Hey dear stranger,
Welcome to This Is All Going Away!
My name is Sarah Kokernot (she/her). I’m a writer and a longtime meditator in the vajrayana Buddhist tradition. 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 others find awe and meaning in the ordinary—it’s also why I write this newsletter.
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 one free email from me, monthly-ish. (I work, I’m a parent, I’m on a fixed income, and I’m perpetually writing a novel; I make no hard promises.)
The posts will alternate between essayistic observations and a curation of Dharma-related resources.
I will share personal essays on how vajrayana Buddhist practice can be integrated into life outside of formal meditation, often in situations that would make some yawn (hiking with a toddler) and others clutch their pearls (strip clubs).
I will also share a round-up of sneaky-secular Dharma. Impermanence, wonder, 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.
You can visit my website here.
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 Buddhadharma, but I like it wild.
More formally: My fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The Best American Short Stories, The New York Times, Michigan Quarterly Review, Crazyhorse, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, and other publications. 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 and also work as a nonprofit consultant.
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. More recently, I’ve started practicing in the Yuthok Nyingthig, a lineage held by Dr. Nida Chenagtsang.
May all beings be free and happy!
