The Discipline of Liberation

What if your spiritual practice was also your politics?

A 6-week series with bell hooks as our guide | Tuesdays, Jan. 3–Feb. 7, 2027 | 12:00–1:30pm ET | Online

bell hooks said: "Feminism does not ground me. It is the discipline that comes from spiritual practice that is the foundation of my life." And yet — feminism was everywhere in her spiritual practice. The two were never separate.

This course follows hooks into that integration. We'll ask what it looks like to have a daily practice that isn't just personal maintenance, but a form of resistance. To love yourself radically in a culture built on your diminishment. To refuse domination — not just out there, but in here.

This is for people who are doing the inner work and the outer work, and who are ready to stop treating them as two different projects.

What's included

• Live weekly sessions on Zoom

• Access to all 6 sessions with a single registration

• Session recordings shared after each class

• Space for reflection, grounding, and real conversation

Live attendance is welcome but not required.

Schedule (all times Eastern)

• Sunday, January 3, 2027 — 12:00–1:30pm ET

• Sunday, January 10, 2027 — 12:00–1:30pm ET

• Sunday, January 17, 2027 — 12:00–1:30pm ET

• Sunday, January 24, 2027 — 12:00–1:30pm ET

• Sunday, January 31, 2027 — 12:00–1:30pm ET

• Sunday, February 7, 2027 — 12:00–1:30pm ET

Pricing

Registration covers the full 6-week series. Sliding scale: $300–$500. Please pay what feels generous but not painful to you right now. Donating any amount truly helps keep this work going.

5 pay-what-you-can spots available — first come, first served.

We take care of each other.

Week-by-week roadmap

• Week 1: Introduction — Buddhist Practice for Self-Respect and Power. Why practice is not self-indulgence. Why it's the ground everything else is built on.

• Week 2: Right Livelihood — An Ethic of Self-Love. What hooks teaches us about work, value, and refusing to give yourself away.

• Week 3: Refusing Domination. What it means to say no — to systems, to internalized hierarchies, to your own diminishment.

• Week 4: Valuing Ourselves Rightly — Loving Blackness as Political Resistance. On reclamation, dignity, and what it costs to love yourself in this world.

• Week 5: Healing from Shame. Where shame comes from, what it does to us, and what it takes to put it down.

• Week 6: The Daily Discipline of Love. What hooks means by love as practice. How we close the gap between values and daily life.

About your teacher

I (Rima) am the Founding Director of the Initiative for Black Buddhist Studies and a Research Fellow at the Institute of Buddhist Studies. I am the author of The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde (North Atlantic Books, 2026), among two other books. A twice-awarded Fulbright Scholar, I have spent my career bringing together Black radical thought, contemplative practice, and the wisdom of ancestors — and making it accessible beyond the walls of academia.

I (Rashid) am an intersectional-contemplative teacher and restorative justice facilitator. My practice involves actively envisioning a transformed world where everyone can exist free from the pain reinforced by systems of othering, domination, and disembodiment. By utilizing various contemplative practices and healing-centered ways of knowing, I assist individuals in rediscovering belonging and meaning within the unique expressiveness of their individual embodiment. 

What people say

“Dr. Rima brings a depth of intentionality, presence, and attuned listening to every room she’s in that’s hard to describe unless you’ve experienced it firsthand. I came to her class to learn about the subject matter [of Buddhism, Race, Gender, and Sexuality]— which was so well-thought-out and structured that I learned so much! But what I was most struck by was how it felt to be seen, heard, and reflected back by somebody with such deep practice and generosity of spirit. She brought this presence to every person in the room, and the level of safety and vulnerability it facilitated made the space feel magical.” – Ollie, student