Love and Kindness: BIPOC Metta Retreat (298R21)
Pawan Bareja, PhD, Noliwe Alexander, Solwazi Johnson, Jeff Haozous and Konda Mason
October 4 - 8, 2021
Registration open until 11:59 p.m. (Pacific Time) on October 3, 2021. A waiting list will be created if the program fills early.
OPEN TO ALL SELF-IDENTIFIED BLACK, INDIGENOUS AND PEOPLE OF COLOR
Description:
Spirit Rock warmly welcomes all self-identified Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) who are nourished by Buddhist teachings of lovingkindness and compassion. These practices help us relate to ourselves and the world from a place of love, clarity, and empowerment.
Lovingkindness supports our hearts’ natural capacity to respond with love, warmth, and tenderness. Over time, we develop a sense of interconnectedness with all creation.
Compassion practice gently turns us toward our suffering caused by an unfriendly world. It helps us meet our inner critic with clear-seeing and kindness.
This retreat will include Dharma talks, group discussions, silent sitting, and mindful walking periods.
All BIPOC folks are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org.
Tentative Schedule (subject to change; times are US Pacific Time)
7:00-7:45 a.m. Guided sit – Heart Practices
9:15-10:00 a.m. Sit with Instructions
10:00-10:30 a.m. Walking – suggested home practice
10:30-11:15 a.m. Q&A with teachers
11:30 am-12:20 p.m. Teacher Mtgs for Those Assigned
11:30 am-12:20 p.m. Movement Practice-Optional
2:00-3:00 p.m. Dharma Talk
3:15-3:45 p.m. Teacher meeting
3:15-4:00 p.m. Affinity – LGBTQIA
4:00-4:45 p.m. Affinity – Black folks
4:30-5:00 p.m. Movement check-ins
5:00-6:00 p.m. Movement Practice-Optional
About the Teachers
Pawan Bareja, PhD
Pawan Bareja, PhD has practiced Vipassana meditation since 2001. She is a graduate of the Spirit Rock Teacher Training, a Buddhist Ritual Minister and a Community Dharma Leader at Spirit Rock. She has taught classes and daylongs on healing trauma using mindfulness at Spirit Rock, San Francisco Insight, EBMC, and Esalen. In her private practice […]
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Noliwe Alexander
Noliwe Alexander has been a student of Vipassana meditation for over 20 years. Throughout this time of deep devotion to the Dharma, Noliwe has become a dedicated practitioner, meditation teacher of various retreats and sitting groups, day-longs and class series programs. She dedicates her BuddhaDharma practice and teachings to the BIPOC, LGBTQIA, At Risk and […]
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Solwazi Johnson
Solwazi has been practicing and teaching for over 20 years, with a focus on Vipassana since 2003. He is certified as a Community Dharma Leader by Jack Kornfield and Spirit Rock Meditation Center and is currently in the four-year Spirit Rock Teacher Training program. Solwazi worked for over 20 years as a health educator and […]
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Jeff Haozous
Jeff began practicing insight meditation in 1996 at Spirit Rock. He later moved from San Francisco to Oklahoma and in 2003 started a meditation group there, where he continues to teach. He has taught at meditation groups, daylongs, and residential meditation retreats in California, Massachusetts, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Jeff is a Chiricahua/Warm Springs […]
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Konda Mason
Konda Mason is a social entrepreneur, eco-spiritual thought leader, mindfulness teacher and justice advocate working at the intersection of social and financial justice and planetary healing. Konda was introduced to Tibetan Buddhism in 1982. Her love for Vipassana began in 1996, working with Jack Kornfield at the Vallecitos Retreat Center. She has taught at Spirit […]
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