Festival of Faiths

October 30, 2026 | Events

Register

Presented by The Center for Interfaith Relations

🗓️ Nov 13, 2026 @ 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM ET

đź“ŤIn-person

đź“ŤBomhard Theatre, 501 W Main St, Louisville, KY 40202


Embodying Courage: How do we move from inspiration to action?

Poet and philosopher David Whyte writes that courage is what love looks like when tested by the everyday necessities of being alive. But what does that mean in practice? At a time when voices of change are urgently needed, this conversation asks how courage moves beyond an inspiring idea and becomes something we embody through our participation in life. Writers, artists and community builders come together to explore how each lives out courage—and what steadfast participation can look like in our own lives and communities.

Register

Presented by The Center for Interfaith Relations

🗓️ Nov 13, 2026 @ 4:00 PM – 4:45 PM ET

đź“ŤIn-person

đź“ŤMeX Theater, 501 W Main St, Louisville, KY 40202


From Poison to Power: How to Transform Our Energy with Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad

What happens when we meet anger and aversion with compassion?

Dr. Rima Vesely-Flad guides participants through compassion practices that begin with offering loving-kindness to oneself and gradually extend toward people with whom we experience conflict. The practice begins by cultivating a sense of inner safety and security, creating a foundation from which participants can encounter more difficult emotions and relationships. Together, the group will explore how the energy of aversion—hurt, anger and even hatred—might be transformed into greater stability and compassion.

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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