Fierce Refuge: Unconditional Devotion to Getting Free Together


Summer 2025 Session of Werk with Lama Rod

A Seasonal Offering with Lama Rod Owens

Sunday, August 31st, 2025 from 11am - 3pm ET

Previous Werk session recordings are available below.
Register for Summer '25 Session
Register for Past Werk Recordings
FAQs

There is a difference between werk and work. Both are practices of choosing freedom; however, werk is the practice of choosing freedom by channeling fierceness into the chaos and restoring clarity and fluidity. When we are told to werk, we are being reminded that we have agency to change our relationship to the chaos, manifesting as any form of violence. For my ancestors and community, werk is how we named the chaos and the violence and chose to be in a responsive relationship to them. To know and name the chaos is to find the ground to stabilize ourselves. 

~ From The New Saints by Lama Rod Owens

For the Summer 2025 Werk offering, Lama Rod will share heart teachings on the meaning of fierce refuge for spiritual abolition and the path of the New Saints. We will be supported by refuge teachings from The Jewel Ornament of Liberation by Gampopa– one of our lineage ancestors and founder of the Kagyu school*. From this basis, Lama Rod will weave embodied insights from Buddhist tantra, ancestral medicines, and his own experiences as a Black queer man living through this moment in U.S. history to invite participants into a relationship with refuge that is personal, connected, and freely available in every moment. By rooting into direct relationship with this quality of refuge over time, we grow uncontrived confidence in the truth of liberation for ourselves and for all beings. 

 

This Werk offering includes a talk, practice, and a special refuge ceremony during the final hour (optional). 

*For more about Gampopa and The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, check out Blessed Slay, a monthly exploration of teachings from this sacred text with Lama Rod. 

 

Specifically, Lama Rod will emphasize:

 

  • Deepening clarity about the inseparable unity of grief, refuge, the Land, and the elements. 
  • The three aspects of refuge taught throughout all Buddhist traditions: Buddha (real liberation), Dharma (real teachings), and Sangha (real community), and how these teachings have inspired practices like the Seven Homecomings and Four Sweet Liberations to support us in the creative liberation of all beings here and now. 
  • How refuge empowers us to meet the intensifying challenges of our times while cultivating fearlessness for the collective labor of creating a better world for everyone. 
  • The meaning of “vow” as an intimate and deeply personal promise to practice choosing freedom, love, and clarity, while abolishing obstacles of inferiority, disconnection, and confusion moment by moment.

 

Refuge Ceremony: (Optional)


Additionally, Lama Rod will offer a refuge ceremony for all who are interested during the final hour of the session.
Classically, “taking refuge” is the first formal step on the Buddhist path; a view shared across traditions. The ceremony honors a sincere promise to oneself to reduce suffering by embodying refuge in the “Three Jewels” of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha as natural wellsprings of freedom, care, and community for all beings. 

In this refuge ceremony, Lama Rod will open the gates for participants to receive the combined refuge blessings of Indo-Tibetan vajrayana Buddhism, the Black Prophetic Tradition, and the Land which fuels the emerging path of the New Saints.

Anyone who has previously received refuge vows from other teachers, lineages, or traditions are welcome to attend as a way to re-affirm, deepen, or enhance those commitments. The heart intention of the refuge ceremony is to liberate ourselves and all beings from suffering and the causes of suffering, no matter what. For this reason, if you choose to take the refuge vow with Lama Rod, it does not conflict with or impede devotional commitments with other teachers, lineages, or traditions. 

This ceremony will be offered for all who are interested. There is no obligation to receive the refuge vow, and the vow will not be required to engage in any of Lama Rod’s courses, events, or teachings.

 

Registration for Summer '25 Werk Session

(select the offering below that best matches your ability to pay)

Members of Lama Rod's Learning & Practice Community receive a discount! 
$29 for “Fierce” members (69% discount) // $75 for “Fabulous” members (20% discount)
Join here to access the discount codes.

Learn More about Previous Werk Sessions

The previous Werk sessions are available as recordings. Please see below and select the session you seek to view.

 

FAQs:

Who can participate in this offering?
Anyone who has previously participated in retreats, courses, events, or practice sessions with Lama Rod is welcome to join.


What if I can't attend the live session? 
The live session will be recorded and posted on the course platform for you to watch later.

 

How long will the recordings be available once I register? 
The recordings will be available indefinitely.


Is there a refund policy? 
For the upcoming Werk sessions, refunds are available less a $19 admin fee. No refunds will be available after the start of the event.

There are no refunds available if you purchase past recordings.

 

Is there financial assistance available? 
Through the support of those who give at the Pay it Forward level, we have a limited amount of 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, your generosity by choosing the Pay it Forward supports our ability to offer more 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.

Having trouble with your registration? 

Email [email protected] and we're happy to help. 

Registration for Summer '25 Werk Session

(select the offering below that best matches your ability to pay)

Members of Lama Rod's Learning & Practice Community receive a discount! 
$29 for “Fierce” members (69% discount) // $75 for “Fabulous” members (20% discount)
Join here to access the discount codes.

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, 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.