Jesse Maceo Vega Frey’s teaching aims to inspire the skills, determination, and faith necessary to realize the deepest human freedom. He is a student of Michele McDonald and his approach is rooted in the tradition of Mahasi Sayadaw of Burma. As a teacher of Vipassana (insight) meditation within the broader context of Theravada Buddhism, his teaching encourages an exploration of the relationship between ethics, insight, and action. Perpetually intrigued by the dynamics between inner and outer change, Jesse is a writer of numerous essays and author of Insurgent Heart: A Vipassana Manual for the Guerrilla Yogi. He is a spoon carver who loves to teach people about how to work with their hands and explore the relationship between labor, ownership, and kamma. He is the resident teacher for Vipassana Hawai’i.
Listen:
to his Dhamma talks and meditation instructions.
Read:
A Song of Braided Dialectics is a transposing of Theravada Abdhidhamma onto the structure of materialist dialectics to explore what they may have to learn from one another. In verse and then in an essay, Jesse explores the how Marxist dialectics can be in power-building engagement with other worldviews.
Aquí se encuentra una versión de El Camino en español en substack (ensayo solo)
Here is a link to the Substack version of A Song
Here is a link to the Substack version of A Path
Here is a link to download the full PDF in English.
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On Work: Ownership, Action, Culture, and Karma
An exploration on the nature of labor and being from via Buddha, Marx, wooden-spoons, and apple pie…
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Insurgent Heart: A Vipassana Manual for the Guerrilla Yogi
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The Mist of Mandalay
A Western Buddhist’s Moral Struggle with his Spiritual Home
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Let Loose the Line
A reflection on ten years of war tax resistance, the beauty and boundaries of mentorship, and the political and spiritual dynamics of life–published in the Boston Review
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Pigs
An essay exploring an experiment in ethically raised meat–published in the Boston Review
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Why Might we Form a Dharma Teacher’s Union?
~ an exploration of the labor realities of teaching in the West and what might be done to make it more fair while still aligned with our traditions ~
The Buddeoisie Blues: The Price and Peril of Genetically Modified Dharma
A polemic exploring the implications of Mindfulness as a commodity
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The Carlos Vega Collection of OSPAAAL Posters
Explaining the history of his father’s collection of radical Cuban poster art, published in a collection of essays of the Interference Archive
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The PBG and the False Promise of Mindfulness
An essay exploring the dubious premise of the Mindfulness movement–published on Turning Wheel Media by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship
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Hunger is God’s Food
Thoughts of a non-believer fasting for Ramadan–published in Killing the Buddha
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Some of his less formal writing can be found on Medium
~ Blog post on the Just Seeds website about the early graphics coming out of the Burmese response to the 2021 military coup.
Follow him on facebook for teachings and updates on his schedule.
In accordance with Buddhist tradition, Jesse lives by donation alone. If you feel moved to support his work through dana (generosity) your gift will be deeply appreciated. Click on the “ebodhicon” below to make an offering via paypal or visit vipassanahawaii.org to make a donation that is tax deductible:
Do Less for Peace 
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