Dear friends,
Attention is our most precious resource, the thing that makes life really worth living. Because of attention we can notice things, we can touch the beauty of being alive and also be present to our suffering. These are the two functions of mindfulness—to connect with the wonders of life and to be there for our pain and difficulty, so that we can take good care of it and transform it.
And what is so precious in our relationships, both with ourselves and with others, is our attention. Attention is a form of love.
I recently had the joy of helping to plan a 90th birthday for my dad. It was so much fun! We had a live New Orleans–style jazz band, and my dad got up and cut up on the dance floor! There were about 100 people in attendance—a truly delightful reunion. Ambassador Andrew Young joined us as a very honored guest and shared how he met my dad in 1964 integrating swimming pools and beaches in St. Augustine, Florida, then in Selma in 1965—getting beat up, thrown in jail, and continuing to put their lives on the line.
My dad shared lessons from his 90 years, reflecting on what shaped him—crossing the color line and being transformed by the Civil Rights Movement, becoming a clergyman and raising an interracial family, and later deepening into spiritual practice and service. Along the way there were also periods of real challenge—within the family, in relationships, and in the intensity of the work—but also a growing commitment to love, compassion, and showing up for others.
After he spoke, several people came forward to share how he had changed their lives. One couple spoke about how he introduced them and later married them, and how so much of what they have become would not have been possible without that connection. Others shared how he had been there for them in difficult times, mentoring and guiding them, offering a steady and healing presence. One person spoke about going to protest a new immigration law at the Atlanta airport and how my dad showed up and wanted to stand alongside them. Again and again, people spoke of his inclusiveness and generosity—especially toward immigrants, those on the margins, and those who are suffering.
As I look back on the three-hour celebration, what stays with me is how present everyone was. How much we long to truly be with each other. To be nourished by meaningful stories, to feel we belong, to feel connected. The party created that.
And I bring it up here because it was, in a very real way, an exercise in attention—in being present for ourselves and for each other.
Attention is a sacred thing. And yet our attention is constantly being consumed by big tech. I love the Strother School of Radical Attention’s term “human fracking.” Like the extraction of oil from deep within the earth, our attention is being drilled into, fractured, and harvested through algorithms, ads, and personalized content. And just as with environmental fracking, there are consequences—many of them harmful to our well-being. We—our eyeballs, our brains—are the resource being extracted and controlled.
As practitioners, we have a sacred task: to bring our attention to something very different. To something that empowers and nourishes, that doesn’t reinforce the story of us as consumers, but as practitioners. We have sovereignty over our own destiny, and this has everything to do with where we place our attention.
Directing our attention toward what is truly healing and transformative takes us out of the attention economy. It slows things down. It helps us come back into contact with ourselves.
Zen master Thích Nhất Hạnh wanted Plum Village and all the mindfulness practice centers in our lineage to be places where every thing our senses come into contact with nourishes and heals, where everything we touch helps us come home to ourselves.
When we are in nature, in a forest, or by a lake, or in a park, the elements of the living world around us similarly support us to be ourselves, to touch our aliveness and to know our connection to the world around us. We can feel the contrast in the human-built environment—especially in the public sphere—where so much is designed to pull our attention outward, to own us, distract us, control us. It tells us we are not okay as we are. It pushes us to be reactive, to stay agitated, to keep consuming.
These are the waters we are all swimming in—the attention economy. These systems are not neutral. Their business model depends on capturing as much of our attention as possible. They are designed to be addictive. Our individual willpower is up against an entire industry, and we will not generally come out on top.
And I want to say clearly, this is something I’m still working with too. None of us are outside of this dynamic, and none of us can navigate it alone—we really need a collective awakening around our attention.
We are even seeing court cases where young people and families are suing social media and AI platforms for contributing to suicide, for failing to protect against exploitation, and for intensifying body dysmorphia, loneliness, and isolation.
So when our attention is captured by our devices, apps, and cyberspace, it is not a personal failure. It is a predictable outcome. We can shift from shame or self-judgment to curiosity and ‘attention activism.’
We can begin to reclaim our attention, together, in small, steady ways. Here are some examples:
It is important to understand how these systems are designed to harvest us. This is not benevolent technology. And yet we are not powerless.
Decide each morning one thing you will place your attention on that day—not because it is hijacked, but because you choose it. The breath while lying down. Sunlight. Birdsong. The beating of your heart. The taste of food. Listening fully to a friend.
