The three stories we tend to

On Joanna Macy's legacy, karmic seeds, and June's rad reads

Hi friends,

When I was in my mid-twenties, I came across a piece of career advice: identify someone whose impact you deeply admire, then look up the path they took to get there.

For me, that person was Joanna Macy, the beloved Buddhist scholar and environmental activist.

I recently learned that Joanna has entered hospice care at her home in Berkeley. I know I’m one of many holding her and her loved ones with tenderness this week.

For those unfamiliar with Joanna, she’s best known for The Work That Reconnects—a grief and empowerment framework for environmental activists. It consists of a series of group practices, rituals, and teachings that weave together Buddhism, systems theory, and deep ecology.

I clearly remember typing Joanna’s name into Google, hoping to learn more about her background and life story. To my surprise, I discovered that she had once worked for the CIA (?!), studied Biblical History as an undergraduate, and went on to earn a PhD in Religion with a focus in Buddhism in her late forties.

At the time, I was trying to make sense of my deep pull toward animal rights activism, alongside what felt like a life purpose in sharing the dharma. I was already teaching meditation, but I knew I needed to deepen both my spiritual counseling skills and academic training in Buddhism. 

I decided to use Joanna’s path as a guidepost. I applied to seminary.

Six years later, after immersing myself in Buddhist ethics, animal studies, and critical theory, I now see my work as a continuation of the socially engaged Buddhism that Joanna helped shape in the West.

Joanna weaved together spiritual, ecological, and intellectual traditions in a way that honored their depth while creating something entirely new and meaningful. What I admire most is that she didn’t just combine ideas, she created practices grounded in the body and propelled people toward action.

In honor of her life’s work and the influence she’s had on mine, I want to share one of her core teachings that continues to shape my perspective.

Joanna spoke of the “Three Stories of Our Time”:

1. Business as Usual: The belief that little needs to change. Capitalism is good, eternal growth is possible, and if it isn’t, well, at least I’ll be dead when it matters.

2. The Great Unraveling: Acknowledges the disasters caused by Business as Usual and sees us hurtling toward collapse. Everything is falling apart and only getting worse.

3. The Great Turning: Points to the widespread emergence of creative, life-giving responses rooted in healing and interdependence. Things can be different. We can live in ways that honor each other’s buddha nature.

She writes: “There is no point in arguing about which of these stories is ‘right.’ All three are happening. The question is which one we want to put our energy behind.”

From a Buddhist perspective, I see this as a teaching about karmic seeds.

The karma ripening in this moment has been planted over vast and incomprehensible spans of time. This perspective of deep time gives me a much more spacious and expansive view. Not to blunt my sense of urgency, but to soften the aggression that often undercuts it. 

I remember I have one short, precious life to plant as many wholesome seeds toward the Great Turning as I can—to help others remember their capacity to love widely, to tend to what feels broken or beyond repair, and to remind ourselves, as Grace Lee Boggs said, that “we can all be more than what we are.”

This long view of time decenters the weight of “me,” while placing karma within a much wider frame. It reminds me that the pain we’re witnessing can be impermanent if we commit to planting seeds of wisdom, generosity, and compassion to counter the unwholesome ones now coming to fruition.

That’s why when folks dismiss non-violence or scoff at too “idealistic” ways of being (because that’s not how things have unfolded in the past), I’m like well, uh, we keep planting the same seeds of greed, aggression, and delusion.

What else would we expect?

Things only change when we maintain the spiritual imagination and political fortitude that they can be different. That they don’t have to be this way.

The Buddha taught we’re always planting karmic seeds. In other words, we’re always creating “energy.” Our practice is to consciously and repeatedly choose the story we want to energize and align our actions with that vision.

Our practice is to plant the seeds we wish to germinate.

Joanna devoted her life to helping us remember this. Even now, as she moves closer to the end of her life, her work continues to shape the actions we choose and the stories we tend to.

May we honor her legacy by choosing the Great Turning.

Below, you’ll find upcoming offerings through the Radical Change community, along with this past month’s Rad Reads.

With love,
Adriana

P.S. You can learn more about Joanna’s incredible life here.

P.P.S. If you want a full recap on the teaching of karma, I did a podcast episode on karma and Buddhist precepts back in March (btw the podcast is coming back, sorry for the five month delay lol—stay tuned!).

Here’s what we’ve got lined up for July programming:

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Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and The Revolution of Reciprocal Care by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba
Engaged Dharma Book Club
Tuesday, July 22nd 6:00-8:00pm EST

Let This Radicalize You is the book that inspired this entire book club. It’s a beautiful, tender guide for surviving and sustaining movement work. Kelly and Mariame draw from decades of organizing to share lessons on navigating burnout, conflict, and collective care without giving up on each other. I can’t wait to discuss it with you all live on July 22nd.

