Our sits are currently happening virtually, per the schedule below. Please join our e-mail list or e-mail us to get more information.
2021 Meditation Schedule – Now Meeting Virtually!
Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) gather bi-monthly on 1st Sundays 3-5P.M. and 3rd Wednesdays 7-8:30P.M.
Social activists gather bi-monthly on 2nd Sundays 3-5P.M. and 4th Wednesdays 7-8:30P.M.
Our mindfulness community is made up of people of all ages and all kinds of experience at all levels of practice. Everyone can practice because everyone can breathe. If you are new, or this is your first time ever doing something like this, we welcome you! We will all benefit from your presence.
While our root practice is based on the Engaged Buddhist teachings and practices of Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, we also invite those practicing with us to share other traditions which use the path of mindfulness as a way of living more beautifully and honestly.
Upcoming BBMC Schedule – SAVE THE DATES!
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SUNDAYS 3-5P.M.
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WEDNESDAY 7-8:30P.M.
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For BIPOC
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1st week |
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3rd week |
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For Activists(RSVP required) |
2nd week |
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4th week |
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RSVP for Social Activist gatherings
We request all interested individuals to email: bbmcspace@gmail.com including your name and how you identify by race/ethnicity if you plan on joining practice with activists. The purpose is to support us in ensuring equal or greater POC to non-POC in attendance. If the need arises, white allies will be contacted via email by early afternoon before the Wednesday or Sunday sit and asked not to attend.
This is not an attempt to hurt but an attempt to balance the energies that occur when there is a majority white space. Such spaces risk duplicating the default to white privilege, knowingly and unknowingly. We believe this intentional process to maintain equal or greater numbers of POC present together increases our opportunity to co-create a mindful, safe space for all to heal, not just some.
- RSVP for Sunday afternoon practice before or by Sunday NOON.
- RSVP for Wednesday evening practice before or by Wednesday NOON.
Format of Sunday meetings (2 hours)
- Welcome/introductions/check-
ins - Recitation of Gatha for Healing Racial, Systemic, and Social Inequity
- 30 minute Seated Meditation (May be guided or silent)
- Short Walking Meditation
- 25-30 minute Dharma teaching followed by Q&A Discussion
- 5 minute Seated Meditation
- Conclusion/announcements
Format of Wednesday meetings (90 minutes)
- Welcome/introductions/check-
ins - Recitation of Gatha for Healing Racial, Systemic, and Social Inequity
- 10-15 minute Seated Meditation (guided)
- Short Walking Meditation
- 10-15 minute Seated Meditation (silent)
- Dharma Reading – Selected passage read aloud (please see list of past resources)
- Dharma Sharing – Time to practice deep listening and loving speech
- Conclusion/announcements
Location – we are meeting online for now, but hope to return to our practice space when we can.
920 St Paul Street, Unit 1C, Baltimore, MD 21202
Traveling by MTA bus? Use the MTA route planner tool: LocalLink
Driving? Street parking available on St Paul, Eager and Read Streets. As well as Calvert and Charles Streets (2-3 more blocks further walking distance).
Please allow for EXTRA time to find street parking due to limited parking and commuter traffic in the Mt Vernon neighborhood. BBMC hosts will arrive 30 minutes before meeting start time; we invite you to arrive EARLY, share a cup of tea with us and get comfortably seated before the bell is invited to formally begin. We aim to start our introductions and meditation period within first 10 minutes of the hour.
Meeting Information
- All newcomers to mindfulness and long time practitioners are welcome to attend.
- Gatherings are offered FREE OF CHARGE. If you would like to make a donation (offer Dana) to support programming and events, you may do so after the meeting. Any amount you are able to offer is deeply appreciated, but never required.
- You may bring your own cushion or yoga mat if you like. Our space has some blankets and cushions for sitting on the floor plus chairs. Please note: While we are located on the first floor level, there are stairs to the entrance of the building, which has no elevator and is not ADA accessible at this time.
- Wear comfortable clothing for periods of sitting and walking mediation.
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Why join us on this beautiful path of freedom?
The pain BIPOC encounter because of racism creates great suffering: individual racial profiling and actions guided by implicit bias, as well as systematic oppression mediated through housing, employment, education, transportation, recreation, healthcare, the legal system, and other social institutions, both historically and currently. Practicing the path of mindfulness, people of color can face these everyday experiences with clarity and understanding, choosing whether the arrow of racism will be compounded by the arrows of fear, anger, sadness, anxiety, and despair, which lead to greater suffering. Together, we practice deep looking in order to transform our pain and suffering, and offer compassion.
The work of social justice activists, community organizers, and human rights defenders is challenging and almost always leads to burnout. Through diverse means, we struggle to right the wrongs of unjust systems. These systems maintain disproportionate control in the hands of the powerful, and have marginalized and disenfranchised people of color, low income and working class people, women, lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer/intersex/questioning (LGBTQIQ) individuals, people with disabilities, immigrants, non-English speakers, and non-Christians. The path of mindfulness helps us cultivate a clear mind, as well as understanding and compassion, to ensure that we do not perpetuate the injustices we seek to change.