Atonement & Amends for Earth and All Beings

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We’ll gather together on unceded land of the Coast Miwok people to perform the Kuan Yin/Atonement ceremony outdoors for Earth Day weekend.

Join us

We will be honoring and atoning for harms to the non-human realm. Point Reyes is an especially poignant location to host our ceremony. The decades-long use of ⅓ of this public land for dairy ranches has resulted in ecosystem degradation, water pollution, biodiversity loss, and the profound suffering of the native Tule elk and other indigenous species, alongside the cows raised for dairy and veal.

The ceremony will include prayer, a shrine to the animal and Earthen world, an adaptation of the Kuan Yin/Atonement ceremony, and space for participants to offer a message of atonement for taking life and perpetuating harm. We hope you’ll join us for this opportunity to make living amends in community, witnessing and supporting each other in kindness and love for all beings.

With the stunning beauty of the land and its inhabitants for inspiration, and the knowledge of harms past, present and future as fuel for our atonement, we’ll join in ceremony and community to hold space and offer our deepest prayers, apologies, and intentions.

We'll follow our ceremony with a vegan potluck, so please bring something plant-based to share. For those who’d like to stay for the whole day, there are many beautiful hikes on the land, or you can drive to the coast to the ocean, stopping by the ranches on the way to offer additional atonement to the baby cows caged in small huts, waiting to be killed and sold as veal.

Schedule:

Gather, greet, and introduce ourselves from 11.00 - 11.30

Ceremony from 11.30-12:30

Vegan Potluck from 12:30-1:30 (please bring a plant-based dish to share)

Optional Hike from 1:30 on for those who’d like to organize

Getting there + Earth care

If you'd like to be added to the list for arranging carpools, let Charity know (charity@jamjamjam.com) your LOCATION and CONTACT INFO and she'll connect interested people with each other to lower the carbon footprint of this event.

Note for out-of-towners

For those who can't join us in person, we invite you to feel into an area you are called to be present for, near your home. You may also consider friends or local sangha members who can join you. We can also post a notice if you want to host a ceremony. And you will receive a template and training to host your own event at our April 14 meeting (info here).

About Thanissara:

Thanissara is a long-time Dharma practitioner and teacher. She trained for 12 years in the Thai Forest monastic tradition of Ajahn Chah, has led meditation retreats internationally for the last 30 years and has an MA in Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy Practice. With her partner, Kittisaro co-founded Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat Centre in South Africa, and the Non-Profit Sacred Mountain Sangha in the US. She is author of Time To Stand Up, An Engaged Buddhist Manifesto for Our Earth and a member of the Spirit Rock Teacher Council. For more info, visit www.sacredmountainsangha.org.

About Charity Kahn:

Charity Kahn is a musician, teaching artist, Certified Mindfulness Meditation Instructor, and Certified Qigong Instructor based in San Francisco, CA. She has released seven albums of award-winning music for families and a collection of guided meditations for kids with her band Charity and the JAMband. She is the founder of The JAM Experience, sharing music, movement and mindfulness with families around the Bay Area and beyond through her beloved classes, camps and concerts since 2001. Charity also combines mindfulness and a passion for social and environmental justice in concerts and recordings for grown-ups with her band The Invisible Bee, and through her Vegan Journey and PAEAN courses and events. For more info, visit www.charitykahn and  www.jamjamjam.com.

PLEASE COMPLETE YOUR REGISTRATION ON EVENTBRITE BY CLICKING HERE