Learn to recognize the moment of hijack—how attention gets taken in small, almost imperceptible increments. Opening your phone “just for a second.” Switching tabs mid-task. That restless itch for stimulation. Notice what prompts you to reach for your device. If it is to escape an uncomfortable feeling, can you stay with the feeling instead?
If you catch this even one out of ten times, you have already begun to reclaim your attention. Through awareness, not force.
Practice micro-returns. Attention is like a puppy, not a machine. We don’t punish it for wandering—we gently bring it back, again and again.
One breath. One paragraph read with full presence.
One conversation where you truly listen.
Each return is a repetition. Each repetition strengthens the muscle of attention.
We can protect what is sacred. We can create alternatives like:
Device-free study time.
Meals without scrolling.
Walking without headphones.
Spaces that support presence.
One friend shared that when she and her partner set aside time for meaningful connection with each other, they put one phone face down on the other, to ‘make them kiss’ and enjoy a phone-free evening. Or there are cafés where you slip your phone into a special bag when you enter so everyone is phone free while there.
And we need community—others who are also willing to resist.
I shared about this recently with students at a university, and one asked: what can I do when I’m with friends and I want to connect but everyone is on their phones?
It was such a real question, carrying the loneliness of these times. We can be physically close to people we care about and still feel far away.
We spoke about intentionally creating spaces where connection is natural—game nights, shared meals, times when phones are simply not part of the gathering.
In more casual moments, we might also try a gentle interruption, rather than a correction: “Hey, I’ve missed you all—can we do a quick no-phone moment?”
We could also offer something better than the screen. Ask a real question (here’s a simple list of conversation starters and the Friends/Parents/Partners/Children are Human decks are also great). Share something of yourself. Suggest a small activity.
At times it can be helpful to name your desire simply: “I like being with you more when we’re actually talking.”
Sometimes people are tired or overwhelmed. The phone can be a kind of shield. If no one takes you up on the invitation, it may simply not be the right moment.
One quiet and powerful move: put your own phone away completely. Not face down. Fully away. It invites others, without a word.
I will sometimes lead a meditation on being mindful with our phone, inspired by a cigarette meditation I experienced one summer as a nun. During that time, while I was helping to support the teen program at Plum Village, a father of one of the teens asked if he could offer a smoking meditation. In France at that time, a lot of people smoked, including many teenagers. He had been a heavy smoker himself and had quit some years before.
He found a spot in a neighbor’s field across from the Hamlet, where we held the teen girls’ program. Only teens who were already smokers were invited, and they each brought their own cigarettes and lighters, as we were not promoting smoking. We sat in a circle, and he began by sharing that he had been a heavy smoker for many years but had given it up. This was not about judging or trying to change anyone, but about bringing mindfulness to the habit so we could understand it more deeply, together. The teens listened quietly.
He invited them to take out a cigarette and simply hold it. To notice what was happening in their bodies. Their breath. Any sensations. Any quickening, any craving. Just noticing.
Then, slowly, to light the cigarette—listening to the sound, noticing the smell. Then to take the first inhalation and feel all the elements of that first puff, in and out. He guided them like this, step by step, staying close to the direct experience.
When they were finished, we went around the circle and shared. Many were surprised to find that the first puff was actually unpleasant—burning in the throat, a harsh taste, something they hadn’t noticed before. And yet, because it was a habit, after a few more puffs it became more pleasant, somehow comforting.
When he asked what had led them to start smoking, many spoke of pain—losing someone they loved, friends turning against them, moments of deep stress. One teen shared she began smoking to feel closer to her father.
There was something powerful in looking together in this way—not with judgment, but with curiosity. In the warmth of that circle, there was a little more space, a little more freedom, a sense that there could be choice.
This experience has stayed with me, and I’ve come to see how the same quiet pull, the same moments of reaching for comfort or escape, live in our relationship with our phones.
Our devices are easily as addictive as drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes.
