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A case for friendship as a radical practice of love, courage and trust, and a path that paves the way for profound social change.


 Grounded in the Buddha’s teachings on spiritual friendship, Radical Friendship shares seven strategies to help us embody our deepest values in all of our relationships.


Drawing on her experiences as a leading meditation teacher, as well as personal stories of growing up multiracial in a racist world, Kate Johnson brings a fresh take on time-honored wisdom to help us connect more authentically with ourselves, with our friends and family, and within our communities.


The divides we experience within us and between us are not only a threat to our physical and emotional health — they are also the weapons and the outcomes of structural oppression. But through wise relationships, it is possible to transform the barriers created by societal injustice. Johnson leads us on a journey to becoming a better friend by offering ways to show up for our own and each other’s liberation at every stage of a relationship. Each chapter ends with a meditation or reflection practice to help readers cultivate vibrant, harmonious, revolutionary friendships. Radical Friendship offers a path of depth and hope and shows us the importance of working towards collective wellbeing, one relationship at a time.

Praise for
Radical Friendship

Book Endorsements

“In this brave and liberative offering, Kate Johnson explores the strength of diversity and intimacy of community, prioritizing friendship as a healing practice and relationships as a path to collective freedom. Prepare to love yourself more and to appreciate conscious belonging.”

Ruth King, author of Healing Rage and Mindful of Race

With love and rigor, Kate Johnson has offered us a timely roadmap for healing and transformation. Through fierce honesty, compelling storytelling, and trauma-informed practices, she reminds us how to build relationship across difference and find freedom in every moment. I'm so glad she wrote this book.

David Treleaven, PhD, Author of Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness: Practices for Safe and Transformative Healing

“Radical Friendship has arrived on time! This book is relevant, on point, and apropos for the world we are living in today. Kate Johnson has provided a thought-provoking synthesis of Buddhist understanding and the politics of social justice, race, class, gender, ableism, and sexual orientation… Her perfectly chosen words and bigness of heart point us towards clear comprehension of what is possible if only we surrender and let go into the perfection of love—love for ourselves and love for others, buoyed by compassion, equanimity, and the courage”

DaRa Williams, Buddhist Teacher

“Radical Friendship is a wise, ennobling, sanctuary of a book. It invites our heart to go deep into friendship, justice, love and conscience. It reminds us of the beauty we can create with one another.”

Jack Kornfield author of A Path with Heart