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BIPOC Weekend

A Weekend Mindfulness Retreat for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) at Deer Park Monastery

May 15 - 17

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BIPOC Weekend

A Weekend Mindfulness Retreat for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) at Deer Park Monastery

May 15 - 17

Deer Park Monastery is hosting a BIPOC Mindfulness Retreat as an expression of our continuing commitment to creating a nourishing, healing, and empowering space for members of our spiritual family who self-identify as BIPOC.

May 15 - 17, 2026
Deer Park Monastery
Escondido, California

REGISTRATION WILL OPEN on this page in March

BIPOC practitioners, new or more experienced, are welcome to join us at Deer Park Monastery on May 15-17, 2026 for a dedicated BIPOC Weekend. Deer Park is home to about 66 monastics, the majority of whom are BIPOC of Vietnamese descent.

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.

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

Mindful movement at BIPOC Retreat May 2024, Deer Park

Nurturing a Beloved Community

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. His deep spiritual friendship with our Teacher continues to inspire many generations of monastic and lay practitioners; through deep spiritual practice, this journey can be sustainable, empowering, and liberating right in the present moment, starting with ourselves.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

Twenty-Two Years Since the First POC Retreat at Deer Park

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, our teacher (Thầy), hosted the first POC retreat in 2004 at Deer Park Monastery.

Thich Nhat Hanh was a prolific author with over 100 books, poet, gardener, and peacemaker, played a pivotal role during the Vietnam War. He founded the School of Youth for Social Service and spearheaded the Engaged Buddhism movement. He initiated the European Institute of Applied Buddhism in Germany and received a Nobel Peace Prize nomination from Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

“...this gentle Buddhist monk from Vietnam...is a scholar of immense intellectual capacity. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity.”
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in nominating Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967

The Practice

These are some of the practices that we will engage in during this retreat:

Live Dharma talks, panel sharings, presentations & question and response session offered by BIPOC monastics & lay disciples of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh
Sitting meditation together
Outdoor walking meditation & hiking to the mountains as a community
Mindful meals in silence - taking the time to truly enjoy the food and the company of other practitioners
Dharma Sharing in small groups – practicing loving speech and deep listening, sharing our experiences with the mindfulness practice.
Deep Relaxation - learning how to rest and relax our body and our mind
Mindful Service - working together in harmony and with ease
Noble Silence – observed from after the evening activity until after washing up for breakfast
Be-in, celebrating cultural diversity - you are invited to bring clothes, musical instruments, photographs, and/or objects that you may identify as your cultural inheritance or your cultural association. An ancestral altar will be available for you to place your special photographs or sacred objects.

FAQs

Deer Park Monastery understands that BIPOC practitioners are in different places in their journey of healing from racial discrimination. We are also aware that, for some BIPOC practitioners, seeing a non-BIPOC person in a racial affinity group practice space can be challenging and activating. For these reasons, BIPOC members of our spiritual family will guide or facilitate all practices.

Please be advised that non-BIPOC monastics & lay residents will be present on the monastery grounds during the retreat. They are our spiritual siblings, and the monastery is their home. Some are engaged in monastery projects like construction and ground maintenance, while others work in the office or provide background support for the retreat through tasks such as cleaning and registration, etc. All non-BIPOC monastics have offered their support by preparing meals for the entire retreat, and they will also have their own separate activities. We appreciate your understanding and support.

No, this retreat is specifically reserved for the BIPOC community. This decision is not intended to harm, hurt, or exclude. It emphasizes the importance of white (and all) practitioners respecting BIPOC mindfulness practice opportunities. Honoring such spaces is a practice that cultivates wholesome intentions of generosity, compassion, and altruistic joy, while also fostering the capacity to recognize, reckon with, and gain insight into systemic racism and oppression. Racial oppression has led to implicit and explicit biases, racial trauma, violence, and inequality. BIPOC-only racial affinity spaces provide retreatants with opportunities for deep reflection, rest, and healing.

We recognize that racial/ethnic identity can be complex and fluid, and the term BIPOC may not be universally known or globally used. If you are uncertain about whether this space is appropriate for you, our retreat facilitators are available for a conversation. However, we humbly suggest considering the following: If in your daily life, (1) you primarily self-identify as white, (2) others perceive and treat you as white, and (3) you align with the social and cultural norms of whiteness, then this retreat may not be the best fit for you. If you navigate the world with white privilege but still identify as a BIPOC individual, we welcome a Zoom or telephone conversation to provide clarity on the situation. Please write to us at deerpark.ot@deerparkmonastery.org and we are happy to arrange the call with you.

The first BIPOC retreat in the Plum Village Tradition, fully supported and participated in by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, occurred in 2004. Planners expected around 70 participants for the “Colors of Compassion” retreat, but it drew an attendance of 400 people. For more information on this retreat, refer to the interview with Kaira Jewel Lingo here. Additionally, you can access the Dharma talks from 2004 & 2007 here.

For more information on anti-racism, “waking up to whiteness,” “white privilege”, undoing white supremacy, or white awareness work in the Plum Village Tradition, see “Waking Up to Whiteness,” https://wkup.org/waking-up-to-whiteness/

Related Resources in the Plum Village Tradition:

Healing Our Way Home - Black Buddhist Teachings on Ancestors, Joy, and Liberation by Kaira Jewel Lingo Marisela Gomez Valerie Brown
America’s Racial Karma - An Invitation to Heal by Dr. Larry Ward
Gatha for Healing Racial, Systemic and Social Inequity formulated by the ARISE Sangha.
The Five Mindfulness Trainings of Plum Village, and the contemplations associated with them. The “Contemplations on the Five Mindfulness Trainings: A New Paradigm for Racial Justice and the Global Pandemic” were authored by Valerie Brown and Marisela Gomez, June 12, 2020.
“Building a Community of Love: bell hooks and Thich Nhat Hanh,” Lion’s Roar (2017)
“Skillful Action for a Path Forward,” Interview with Valerie Brown, Racial Justice Series, Plum Village Website, June 8, 2020
“Engaging Together for Change: An Invitation,” Thay Phap Dung, Racial Justice Series, Plum Village Website, June 19, 2020
“Uncomfortable Spaces: Cultivating Love & Peace for Racial Healing,” Dharma Talk by Sr. Peace, Order of Interbeing Virtual Retreat, Blue Cliff Monastery, July 26, 2020
Thich Nhat Hanh, Together We Are One: Honoring our Diversity, Celebrating Our Connection (Parallax Press, 2006)

Registration opens March 2026.

Explore Online Courses

From time to time we offer multi-week courses related to mindfulness, the teachings and life of Thich Nhat Hanh, and a variety of similar subjects. Please see our schedule of upcoming courses.

Upcoming Courses

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Take the Deer Park Monastery and Plum Village community with you wherever you go. The Plum Village app is designed to cultivate mindfulness, compassion, and joy through guided meditations, deep relaxations, practice poems, bells of mindfulness, and other practices — all through a mobile device.

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