You might like to try this 7-minute phone meditation, a simple way of looking more closely:
May we remember the sacredness of our attention and reclaim it for ourselves, each other, and our world,
Kaira Jewel
Below is a full list of my upcoming events but here I want to highlight a few key ones, many coming up soon!:
May 1 Application deadline, Program August 2026 - December 2027,
Saturday, April 25, 11 am to 12:30 pm ET, An Easy Burden: An Intimate Conversation with Ambassador Andrew Young: Beloved Community for Engaged Spirituality Gathering
May 5, 2:00 to 3:30 pm ET Growing the Good, Cultivating Freedom
Thursday, May 7, 6:30 to 8:30 pm ET, The Universe in a Hand – Encountering Our True Nature through the Four Immeasurable Minds of Love
Tuesday, May 12, 7 to 8:30 pm ET, The Third Act Hope and Joy Series
Tuesday, May 19, 7:00 to 8:30 pm ET, Positively Adapting to Climate Change; An uplifting trilogy of talks
Thursday, June 18, 6:30 to 8:30 pm ET, Beyond the Separate Self – Emptiness and the Freedom of Awareness
June 20 - 24, Join me in person for Wisdom for Meeting the Storm Together: Holding and Transforming Our Fear with Compassion and Collective Care, our annual BIPOC retreat with Dr. Marisela Gomez, Joe Reilly and Judy Nakatomi
June 24 - 30, I will offer an in person retreat for teens 15 to 19 year olds at the Insight Meditation Society Teen Retreat
More info on these below.
Upcoming retreats, day longs, and talks:
May 1, 2026 Application deadline
Program August 2026 - December 2027
Buddhist Eco-Chaplaincy: Cultivating Presence, Resilience and Compassionate Action in a Changing World
Buddhist Eco-Chaplaincy: Cultivating Presence, Resilience and Compassionate Action in a Changing World 2026-2027 training offered by the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies. Led by Gil Fronsdal, Kirsten Rudestam, Ram Appalaraju, Kaira Jewel Lingo and Susie Harrington
This 18-month program offers basic Buddhist training in the wisdom and skill needed to be a Buddhist Environmental Chaplain, i.e., those who work to support people in developing healthy, compassionate, and mutually supportive relationships with each other and with the natural world. It will offer experience-based activities and contemplative practices that deepen individuals’ own relationships with the natural world, as well as provide them with skills to be spiritual caregivers, helping others (re)connect with nature and face contemporary socio-environmental crises with wisdom and compassion.
The application period for the 2026-2027 program is now open. Applications received before May 1st will be processed by that date and subsequent applications will be processed in the order received until the course is full. We are committed to forming a cohort that is truly representative of the full diversity of our society and aspire to have at least 40% of the participants be BIPOC. Scholarships are also available for those in need.
More info here.
Saturday, April 25, 11 am to 12:30 pm ET
An Easy Burden: An Intimate Conversation with Ambassador Andrew Young. A Beloved Community for Engaged Spirituality Gathering
Join Ambassador Andrew Young, Kaira Jewel Lingo, and Father Adam Bucko for the Beloved Community for Engaged Spirituality gathering on Saturday, April 25, from 11 am-12:30 pm ET
Ambassador Andrew J. Young has earned worldwide recognition as a pioneer in and champion of civil and human rights. Ambassador Young’s lifelong dedication to service is illustrated by his extensive leadership experience of over sixty-five years, serving as a member of Congress, African American U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mayor of Atlanta, and ordained minister, among other positions.
During the 1960s, Young was a key strategist and negotiator during civil rights campaigns that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Appointed as an Ambassador to the United Nations in 1977, Young negotiated an end to white-minority rule in Namibia and Zimbabwe and brought President Carter’s emphasis on human rights to international diplomacy efforts. As two-term Mayor of Atlanta, Young brought in over 1,100 businesses, over 70 billion in foreign direct investments and generated over a million jobs.
Ambassador Young has received honorary degrees from more than 100 universities and colleges in the U.S. and abroad and has received various awards, including an Emmy Lifetime Achievement award in 2011 and the Dan Sweat Award in 2017. His portrait also became part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.
Ambassador Young also serves on a number of boards, including, but not limited to, the Martin Luther King Center for Non-Violent Social Change, Morehouse College, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State and Americas Mart. In 2003, he and his wife Carolyn McClain Young founded the Andrew J. Young Foundation to support and promote education, health, leadership and human rights in the U.S., Africa, and the Caribbean. Young currently serves as the Chairman of the Andrew J. Young Foundation.
In 2012, Young retired from GoodWorks International, LLC, after well over a decade of facilitating sustainable economic development in the business sectors of the Caribbean and Africa. Young was born in 1932 in New Orleans, and he currently lives in Atlanta with his wife, Carolyn McClain. He is also a father of three daughters and one son, a grandfather of nine and a great grandfather of two.
