Fierce Compassion: Black Women Buddhist Practices for Healing Self and Earth

Fierce Compassion: Black Women Buddhist Practices for Healing Self and Earth is a three-night spiritual retreat at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Barre, Massachusetts, running Thursday through Sunday. It is a residential Buddhist retreat for people who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and/or Person of Color), open to both beginning and experienced practitioners. The teaching draws on compassion practices shaped by five Black women Buddhists: Tina Turner, Alice Walker, Kaira Jewel Lingo, Melanie L. Harris, and bell hooks.

What to Expect

"Fierce compassion" takes its inspiration from the Vajrayana understanding of a wrathful protective deity. Here it means compassion joined with ethical accountability and trauma-informed right action. The practices rest on the innate worth of the person who has been harmed and the full humanity of the person who has done harm. They offer a strength-to-love, non-violent approach that frees the one harmed to do the work of self-healing through compassion, wisdom, and right perception.

The weekend makes room for the questions suffering raises: why must I suffer, how can I endure this, and why did this person harm me? The aim is healing the places in us that have been harmed, and becoming agents of compassion anchored in hope.

The program includes dharma talks, guided meditation, singing, ritual, and both small- and large-group discussion. Buddhist chanting and music from the Black spirituals tradition are part of the shared practice. Grief writing sits alongside contemplative prayer, breathing, and walking meditation.

The daily rhythm is steady:

- 6:30 am wake-up
- 7:00 to 7:30 am morning meditation
- 9:00 am to noon morning session
- 2:00 to 5:00 pm afternoon session
- 7:00 to 9:00 pm evening session

Times may vary slightly. Noble silence is observed after each evening session and continues through breakfast the next morning. Check-in on opening day runs from 3:00 to 5:30 pm, with an opening gathering and orientation before the first evening session. On the final day there is meditation and a closing session, then a closing circle and departure between noon and 2:00 pm.

The Setting

The retreat is held at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Barre, Massachusetts, where participants stay for the three nights of the program.

To make the campus more accessible, a ride-share sheet is shared for this program. For those who cannot find a ride there, a single van shuttle runs on opening and closing days between Boston South Station and the center, in both directions. The ride-share page and van pickup information are sent upon registration.

Before You Go

- Who it is for: People who identify as BIPOC. Both beginning and experienced practitioners are welcome.
- Language: English.
- Included: Dharma talks and guided meditation, Buddhist chanting, singing and ritual, small- and large-group discussion, ride-share coordination, and the van shuttle on opening and closing days from Boston South Station for those who need it.
- Not included: Dāna offered to the teachers, which is given separately from program fees. Extra nights beyond the scheduled program are billed at the extra nights rate. Travel to Boston South Station, or any transportation outside the shuttle and ride-share arrangements, is also not covered.
- Cancellation: Please contact the center right away if your plans change. Cancelling more than eight weeks before the program starts earns a full refund minus an administrative fee. Between three and eight weeks before, a 50% refund of the deposit is available. Registration fees are nonrefundable less than three weeks before the program starts.