January 15, 2026
This Very Moment
Episode 4: The Intersection of Music and Spirituality with Pamela Ayo Yetunde
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Show Notes
This episode features author, theologist, and Community Dharma Leader, Pamela Ayo Yetunde. Hear about Ayo’s upbringing and early roots in the church and Black Christian community, and how her love of music and poetry spawned a deep appreciation of the spiritual and symbolic elements hidden within artistic compositions. Ayo discusses influential figures, authors, and musicians from Gandhi, bell hooks, and Audre Lorde to American singer and songwriter, India Arie. In particular, she cites the pop icon Prince as having a significant influence on her life and work, underscored in her recent book Dearly Beloved: Prince, Spirituality and This Thing Called Life. All these early experiences and more ripened Ayo to explore the heartfelt dimensions of healing and spirituality, starting with the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh followed by Insight Meditation teacher Gil Fronsdal and her work early on with the Zen Hospice Project alongside beloved volunteer coordinator Eric Poché. The cumulation of these experiences and more are what brought her to This Very Moment.
In addition to discussing her life and work, this interview focuses on the intersection of music and spirituality, aligned with Ayo’s current exploration of theolyricology, a term coined by Ayo meaning “the study of song lyrics about God, gods, spirituality, and/or the divine.”
About the Interviewee
Pamela Ayo Yetunde, JD, ThD, is an interfaith pan-Buddhist practitioner and Community Dharma Leader in the Insight Meditation tradition. She teaches pastoral care and counseling and has taught at the University of the West, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, and Upaya Institute and Zen Center. Her current work focuses on what she calls “theolyrics,” an exploration of the spiritual and healing dimensions of pop music, and advocating for the use of music in pastoral care: practical pastoral theolyricoloy. Her appreciation of art, music, and literature has been shaped by a range of artists including Prince, Patti Austin, Paul Simon, and India Arie. You can learn more about Ayo and her work at https://www.pamelaayoyetunde.com/.
Books by the Author
- Dearly Beloved: Prince, Spirituality, and This Thing Called Life
- Songbird Birdsong
- Casting Indra’s Net: Fostering Spiritual Kinship and Community
- Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us about Race, Resilience, Transformation, and Freedom (co-authored with Cheryl A. Giles)
- Object Relations, Buddhism, and Relationality in Womanist Practical Theology
- Beyond 40 Acres & Another Pair of Shoes: For Smart Sisters Who Think Too Much and Do Too Little About Their Money
Books Mentioned by the Author
- Ain't I a Womanby bell hooks
- Touching Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh
- Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
- The Way of the Bodhisattva by Shantideva
- Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde
- The Gospels in the Bible
- Works by Ocean Vuong
Ayo’s Top 3-(ish) Desert Island Albums
- The Dudeby Quincy Jones
- Sign O' the Times by Prince
- Faces by Earth, Wind & Fire
- Sounds...and Stuff Like That!by Quincy Jones
- Monterey Jazz Festival: 40th Anniversary
- The Wizsoundtrack
- Chicago soundtrack