JD Doyle(they/them) has practiced Insight Meditation in the US, Thailand, and Burma since 1997. They are based in Oakland, CA and teach at the East Bay Meditation Center, where they co-founded the LGBTQIA+ Sangha, over 18 years ago. They graduated from Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Retreat Teacher Training. For over twenty-three years, they worked as a public-school teacher. They are committed to celebrating the diversity of our human sangha, transforming the impacts of racism on our communities, expanding concepts of gender, and living in ways that honor the sacredness of the Earth.
Exploring Anatta, with an invitation to curiosity and intimacy with the not knowing, beyond the conceptual mind of the constructs of the self. As we investigate the constructions of self, we begin to untangle the sense of self that we are familiar with and open to the possibility of the fullness of Anatta.
Guided Metta meditation that begins with an overview of working with difficult or challenging people. Meditation explores the cultivation of Metta, starting with easy beings, moving to difficult beings and ending with all beings.
This meditation starts with a short introduction to practicing with Vedana (or feeling tone) and then continues with a guided meditation that invites you to bring your awareness to different parts of the body and different senses to recognize Vedana as it arises.
An exploration of how the three refuges can be used during retreat to support practice. Recognizing the lineage and Buddha nature, the Dharma of our bodies, and the Sangha as a network as support systems that undergird our practice. Includes working with perceptions and using the natural world as part of practice.
During this half-day, we will gather as a community of white people to investigate the impacts of racism and white supremacy culture in our hearts, minds, and communities. The Buddha’s teachings form a liberatory framework that helps us to explore racial conditioning. Using the Buddhist teachings, we will gain insight into how conditioning causes suffering both individually and collectively. With curiosity, compassion, and humility, we will learn together to uproot the delusions of separation and to nurture communities that foster liberation for all beings.
The Buddha’s teaching of the three jewels offers a way to radiate beauty in your life and in your community. The three jewels of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha are also referred to as refuges, as they offer us protection from the dangers of the world. These three interrelated jewels help orient us to live in harmony with each other and support us on the path to liberation. Practicing with these jewels, will sparkle and radiate goodwill and kindheartedness in all directions.
This day of practice will include periods of meditation, chanting, dhamma reflections, small group discussions, and Q&A.
All are welcome!