He is author of An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of America
“Working closely with Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he endured beatings and arrests while participating in seminal civil rights campaigns. In 1964, he became Executive Director of the SCLC, serving with King during a time of great accomplishment and turmoil. In describing his life through his election to Congress in 1972, this memoir provides revelatory, riveting reading. Young’s analysis of the connection between racism, poverty, and a militarized economy will resonate with particular relevance for readers today.”
Register here. More info here.
This series includes guest teachers and conversations that draw from the lives and wisdom of the saints of the beloved community—those whose lives remind us that even in difficult and violent times, groundedness, courage, and a spacious vision are possible. Their witness helps us remember that oppression and cruelty never have the final word.
Online.
Tuesday, May 5, 2:00 to 3:30 pm ET
Growing the Good, Cultivating Freedom
Sponsored by London Insight Kaira Jewel Lingo will be the guest speaker
What does it mean to be truly free in a complex and uncertain world?
This session explores how mindful awareness and compassion help us grow what is good in our lives and communities, supporting a sense of freedom rooted not in control, but in presence, responsiveness, and care.
This event is a suitable time for anyone located in UK (7:00 pm - 8:30 pm) or Europe.
More info and to register here.
Online
Thursday, May 7, 6:30 to 8:30 pm ET
The Universe in a Hand – Encountering Our True Nature through the Four Immeasurable Minds of Love
At New York Insight Meditation Center Part of The Body Remembers Freedom Series with Kaira Jewel Lingo and Linds Roberts
The teaching of Indra’s Net reveals a universe of radiant interconnection, where each of us is a unique jewel, reflecting and being reflected by the whole vast net of existence. This session invites us to feel this truth in our bodies and hearts through play and presence.
We’ll engage in a practice of meeting others eye-to-eye in brief, heart-opening encounters that invite us to see ourselves and each other as expressions of boundless love—cultivating kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Then, through a simple drawing exercise, we’ll map the visible and invisible elements—the people, places, and beings—that weave together to create the miracle of who we are. Together, we remember that we are not separate individuals, but a community of beings in communion.
If you are joining in person at NY Insight, you are optionally invited to arrive at 5:30pm and bring your dinner. We will eat together for a few minutes in mindfulness and then have time to share and connect before the class begins at 6:30pm.
This session will include a simple drawing exercise. If you are joining via Zoom, please have some paper and a pencil/pen/crayons/markers (whatever you prefer to use) on hand.
This workshop is part of The Body Remembers Freedom, a monthly series that brings together meditation, dharma, and embodied practice in a way that is relational, grounded, and alive. Each session includes time for meditation and contemplation, a dharma talk or shared inquiry, and InterPlay, a playful and powerful practice using movement, voice, storytelling, and deep listening to access the wisdom of the body.
For more info and to register here for May 7.
In-person and online.
Tuesday, May 12, 7 to 8:30 pm ET
Hope and Joy Series
Antonique Smith sings “Here Comes the Sun” at Sun Day in NYC. photo by David Fenton
Kaira Jewel Lingo offers an evening of meditation, reflection and connection with Third Act.
Online
SAVE THE DATE.
Tuesday, May 19, 7:00 to 8:30 pm ET
Positively Adapting to Climate Change; An uplifting trilogy of talks
While much else about the subject can cast big shadows, we look at climate breakdown from three uplifting perspectives in the areas of science, action and healing. The presenters give us positive insights for our heads, our hands and our hearts, offering knowledge, practical advice and inner nourishment.
In addition to two prior talks in the trilogy, on 19 May Kaira Jewel Lingo teaches us how to move through change, loss and disruption.
Please note that you can still sign up for the whole series even after one or two of the talks have passed, as you will then receive a link to recordings of all three once the series is over.
This is a series of Zoom webinars with interactive Q&A sessions. If you would like to submit a question before the event, please email events@resurgence.org
For more info and to register here.
Online
May 24 - 29
Finding Refuge, Finding Home: A Retreat in Nature
Held at Spirit Rock with Kaira Jewel Lingo, Mark Coleman, and Susie Harrington
In the storms of our lives, we need refuge—a place of nourishment and support where we can replenish our tired bodies and troubled hearts. When the Buddha taught meditation, his first instruction was to go sit under a tree. We will practice together in the age-old tradition of being outside in the company of the natural world. Together, we will tap into the natural stillness and dynamism that surrounds us and teaches us balance. As we integrate stillness and movement, we move toward being active participants in the world while maintaining balance and ease in our hearts and minds.
This retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups, or other practice meetings.
