EBMC is committed to ending the suffering caused by white supremacy and patriarchy – Rhonda Magee Gratitude Story!
I first became aware of the East Bay Meditation Center some years ago, while searching for fellow travelers on the journey into deeper study of Buddhism. As a Black woman who had become a lawyer and then law professor, I knew something about moving through a world structured by white supremacy and patriarchy, and was on the lookout for those committed to waking up to the suffering caused by that. I sought those actively creating communities of practice that seemed capable of living up to the promise of the Four Noble Truths to help bring an end to suffering while promoting healing, repairing and uplifting love.
Fortunately for me, at a gathering of teachers from a variety of religious traditions, I met Brenda Salgado, a force of nature who would go on to serve as the Center Director for EBMC. Later, while working with other meditating lawyers to provide more support for socially-engaged practices, I learned that jon a. powell, whose work I had long admired, would be offering a workshop there. I decided to attend that conference and was immediately struck by the welcoming and fully inclusive, community feeling at EBMC.
Years later now, I’ve been fortunate to offer guided meditation and practices to support mindfulness-based engaged resilience for the POC Sangha and other practitioners at EBMC. And alongside founding teacher, Mushim Ikeda, and Crystal Johnson, I’ve helped co-create and deliver a fundraiser for EBMC: a course of study and practice aimed at sharing skills and insights of multicultural community building with the leaders of other centers of Buddhist practice across the United States and beyond.
Founded on love and generosity from within, EBMC’s leadership in the field of Buddhist practice in the United States will no doubt continue to flourish. And I look forward to deepening my work with EBMC’s dedicated and loving community. But doing so requires the support of those who can see and feel the critical value of providing trustworthy spaces for all who seek to learn, heal and grow in awareness, compassion, agency and energy for mutual aid. I am deeply honored to support EBMC’s mission of providing a safe, welcoming and inspiring place for all who seek genuine liberation in this rapidly changing and historically challenging time. I invite you to join me. Please give what you can.
