Registration is now open | Deepening Our Roots (Retreat for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC))

Please note we can accommodate 50 fully vaccinated BIPOC friends, including a booster shot, if due, at least 2 weeks before arrival for this residential retreat. The monastery will not be open for any other unrelated individual and/or group retreats during this time. Live streaming may be considered, depending on the pandemic situation.

Magnolia Grove Monastery is hosting its inaugural BIPOC residential retreat as an expression of its commitment to creating a safer, nourishing, affinity space for members of our spiritual family who self-identify as BIPOC. We understand that BIPOC people face specific issues due to their racial/ethnic identities, and that cultivating affinity spaces is a necessary step and offers a beautiful opportunity for nourishment and healing, rest and restoration, and the cultivation of clarity and joy. 

“I’m a person of color.”
            ~ Venerable Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, “Thay” (2004)

During this retreat, our time together will focus on firmly rooting ourselves in – the practice of self-care as self-love; building of kinship with each other; acknowledging our diverse historical roots and spiritual ancestors; and embracing the Dharma as a foundation for stability, liberation, and “love in action.”

“Beloved Community Garden,” Magnolia Grove Monastery

BIPOC practitioners, new or more experienced, are welcome to join us at Magnolia Grove Monastery (MGM). MGM is home to about 25 Monastics, the majority of whom are BIPOC of Vietnamese descent, and is in a state where nonviolent civil rights campaigns in the 1960s grew out of the mud of white supremacy. Then and now, the struggles for social justice and the search for the “beloved community” espoused by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. continue to serve as brilliant North Stars.

Working within community …
we are able to experience joy in struggle.”
                                                                         ~ bell hooks (1994)

Click here to learn more and to register

We welcome you. 

4 thoughts on “Registration is now open | Deepening Our Roots (Retreat for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC))

  1. Hello. I am interested in attending. I received a J&J shot which deems me fully vaccinated. Am I required to recieve a booster to attend? I am just a little confused on the wording above.

    • Breathe and Smile says:

      Dear Stephan,

      Thank you for expressing your interest in attending the retreat. We would like to share with you the information we found on CDC website:

      If you received Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen*
      Who should get a booster:
      Adults 18 years and older

      When to get a booster:
      At least 2 months after receiving your J&J/Janssen COVID-19 vaccination

      Which booster can you get:
      Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna (mRNA COVID-19 vaccines) are preferred in most* situations

      Based on the information above, we kindly ask you to receive a booster to attend the retreat. Thank you for your support and understanding.

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