FULL WITH A WAIT LIST For more info and to register here
In-person retreat
Thursday, June 18, 6:30 to 8:30 pm ET
Beyond the Separate Self – Emptiness and the Freedom of Awareness
At New York Insight Meditation Center Part of The Body Remembers Freedom Series with Kaira Jewel Lingo and My Tong
What if the aliveness we call ‘me’ is not a solid thing at all, but vast and open like the sky?
In this session, we begin with meditation on awareness itself, resting in the nature of consciousness and touching the spacious freedom that is always already here. From this ground, we explore the teaching of not-self through playful group forms that invite us to hold and be held by one another’s stories. Together, we discover that when the sense of a separate self softens, what remains is not emptiness as absence, but emptiness as connection, intimacy, and belonging.
For more info and to register here for June 18 — Beyond the Separate Self – Emptiness and the Freedom of Awareness
In-person and online.
June 20 - 24
Wisdom for Meeting the Storm Together: Annual Retreat for Black, Indigenous, People of Color
Held at Garrison Institute with Dr. Marisela Gomez, Kaira Jewel Lingo, Joe Reilly and Judy Nakatomi
In a time of intensifying uncertainty, grief, and pressure on our communities, it is essential for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to have spaces of refuge, truth-telling, and collective care. This retreat offers a place to pause, breathe, and remember that we are not meant to meet these storms alone.
Together, through mindfulness and embodied practice, we explore how fear lives in our bodies, histories, and communities, and how it can be met without turning away or becoming overwhelmed. We strengthen our capacity to stay present, to draw on ancestral and communal wisdom, and to support one another in meeting this moment with integrity and love. Inner transformation becomes the ground from which collective healing and wise action can emerge.
Mindfulness will be at the heart of all we do. The retreat will include daily dharma teachings, sitting and stationary meditation, mindful walking or movement, mindful eating, singing, dharma writing, and small-group sharing. We will practice for one full day and a half in silence and engage in optional somatic movement and nature practices that invite us into deeper presence with the land. Rooted in compassion and collective care, this retreat supports us in meeting the storm together and remembering our capacity to rest, heal, resist harm, and build Beloved Community.
In-person retreat.
Info and registration here.
June 24 - 30
Insight Meditation Society Teen Retreat, ages 15-19
Held at the Insight Meditation Society Retreat Center with Kaira Jewel Lingo, Cara Lai, Jean Esther, Anthony “T” Maes, nico hase, and movement with Monica Williams
The retreat is especially designed for young adults, aged 15-19 who, as of August 31, 2026, will be at least 15 years of age. The course offers 1/2 hour periods of sitting and walking meditation with ample instruction, along with two daily facilitated discussion groups. In addition there will be daily workshops offered in the field of meditative arts, music, nature as well as other focused topics pertinent to teens. Daily periods of free time for socializing or rest are also included. This retreat allows young adults to develop and value their natural spirituality within a supportive environment committed to inclusivity of all. Along with the teaching team, a group of trained and dedicated adult mentors will support the teens’ experience. Extensive supervision is provided.
More info and to register here.
In-person retreat.
Ongoing every Thursday at noon ET
Weekly BIPOC Meditation Sangha Online
We extend a warm invitation to Black/Indigenous/People of Color to join for an hour of meditation, teaching and sharing with Kaira Jewel Lingo and Marisela Gomez, and other guest teachers, who alternate teaching every Thursday from 12 - 1pm ET.
By donation. More info here and to register here.
Recent teachings:
2026 Lenz Foundation Distinguished Guest Lecture: Kaira Jewel Lingo — We Were Made For These Times: Bodhisattva Courage in a World on Fire
Recorded live March 19th at Naropa University. In this Lenz Distinguished Lecture, Dharma Teacher Kaira Jewel Lingo explored what it means to live the bodhisattva vow right now.
Together we reflected on fear as a natural response to real danger, and how mindfulness helps us transform fear into compassionate, skillful action. We examined how to speak out against injustice without hatred or partisanship, how to practice “sacred criticism,” and how to care for the whole even in polarized times. Grounded in both the historical and ultimate dimensions, this talk invited us to anchor in what is good, beautiful, and worth protecting—becoming seeds of the future we long to see.
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I just spent a week with my family at Thai Plum Village. This was a major topic. Thankyou!
Thank you for mentioning us! Creating a lineage from the cigarette practice to the phone practice is such a great way of meditating on our reliance.