friday, December 4th
A whole-day gathering in Naarm/Melbourne with Lama Rod Owens, created specifically for First Nations peoples and people of colour. The exact shape of the gathering will be developed with and by First Nations peoples and people of colour, with an emphasis on trust, cultural safety, choice (whether and how you participate along the way) and genuine co-creation.
The day will explore what it means to bring our whole selves to the work of social and spiritual liberation — our bodies, identities, histories, relationships, grief, joy and wisdom — and to build communities where we can belong, be free and stay in relationship through difficulty.
Through dialogue, storytelling, contemplative and embodied practices, plus shared food and tea, we’ll create space to explore ancestry, healing, truth-telling, resistance, protection, resiliency, and different ways of being. You don’t need to be Buddhist, have a particular spiritual practice, or know Lama Rod’s work to participate.
Open to All- In Person or Virtual - Saturday-Sunday, December 5-6thÂ
Lama Rod Owens comes to Australia for the very first time, for a weekend of practice, transmission, and collective liberation on the beautiful grounds of Abbotsford Convent.
No prior knowledge of Buddhism is needed. Whether this is your first encounter with Lama Rod's work or you've been following it for years, he'll meet you where you are through teachings that are contemporary, direct, and rooted in lived experience.
What must we release, grieve, and reclaim in order to show up fully for ourselves, our communities, and the unseen ecologies of ancestors and descendants yet to come?
Together we'll explore healing and resiliency through guided meditation, breathwork, gentle movement, grief work, and group discussion; building our capacity to meet uncertain and unsteady times with more openness, groundedness, and freedom. Grief, in this work, isn't something to resolve or move past. It's treated as a portal: the body's knowledge that something sacred has been lost, and a place where real change becomes possible because we're willing to feel.
This tending of our broken hearts opens into the wider work of spiritual abolition — the liberation of our whole ecology, inner and outer, seen and unseen. The outer work of challenging carceral systems also asks for a revolution in our minds, hearts, and spirits.
Drawing on Tantric Buddhism alongside chanting, prayer, and ancestor practice, Lama Rod will also share teachings connected to Ma Tara, the female Buddha of compassion who meets us in our darkness and calls us back toward life.
As with all of Lama Rod's offerings, the weekend will respond to what's alive in the room, to this community, this land, and this moment. We look forward to practising, grieving, and building together, in support of more honest relationships with ourselves and one another.
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Registration Options
(select the offering below that best matches your ability to pay)
All Members of Lama Rod's Learning & Practice Community receive a 10% discount!
Join here to access the discount code.
Friday’s event is open to BIPOC and First Nations only. Saturday-Sunday is open to all.
Virtual tickets are also available for those wishing to join us online for Saturday-Sunday.
Payment plans are available for Saturday-Sunday. Click the registration ticket to find out more info.
Virtual Livestream
Can’t attend in person? Join the Sat-Sun event online! (Registration does not include in-person attendance.)
FAQs:
When is the event?
Friday, December 4, 2026 from 9:30am-5pm AEDTÂ - BIPOC & First Nations Community Gathering
In-Person Only
Saturday and Sunday, December 5-6, 2026Â
Saturday, December 5th 2026 from 10am-6pm AEDT - Open to AllÂ
Sunday December 6th 2026 from 10am - 4pm AEDT - Open to All
In-Person or Virtual
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Please note:
- The Friday event is open to BIPOC & First Nations only.Â
- Saturday-Sunday is open to all.Â
- Registration is separate for both options (Friday or Saturday-Sunday). If you’d like to attend all three days, please register for both.
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Where is the event?
Abbotsford Convent at 1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford, VIC 3067. Click here for more info on how to access the location.
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What if I am attending virtually?
Talks in the main hall will be livestreamed for the Saturday and Sunday events. Breakout rooms will happen online via Zoom for participants attending virtually. There will also be the opportunity to ask questions virtually during Q&A.
Friday will not be livestreamed and is in-person only.
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What if I can't attend the live session virtually?
The talks in the main hall on Saturday-Sunday will be recorded as audio and posted on the course platform for you to listen back to later. The recordings will be available indefinitely. Â
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Is there a refund policy?
Refunds are available until 8am ET on Nov 23rd less a 20% admin fee. After those dates, we are not able to issue refunds.
Is there financial assistance available?
Through the support of those who give at the Pay it Forward level, we have a limited amount of financial assistance available for anyone in need. We especially encourage folks who identify as First Nations and are in need of financial assistance to reach out. Please contact [email protected] for more info.
We welcome the generosity of those who can register at the Pay it Forward rate in support of increasing the amount of available financial support.
What does the registration fee support?
Registration fees support Lama Rod and his team for the extensive labor, seen and unseen, and spiritual devotion that allows his work to remain accessible and sustainable. These resources help cover ongoing operational costs, such as the online platforms and services that are used to offer digital programs, team compensation, and the legal and accounting requirements of the United States, as well as physical spaces, materials, and nourishment for events when applicable.
As Lama Rod writes in The New Saints, he seeks to make the tradition of the Buddha relevant to our experiences in the present moment. This means inviting offerings and exchanges that honor the material needs of his energetic presence and livelihood — not in a conditional nor transactional way, but reflecting a tradition of reciprocity and universal balance similar to how you might leave food upon an altar for an ancestor. Giving and receiving are practices that embody the ethic of care that grounds Lama Rod’s work.
Therefore, your registration fees are one of the ways that Lama Rod is sustained so that he can continue his free and by-donation offerings such as Free Radicals, Medicine Buddha, and partnerships with organizations and schools to support their efforts. These offerings reflect our team’s commitment that no one be excluded from the teachings based upon their financial means. Those who register at the Pay-It-Forward price further increase accessibility by making financial assistance possible for those who need scholarships. Barter offerings and work exchanges are also welcome in some instances. Lama Rod believes that we can be well resourced while practicing an anti-capitalist ethic and is deeply grateful to be in a reciprocal relationship with you.
Other Questions?
For any other questions about this offering, please contact [email protected].Â
About the Teacher
Lama Rod Owens is a Black Buddhist Southern Queen — an internationally respected teacher, author, and lineage holder with a Master of Divinity in Buddhist Studies from Harvard Divinity School. His teachings sit at the intersection of social change, identity, and spiritual practice, and centre freedom, radical self-care, and the full expression of who we are.
He is the author of The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors and Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation through Anger, and co-author of Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation.
Applauded for his ability to hold weighty truths with warmth and lightness, Lama Rod has been featured by CNN, BBC, NPR, Good Morning America, The Washington Post, and more.
