Cathedral Book Discussion with Very Reverend Winnie Varghese

April 9, 2026 | Events

Presented by Cathedral of St. John the Divine

🗓️ Sunday, May 24, 2026 @ 1-2pm ET

đź“ŤIn-person

🗺️ 1047 Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street, New York, NY 10025

Join us for a conversation between the Very Reverend Winnie Varghese and Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad followed by a book signing. Dr. Vesely-Flad’s new book The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde engages the voices of these two renowned Black, queer thinkers/writers in discourse with Buddhist teachings and practices. It is also both part memoir, as Dr. Vesely-Flad describes the emotional process of connecting with her Black family roots, and part expressly political within a dharma context.

Discussion: 1pm-2pm
Book Signing: 2pm-3pm

Tickets are free with reservation and will be available beginning on April 6 as part of the Cathedral’s Pride programming.

for more information

More from Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad

James Baldwin argued that racism is not a “Black problem” but a white fear-driven delusion that scapegoats Black people and evades interior work. Drawing on Baldwin’s essays and testimony, we discuss his critique of white moral pretentiousness, evasion, and the projection of shame and fear—especially the fear of death—onto Black bodies. We also see how Baldwin’s analysis relates to Buddhist teaching on dependent origination from the Rice Seedling Sutra.

 

In this dharma talk, we investigate the role of Sati—which is translated as knowing, awareness, presence, or mindfulness—in the writings of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde, in conversation with early Buddhist writings.
In this dharma talk, we understand the weight of suffering through the eyes of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde. We learn how Baldwin gleaned the difference between suffering due to the violence of racism, and suffering that is central to the human experience. We learn about Lorde’s embrace of the idea that pain can teach us something important, but that we need not suffer uselessly.

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