Presented by Everyday Zen and the East Bay Meditation Center, co-sponsored by Branching Streams, Dharma Heart Zen, San Francisco Zen Center and Stone Creek Zen.
An Online Class for White Practitioners with Crystal Johnson, Sarah Emerson, Chris Fortin & Tova Green
While this year of pandemic has been disruptive and challenging in many ways, it has also created an opening, a space for greater awareness and urgency around issues of racial harm. The murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery; the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 and the climate crisis, especially on the Black, Latinx and Native communities; and now the armed assault on the U.S. Capitol, are all shocking outcomes of the system of race-based oppression in America.
As white people, especially those of us with class privilege, this can be both upsetting and overwhelming. Our compassionate nature registers the suffering, yet our confusion makes it difficult to know what to do. In this workshop, we offer brief talks, group discussion, reflection and time for Q&A to explore these states of distress, and examine how to move from the overwhelm, confusion, guilt, uncertainty and isolation to the joyful practice of compassion, fueled by the energy of the Bodhisattva vow.
This program is a benefit for the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, CA.
In registering for this daylong workshop, we are inviting you to support the work of the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) in Oakland, CA. Founded and led by a majority of POC teachers and practitioners, EBMC opened its doors in 2007 to provide a dharma refuge for people of color, members of the LGBTQI community, people with disabilities, and other underrepresented communities.
Through conscious cultivation of practices of Radical Inclusivity, Shared Leadership and Gift Economics, EBMC seeks to foster liberation, personal and interpersonal healing, social action, and inclusive community building.
Through our writings and workshops such as this one for white people, we offer support to other dharma communities and practitioners who are seeking to more fully live their practice in the world.
Please give as generously as you can to support this important work.