What people have said about the book clubs so far:

Just had the wonderful experience of participating in one of Adriana DiFazio’s Engaged Dharma Book Clubs. A small group of us dug deep into Norma Wong’s When No Thing Works. Adriana is so good at creating and holding a space for thoughtful reflection and heartfelt connection.

Curious how these book club discussions are? Click here for all past replays.

My local book store, Randall Sellers, is still selling all the titles in this book club for 20% off. Just email Randall letting him know you’re a part of the “Engaged Dharma Book Club” and he’ll apply the discount to your order.

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Buddhism & Marxism — Coming this September 2025
Engaged Buddhist Studies Seminars
University-level workshops at the intersection of Buddhism and critical theory

We’re taking a break from workshops this August so I can go on retreat! Our next seminar, Buddhism & Marxism, is scheduled for late September; exact date TBA.

Exciting related news: I’ll be co-teaching a four-week online course on the same topic at Union Theological Seminary in February 2026. More details soon!

In the meantime, please enjoy the past couple of seminar replays:

Karma, Liberation, and Justice Workshop

The Dharma's Transmission to the West Workshop

What people have said about the workshops so far:

Phenomenal work! I took about ten pages of notes and reflections. This presentation was deep and complicated in the BEST possible way.

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Monday Meditation Gatherings
+ Introduction to Buddhist Meditation Practice Course
Every Monday 9:00-9:45am EST

This Monday gathering has grown into a really sweet and special way to start the week. If you’re looking for community and a place to deepen your meditation practice in a structured, progressive way, come join us. We just finished the second module on shamatha (peaceful abiding) and are about to begin the third module on vipashyana (insight) on July 14th. Video lessons are shared every other Friday. On Mondays, we then come together to review the material, practice as a group, and hold space for questions and discussion.

Here’s the past couple of week’s videos with previews:

Falling, floating, waking up!

Dissolve into space

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Engaged Buddhism & Meditation 1:1 Mentoring

Are you new to meditation or Buddhism and looking for justice-oriented support to ground and deepen your practice? I offer one-on-one guidance for those beginning their dharma journey who want to explore how Buddhist teachings can meaningfully support their everyday lives and activism.

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ICYMI

The spiritual failure of political neutrality
I wrote about the danger of using the dharma to reinforce the status quo—particularly in the face of preventable death and suffering. Engaged Buddhism must move beyond bearing witness and translate compassion into action grounded in the relative realities of organizing and building power.

We’re in the mud and that’s okay
This month I also shared a reflection on acting on what feels necessary without waiting for the mud to settle. Drawing on the familiar Buddhist image of the mud and lotus, I’m reminding myself (and anyone else who needs to hear it) of that in-between phase when wisdom and clarity begin to emerge in messy, incomplete pieces.

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June’s Rad Reads
Articles, programs, and resources that I came across this past month at the intersection of dharma and radical social change

First, a couple of lovely tributes to Joanna written this past week:

Patron Saint of Lost Causes: A Tribute to Joanna Macy by Maia Duerr

Joanna Macy, prophet of the Great Turning, and one of the fiercest, bravest, most inspiring people I’ve ever known, entered hospice this week by Rebecca Hyman

If you’re looking to experience the magic of the Work that Reconnects, you can find upcoming workshops or programs to attend here.

You Don’t Have To Be Good by Sarah Kokernot
Beautiful, moving reflection on enough-ness when everything feels impossibly terrible. “I think this is how practices like Dzogchen—which involve resting into being, or even a kind of experiential faith (to use a word that is practically taboo in western Buddhism). You familiarize yourself with a trust in the innate, positive qualities of awakened awareness, and allow these qualities to work through you.”

Gaza: Ground Zero of Empire–A Reckoning with Truth, Grief, and Justice
Thanissara writes yet another powerful piece unpacking distorted dharma views justifying silence on Palestine. She writes: “A purely “politics-free” Dharma is really only half the transmission, because politics is a part of all our lives. As Ajahn Chah warned, hiding in the trenches of samādhi yields a fragile peace. The more durable peace is the peace of wisdom, one that can step out of the cave, meet the world’s fire, and act without fear.”

Managing Stress, Anxiety, and Hopelessness in Times of Crisis by Scott Nakagawa
At first glance, the title might make you expect another list of deep-breathing exercises, but it’s not that at all. I found this article both grounded and refreshingly thoughtful. What stood out most was the reminder to look to those who have lived through similar crises before us and learn from their wisdom and resilience.

Liberation Circle
Liberation Circle is a new engaged Buddhist group hosting dharma talks and community gatherings focused on Palestine. Their first two talks, with Eric Manigian and Thanissara, are now available to watch here.