Guided by BCBS Scholar Monk Bhikkhu Anālayo, Global Awareness Local Action (GALA) is a BCBS initiative to inspire a deeper engagement with climate change, informed and inspired by Buddhist teachings and mindfulness.
Grounded in the idea that Buddhist ethics calls on us to mitigate and adapt to climate change, the GALA program, freely offered on a dāna basis, will share practices, conceptual frameworks, and workshops to support participants in mindful and skillful engagement in a world with a rapidly changing climate.
The GALA program is offered freely in the spirit of generosity, and we invite participants to join in the tradition of dāna by considering a tax-deductible donation.
Dāna offered for GALA will fund the BCBS’s solar project as we work toward 100% renewable electricity. We are deeply grateful to the teachers for offering their teachings in support of this project.
If you haven’t already, please register for the GALA program so you can attend the live teaching sessions.
The Barre Center for Buddhist Studies is grateful to the BESS Family Foundation for their generous support of this Global Awareness Local Action program.
Please register for GALA today for FREE to attend the live sessions.
GALA is offered freely in the spirit of generosity. Participants are invited to join in the tradition of dāna by considering a tax-deductible donation.
October 4 - November 22, 2025
Saturdays Only
Morning Sessions: 10:30 - 11:30 AM ET
Afternoon Sessions: 1:30 - 2:30 PM ET (except Jon Kabat-Zinn’s sessions: 1:30 - 3:30 PM ET)
All sessions will be hosted live on Zoom.
Recordings will be available for those who cannot attend the live sessions.
Participants can meditate daily with Bhikkhu Anālayo during GALA:
Mornings, 7:30 - 8:15 AM ET
Evenings, 7:30 - 8:15 PM ET
Registered participants will be invited to join small groups based on geography and/or common interests to support each other in mindful climate activism.
Workshops will be offered to participants starting in January 2026 to support embodying Buddhist ethics and mindfully responding to climate change.
The GALA program offers a number of ways for registered participants to engage in Buddhist ethics and mindful climate activism, including program sessions, daily live meditations, small groups, and workshops.
Two teaching sessions will be held every Saturday during the program, with one teacher offering a morning session and a second teacher offering an afternoon session:
When:
Saturdays, October 4 – November 22, 2025
Times:
Morning Sessions: 10:30 – 11:30 AM ET
Afternoon Sessions: 1:30 – 2:30 PM ET (except Jon Kabat-Zinn’s sessions: 1:30 – 3:30)
There will be twice-daily meditation sessions with Bhikkhu Anālayo on Zoom throughout the GALA program.
Each session will include a recording of a guided meditation.
When:
Daily from October 4 – November 22
Times:
Morning Sessions: 7:30 – 8:15 AM ET
Evening Sessions: 7:30 – 8:15 PM ET
Registered participants will be invited to join small groups based on geography and/or common interests to support each other in becoming more engaged in mindful climate activism.
Starting in January of 2026 and continuing throughout the year, environmental organizations and others working for a more just and sustainable world will offer a number of workshops for GALA participants.
These monthly workshops are intended to support us as individuals and/or in our small groups in embodying Buddhist ethics and mindfully responding to climate change.
Bhikkhu Anālayo, resident scholar-monk at BCBS, will teach on Saturday mornings in October. He will draw on the practices and teachings in Mindfully Facing Climate Change and his more recently published Mindfulness Between Early Buddhism and Climate Change. Yuka Nakamura will join Bhikkhu Anālayo as an assistant teacher.
Dates:
October 4, 11, 18, and 25 from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM ET
Topics:
Weekly topics are listed below. The format will be a live Q&A with Bhikkhu Anālayo, facilitated by Yuka Nakamura.
Readings:
In preparation for the course, participants should read the book Mindfully Facing Climate Change and the third part of Mindfulness Between Early Buddhism and Climate Change, both published by BCBS. Participants should also cultivate the four meditation practices described in Mindfully Facing Climate Change (pp. 161–172). Links to guided instructions will be shared at the beginning of each week.
Rhonda Magee, Professor Emeritus at the University of San Francisco Law School and a leading scholar and teacher at the intersection of mindfulness and social justice, will teach on Saturday afternoons in October. Rhonda will explore how mindfulness can help us expand our capacities for personal and collective engagement with a particular focus on working together for environmental justice.
