Daylong Program – 10AM – 4PM
Labor Day Monday, September 4th
Online over Zoom
Apranihita: Meditation as Radical Rest
Thich Nhat Hanh identifies apranihita (aimlessness) as one of three doors of liberation. In the context of capitalist culture that values people based on their productivity, the practice of apranihita invites us to feel our wholeness, worth, and perfection in our very being. Our facilitation team brings lived experience of chronic illness and psychiatric disability in our queer bodies of color. This practice has been central for some of us in navigating the world at these intersections. We hope to share how the practice can support us in rewriting dominant narratives around “laziness,” value, and rest.
In this daylong retreat, we will practice aimlessness and explore a relationship with this form of radical rest. Our time together will include talks, breakout groups, easeful meditation practice, and opportunities to reflect on what rest means for you and your community. All levels of practice and familiarity with Buddhism and meditation are welcome!
TEACHER BIOS:
emiko (she/they) was raised with the Dharma through the Western Insight tradition and began practicing Vipassana meditation as a child. Ancestrally, she comes from a long lineage of Jodo Shinshu Buddhist priests. Seeded with Insight meditation, steeped in the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, guided by Kuan Yin, touched deeply by Dzogchan, and growing into Higashi Honganji, emiko welcomes the many Dharma streams that flow through their life. They are a graduate of the East Bay Meditation Center’s first Spiritual Teacher & Leadership training and is currently a participant in the Sacred Mountain Sangha’s Dharmapala Training. She facilitates various sanghas locally and internationally, and works to create Dharma spaces by and for marginalized groups such as sex workers, and those disabled, neurodiverse, and/or chronically ill. As a mixed-raced, mixed-Buddhist queer, they practice holding contradictions with equanimity as they strive to co-create a more just and compassionate world.
Rahil Rojiani (they/them) is a queer, genderfluid, South Asian Ismaili Muslim, and an abolitionist trauma-focused psychiatrist. Their Dharma journey is held in multiple Tibetan and Theravadin lineages, including as a student of Lama Rod Owens. Rahil has been facilitating healing spaces and teaching meditation primarily for BIPOC and community organizers since 2014. With a particular love for element and shadow work, Rahil is dedicated to the intersection of justice and somatic healing for collective liberation.
Guangping Chu (all pronouns) is a student in the Plum Village tradition with the dharma name Playful Freedom of the Source. Meditation practice is an integral part of their healing journey, which includes uprooting patriarchy, singing to trees, making reparations for intergenerational wealth, navigating chronic Lyme Disease, and generous amounts of play time. Guangping facilitates meditation in numerous spaces on land and online, including Heartwood: A BIPOC Mindfulness Community.
