Hey dear stranger,
Welcome to This Is All Going Away!
My name is Sarah Kokernot (she/her). I’m a longtime practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism and also a writer. I consider spirituality a form of creative practice and creative practice a form of spirituality. Both can awaken us to a greater sense of clarity, wonder, interdependence, and unconditional love.
As a writer, part of my job is helping people find awe and meaning in the ordinary—it’s why I write this newsletter, and why I love teaching others how find meaning and joy in their creativity.
Who is this newsletter for?
You believe that awakening belongs to us all. Dharma is meant to be lived, not only by monks, nuns, scholars, Lamas, or Buddhist teachers, but by everyday people from all backgrounds.
You’re interested in how meditation, the creative process, and joy can be woven into your everyday life. And, like me, you enjoy finding spiritual teachings in wildly unexpected places. Like this plate, a memento mori from the 17th century, found in a London sewer:
You are irresistibly drawn towards wonder and awe—but you also think that while open-heartedness is crucial, reverence without humor isn’t trustworthy. You balance gravitas with levitas. When Buddhism dresses too classy, you want to hand it a leopard-print accessory. You have an extremely liberal definition of what divinity is. You didn’t give up on your juvenile quest for understanding. You sort of don’t give a f*ck about what most people care about. You don’t mind me cussing.
What happens once I sign up?
You’ll immediately start levitating in the air, rainbows in the sky will appear above you, and all the beings in your area will experience profound bliss. From now on, you’ll be able to subsist on only a handful of barley flour per day. You’ll never feel hangry again.
Additionally, you’ll receive two free emails from me, monthly-ish. (I work, I’m a parent, I’m on a fixed income, and I’m perpetually working on a novel; I make no hard promises.)
You’ll learn how to connect your writing to wonder and the numinous, drawn fro on my years of experience as a creative writing teacher, coach, and manuscript consultant.
You’ll gain insights on how spirituality can be integrated into life outside of formal meditation.
I’ll help you you find Dharma in places where you didn’t expect it. Once in a while, I’ll send you a curated list of sneaky secular Dharma recommendations. I’ll cover topics such as impermanence, death, sexuality, love, decay, joy, illness, splendid vulgarity, liminality, spirituality, and inter-religious dialogue.
Wait, who are you again?
I’m a Buddhist practitioner who writes and teaches creative writing. I also offer 1:1 creativity and writing coaching that marries craft, meaning, purpose, and spirituality.
I grew up in a queer family with two moms in the 1980’s and 90’s in Kentucky. I found refuge in nature, books, chosen family, and sense of the numinous. Like many weirdos who grew up in the Bible Belt, I read a lot about paganism and land-centered religions during my adolescence. I’m culturally Christian, which means I take my kids to church twice a year. I like Buddhism, but I like it wild.
More formally: My fiction and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in The Best American Short Stories, The New York Times, Tricycle, EPOCH, Michigan Quarterly Review, Crazyhorse, West Branch, and others. I’m currently finishing my first novel. I live outside of Chicago with my husband and our two children. I teach creative writing to college undergraduates at Northwestern University.
Lastly, please note: I’m not a Buddhist teacher, Lama, or scholar. I will inevitably provide you with wrong information at some point. If you are looking for professional Dharma folks, I highly recommend my current teacher, Lama Justin von Bujdoss, an ordained Karma Kagyu repa and co-founder of the Yangti Yoga Retreat Center. Additionally, I’m incredibly grateful to receive teachings from Lama Lena and Dr. Nida Chenagtsang.
And although I haven’t studied with them formally, my practice wouldn’t be what it is without the work of Lama Rod Owens and Dzogchen teacher Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche.
May all beings be free and happy!
