Finding Liberation in Relationship for BIPOC
With Regent Brown and René Rivera
4 Monday evenings: April 20, 27, May 4, 11
6:30-8:30pm PT
In person only at 285 17th St., Oakland CA 94612
Masking is strongly encouraged
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
This popular class series is back again this year for BIPOC only, and we need it more than ever! As systems collapse, our relationships are a crucial refuge. For us, as people of color, our friendships, partnerships, family and communities can be a source of joy and support, and also of struggle and suffering. In this four week class we will explore concrete practices grounded in Buddhist meditation, somatics, and transformative justice to bring more choice and agency to our relationships with ourselves and others.
Through turning towards the delight and difficulty in our relationships we will build resource and resilience and create space to be our most authentic selves in our relationships and in the larger world. Our world is falling apart, conflict is rising and our freedoms are being taken away, together we will turn our attention to find our ground in our beloved communities.
Cost
The teachings are regarded as priceless. So they are offered without a fee. You are invited to support the teachings and our efforts by contributing voluntary donations (the practice of “Dana”) for the expenses of the meditation center and the support of the teachers.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Note that all financial gifts received here go directly to EBMC, and we invite you to give separately to our teachers, using the information below.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may do so via Paypal: paypal.me/eastbaymeditation or our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana 100% of our programming is sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds.
Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all.
Thank you for the gifts of your generosity and for supporting the work of East Bay Meditation Center and our beloved teachers who have volunteered their time.
Regent Brown
Venmo: @Regent-Brown
CashApp: $RegentBrown
René Rivera
Venmo: @ReneRivera
PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/
For in-person participation:
We strongly encourage masking for all who are able to do so. We will provide N95 masks at the center if you don’t have one.
To attend in person, you need to be completely free of fragranced body and clothing products — more information and a list of fragrance free products, including those that are especially good for people of color, appears on our website: https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/
East Bay Meditation Center is a scent free / fragrance free space and is wheelchair accessible.
Public Transportation/Parking:
– We strongly encourage public transportation/biking/walking since parking in the neighborhood is limited.
– EBMC has bike parking inside the center.
– Please note that parking meters are enforced Monday – Saturday, 8 am – 6 pm, and Sunday 12-6pm.
Teachers

Regent Brown (Queen) is a biracial Afro-Indigenous, disabled, two-spirit womxn who has been practicing the Dharma since 2016 and part of the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) community of practice since 2018. Regent’s story has had many twists including surviving cancer twice, relocating during the pandemic, and being married for over a decade. And these twists have only deepened Regent’s passion for liberatory practices in the dharma. Regent supports liberation and decolonization as a coach, circle keeper, trainer, healer, facilitator, and participant in interdependent community wellness. As a recent graduate of the inaugural Freedom Together Mindfulness Teacher Program, and a current member of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders program, Regent joins a bountiful group of BIPOC mindfulness teachers working to weave decolonized practices through their work, relationships, and communities. Regent’s other practices of manifesting joy include karaoke, goats, traveling to photograph sunsets, gardening, and discovering small parks while walking her 7 year old Corgi mix pup, Perkelsnertz.

René Rivera (he, him) is a meditation teacher and restorative justice facilitator working and learning in all the spaces in-between race, gender, and other perceived binaries, as a queer Latinx trans man. René teaches heart-centered, trauma-informed meditation, as a core teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center. He has co-led the first residential meditation retreats for transgender, nonbinary and gender expansive people, and offers classes and retreats for many Buddhist centers and groups. René is a restorative justice facilitator, working to heal sexual and gender based violence.