Dates:
October 4, 11, 18, and 25 from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM ET
Topic:
The consequences of the climate crisis fall disproportionately on the most vulnerable, including people of color in low- and middle-income countries and communities. How does mindfulness help us expand our capacities for personal and collective engagement? How do we navigate the predictable changes and challenges while doing what we can to minimize both individual and collective suffering and distress? Mindfulness teacher, law professor, and contemplative education innovator Rhonda Magee offers reflections on the inner work of collaborating to maximize climate responses and discerning wise action in the face of challenges as we work together for environmental justice.
Readings:
Participants are asked to read or review The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming our Communities Through Mindfulness. Additionally, participants will have access to preparatory readings one week ahead of each of the four sessions, which will be listed here.
Rebecca Henderson, John and Natty McArthur University Professor at Harvard University and a fellow of both the British Academy and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, will teach on Saturday mornings in November. Rebecca is a renowned scholar whose research focuses on how societies and economies can change to become more sustainable and just. Rebecca will teach about where we are now with regard to climate change, the resources we have to respond to the many dynamics of a changing climate, what is currently holding us back, what are the pathways and theories of change, and what we as individuals can do to contribute to a more life-sustaining world.
Dates:
November 1, 8, 15, and 22 from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM ET
Topic:
If acting to mitigate and adapt to climate change are, as Bhikkhu Anālayo suggests, ethically required by the teachings of the Buddha, what kinds of actions and practices should Buddhists pursue? In these four one-hour lectures/discussions, I will explore this question, drawing on a wide range of examples.
Session 1: Hope is Not Lost
If climate change and ecosystem degradation pose an imminent threat to the well-being of the planet and of our civilization, what can be done? The good news is that we have – in principle – both the technology and the resources to “solve” climate change – and there has been enormous progress. In this session, we will explore both the mainstream responses to climate change and ecosystem degradation, and the huge range of alternatives that have also emerged – from reimagining capitalism to community regeneration to rewilding. We will also look at the data suggesting that while we have many promising solutions we are deploying them far too slowly.
Session 2: What is Holding Us Back?
This session will explore the range of factors that have made it difficult for humans to respond at the necessary speed and scale. Key ideas include: problems in time, scale, and cooperation – why is it so hard for our societies to focus on the long term and to cooperate at a global scale? The mechanics of denial, depression, and fear, both individually and at group and social levels. The structure of power and politics and the importance of incumbent power. The dominant social imaginary and its narrative of competition and scarcity as a cultural, institutional, and psychological cage. Is this a political problem, a cultural/psychological problem, or both?
Session 3: Pathways to Change
How can we – as individuals, communities, organizations, nations, and a species – begin to overcome some of these barriers? In this session, we will explore a wide range of answers by exploring both the work on the ground and the theory of change of a number of powerful change makers – and we will also look at how humans have handled these kinds of transitions historically. Is the answer political engagement, and if so, of what kind? What role can institutions like firms, schools, and cities play? People in media? In psychology? What can individuals do?
Session 4: All About YOU
In the closing session, we will explore what all this means for YOU. What are you called to do in this space? How can you resource yourself as you attempt to do it?
Readings:
Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and one of the leaders in the movement to integrate mindfulness into medicine and approaches to well-being, will teach on Saturday afternoons in November. Jon will explore action-oriented mindfulness practices that can support an engaged response to climate change.
Dates:
November 1, 8, 15, and 22 from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM ET (please note that Jon’s sessions will last 2 hours)
Topic:
Over the past 45 years, science has shown that mindfulness—as both meditation and a way of being—can support healing, growth, and transformation for people facing chronic illness, stress, and pain. By cultivating open-hearted awareness of our sensations, thoughts, and emotions, we begin to see the profound interconnection between our bodies and the living Earth. This embodied understanding can inspire compassionate action to address the environmental harm caused by human activity. In this four-part online series, we’ll explore mindfulness-based practices that support individual and collective awakening, helping us meet the climate crisis with clarity, care, and a commitment to rebalancing the systems that sustain life on Earth.
Readings:
Coming Soon
Deepening Practice,
Building Community.
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