A new app to be launched later this week will offer guided meditations to users along with audio discussions by leading socially active Buddhists and contemplatives in the United States. The app, called Awaken, is the brainchild of Zen Buddhist student and entrepreneur Ravi Mishra and features leading engaged teachers Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Lama Rod Owens, and Sensei Greg Snyder. It will officially launch in beta on 19 September for iOS devices.

“The political situation [in the United States] in the last couple years has motivated me to want to combine my entrepreneurial background and Zen practice in a way that would help people,” Mishra said in an interview with Buddhistdoor Global. “And this was the result.”

In order to reach beyond the confines of a strictly Buddhist audience, the app creators note that: “Our approach is Buddhish, and we ground our meditations in traditional teachings without forgetting that all the teachings around meditations are, at their core, invitations to explore and come to your own truth.” (Awaken)

The app features short mindfulness practices aimed at engaging today’s social, political, and cultural worlds with the belief that “the path to social change and justice for people and planet involves both outer and inner work.” (Awaken)