Season of Gratitude: Marrion Johnson
We invite you to join in our Season of Gratitude at EBMC! As we close out 2019 we are sharing stories from our Sangha about how EBMC has positively impacted them and asking our Sangha to collectively raise $25,000 to keep EBMC sustainable and accessible for the benefit of so many.
We are tremendously grateful to a generous Sangha member who has given a matching grant and so all gifts to EBMC between now and the end of the year will be matched dollar to dollar, up to $10,000! Please support the center today at the highest level you can and help us meet our end of year goal!
From Marrion:
When I moved to Oakland about four years ago, I was desperately seeking a spiritual home. It wasn’t until after a year of hearing about EBMC that I finally stepped through its doors. I was immediately struck by the warm and welcoming environment and loving nature of the teachers and Sangha. I knew this was the space I was searching for.
EBMC was there for me during a critical time in history, as many black people were being murdered due to police brutality and white supremacy. During the summer of 2016, a friend from the U.K was visiting me, and the energy through the city was extremely intense. One of the first places I brought my friend to was EBMC, where the Sangha held space for all of us. In that moment, I remember feeling a sense of hope that somehow we would be alright. It was wonderful to share with my friend who was coming from another country because she had never experienced anything like that before.
While I’ve always been social justice oriented, EBMC’s PiTA program helped me better understand my role in social justice circles, and how restorative the work can be. During PiTA, I was able to develop strategies for minimising burnout, such as incorporating mindfulness as an act of self care, and I’m tremendously thankful for the practices I’ve learned at EBMC.
EBMC is a place where you are given the space to tap into who you truly are. I regularly attend evening POC and Queer Sangha offered at the center. Being able to embrace a lifestyle that centers radical healing for queer, POC and folks of all abilities has impacted me in such profound ways. I embrace who I am–I don’t run away from myself as much. Whenever I feel things, I allow myself to breathe into those spaces of uncomfortability, and simply follow wherever my breath takes me.
EBMC provides space to explore the vastness of who we are, and that’s a wonderful thing to tap into.
In gratitude,
Marrion Johnson
