Apocalyptic Grief:
A Spiritual Abolitionist Practice and Ritual Journey through Our Broken Hearts During Systemic Collapse
A Three-Part Practice Series and Ritual Journey
with Lama Rod Owens
Saturday, August 16th, 23rd, & 30th 2025*
from 1:00 - 4:00pm ET
Online
This is an intense moment of both personal and collective grief. We are surviving the collapse of systems and with that collapse we experience the discomfort of loss and change. Our survival and witnessing of this collapse can feel overwhelming.
Apocalyptic grief is reminding us that grief is generative and necessary, that it is a partner helping us to practice care as it encourages us to change and embody more liberatory ways of being.
In the tradition of spiritual abolition, grief is understood to be a teacher and companion helping us to understand two things. First, that grief is the tension we feel as something changes which forces us to figure out who we are in this shifting. And second, that grief is the uncomfortable experience of not getting what we want.
Moreover, mourning is how we tend to grief by expressing the experience of discomfort through somatic embodiment and ritual. The world is not our home, but an experience where we are being asked to cultivate deep clarity in order to remember our most ultimate nature as awakening buddhas and expressions of God and the Divine.
Join Lama Rod for talks and guided practice, as well as exploration of herbal and sacred stone allyship, all relying on the wisdom of Tantric Buddhism, West African spirituality, the Black Prophetic tradition, American Indigenous traditions, and sacred herbalism. By the end of this journey, participants will have a practice that will support them in tending to this moment of both personal and collective grief.
Your registration includes a stone (smoky quartz) to work with during the series, which we will be shipping to you in partnership with a local crystal shop in Atlanta, GA. Shipping is to U.S. only ($5 flat rate) and while supplies last.
*This series also includes additional & optional drop-in practice sessions on August 24th and 28th from 1-2:30pm ET with Practice Mentors to support your integration.
This Practice Series is for you if:
This Practice Series Includes:
Registration Options
(select the tuition below that best matches your ability to pay)
Fierce Members of Lama Rod's Learning & Practice Community receive a 10% discount!
Join here to access the discount code.
FAQs:
Is this practice series open to all?
Yes, this practice series is open to all levels of experience. Please note that there will be an expectation of preparatory practices that we will share with you before the series begins.
When are the live sessions?
Saturday, August 16th, 23rd, & 30th 2025 from 1:00 - 4:00pm ET
This series also includes additional & optional drop-in practice sessions on August 24th and 28th from 1-2:30pm ET with Practice Mentors to support your integration.
All sessions are virtual on Zoom.
What if I can't attend the live session?
The live sessions will be recorded and posted on the course platform for you to watch later. The recordings will be available indefinitely.
Is there a refund policy?
For the practice series, refunds are available prior to August 9th, less a $20 admin fee. Beginning August 10th, 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 partial scholarships available. Email [email protected] if you are in need of financial assistance.
If you are able to contribute to our ability to offer scholarships, please express your generosity by (a) choosing the Pay it Forward ticket, or (b) purchase a Standard Ticket and gift it to someone you know (or email [email protected] to designate it as a contribution to anyone who needs a spot).
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.
How long will the course materials be available once I register?
All course modules and resources will be available indefinitely.
Other Questions?
For any other questions about this series, please contact [email protected].
Registration Options
(select the tuition below that best matches your ability to pay)
Fierce Members of Lama Rod's Learning & Practice Community receive a 10% discount!
Join here to access the discount code.
About the Teacher
Lama Rod Owens is a Black Buddhist Southern Queen. An international influencer with a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist Studies from Harvard Divinity School. 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, his teachings center on freedom, self-expression, and radical self-care.
A leading voice in a new generation of Buddhist teachers with over 11 years of experience, Lama Rod activates the intersections of his identity to create a platform that’s very natural, engaging, and inclusive. Applauded for his mastery in balancing weighty topics with a sense of lightness, the Queen has been featured by various national and international news outlets.
Highly sought after for talks, retreats, and workshops, his mission is showing you how to heal and free yourself.
