Potluck + Sit

Hello!


Introduction. We're a meditation community that values inclusion, shared leadership, collective liberation, and generosity. Our first gathering was in February 2018. We meet monthly in person in New York City and weekly over Zoom.


Open arms meditation. We welcome everyone of all meditation backgrounds and experiences. People have meditated for the first time ever with us while others have sat extended retreats or are certified meditation teachers. We're non-denominational and welcome all meditation traditions and faiths.


How it works. Everyone is invited for our weekly meetings over Zoom; folks join from all over and across different time zones. Those in the Greater NYC area are also invited to our monthly in-person gatherings. We meet all over the city: every month, in a generous act of hospitality, a different host offers their home. No one is ever charged to attend; we ask only that you bring a vegetarian potluck dish as offering. The main beats of each session is a pre-sit offering, a 45-minute meditation, shared discussion, and potluck!


Our values:

  • Inclusion. We're proud to be a diverse crew, and we vow to uphold a sense of safety and belonging for all, including members from underrepresented communities. We seek to be a source of refuge from systemic oppression. We strive to be an anti-racist community.

  • Generosity. Potluck + Sit exists on the basis of generosity and the gift economy — the hosts who welcome us into their homes, the potluck contributions by all who attend, the facilitators who guide each Zoom session, and the resources forwarded to the Google Group.

  • Shared Leadership. Potluck + Sit is a co-creative act driven by everyone in the community together. It grows in beautiful and unpredictable ways because each member is empowered to lead, make proposals, and offer their unique contributions to create an ever-changing mosaic.

  • Shared Learning. We're avid about sharing in learning; whether you've returned from retreat or finished a book, you're welcome to share what you've learned. In addition to meeting in-person and over Zoom, we use our Google Group to stay connected and share resources about meditation or related themes like justice and liberation.

  • Collective and Expansive Liberation. None of us is free until all of us are free. The paths to liberation are manifold. We center the liberatory technology of meditation — but we also honor the value of art, and we are committed to social justice and ecological healing. We have shared in literature, theatre, dance, and film together. We have marched on the streets for love and justice, protested against war, practiced somatic healing from racial trauma, and held memorials and vigils for anti-Black and anti-Asian violence.


Our inspirations and influences:

  • Organizations: The Buddhist Action Coalition, Movement Generation, East Point Peace Academy, the Poor People’s Campaign

  • Books: The Buddha's Teachings on Social and Communal Harmony by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi; Radical Dharma by Rev. angel Kyodo william, Lama Rod Owens, and Jasmine Syedullah's; My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem


To date (September 2021), we have collectively meditated nearly 40,000 minutes (650 hours) together.


If you're interested in joining, please email <hi at belinda dot io> and share a little about who you are, your meditation background, and your interest in Potluck + Sit.


May all beings be safe. May all beings be healthy. May all beings be happy. May all beings live with ease. May all beings be liberated.