Bodhi Leaves: The Asian American Buddhist Monthly Co-Associate Editors Mihiri Tillakaratne and Noel Alumit

In this rich and joyful conversation, Rev. Liên and Rev. Dana
talk with Mihiri Tillakaratne and Noel Alumit, the co-founders
and co-associate editors of Bodhi Leaves: The Asian American
Buddhist Monthly at Lion's Roar. Bodhi Leaves is the first
published series of its kind, highlighting and focusing on the
experiences and perspectives of Asian American Buddhist
practitioners. We learn about Mihiri and Noel's views on their
own identities and spiritual backgrounds, as well as about how
Bodhi Leaves got started and visions for its future.

MIHIRI TILLAKARATNE (she/her) is an associate editor at
Lion’s Roar focusing on Asian American Buddhist experiences. She
has a PhD in Ethnic Studies and Gender, Women, and Sexuality (UC
Berkeley) and a M.A. in Asian American Studies (UCLA). She
studied Pali and Sinhala Buddhist nationalism in
post-independence Sri Lanka at Harvard. Her publications include
a documentary on Sri Lankan American Buddhist identity, I Take
Refuge, a study published at UC Berkeley: Feelin' Diasporic:
Embodied Memory in Sri Lankan America, and an article with South
Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, Spilling the Tea: Aunty
Discipline and Queer Diasporic Child in D'Lo's To T, or Not To
T? 


NOEL ALUMIT (he/him) is an Associate Editor at Lion’s
Roar, actor and bestselling author. He has a Master of Divinity
in Buddhist Chaplaincy from the University of the West, where he
is also an Adjunct Professor. He facilitates meditation workshops
for LA Artcore and Meditation Coalition. His award-winning books
include Talking to the Moon,  Letters to Montgomery Clift
and Music Heard in Hi-Fi.



Your Hosts REVEREND DANA
TAKAGI (she/her) is a retired professor of Sociology and
zen priest, practicing zen since 1998. She spent 33 years
teaching sociology and Asian American history at UC Santa Cruz,
and she is a past president of the Association for Asian American
Studies. 

REV. LIÊN SHUTT (she/they) is a recognized leader in the
movement that breaks through the wall of American white-centered
convert Buddhism to welcome people of all backgrounds into a
contemporary, engaged Buddhism. She is an ordained Zen priest,
licensed social worker, and longtime educator/teacher of
Buddhism. Shutt is a founder of Access to Zen (2014). Her new
book is Home is Here: Practicing Antiracism with the Engaged
Eightfold Path.