Support the Werk of Lama Rod Owens

Watch Night—also known as Freedom’s Eve—is a sacred threshold.

On the night of December 31, 1862, enslaved and free Black people gathered—often in secret—to watch and wait for the Emancipation Proclamation to take effect at midnight. They prayed, sang, danced, preached, broke bread, and held one another through the night, trusting that freedom was possible even before it fully arrived.

Watch Night has always been about staying awake together.

It is a tradition rooted in courage, devotion, and collective care—one that holds both celebration and grief, hope and uncertainty. It reminds us that liberation is not a single moment in history, but an ongoing practice we return to again and again.

The werk we do offers grows directly from this lineage.

Through teachings, meditations, retreats, writing, and gatherings—both online and in person—we create spaces where mindfulness meets the Black Prophetic tradition, where Buddhist practice is woven with ancestral wisdom, embodiment, humor, rage, tenderness, and deep care. These are spaces where we can tell the truth, feel what is real, and practice liberation in our bodies and daily lives.

This community is not about bypassing pain or offering easy answers. It is about learning how to stay present in difficult times. How to release what no longer serves us. How to struggle wisely for what matters. And how to remember who we are beneath systems that disconnect us from ourselves, one another, and the land.

Spaces like this require tending.

Your contribution helps sustain:

• Ongoing teachings and meditations
  
• Retreats, workshops, and gatherings
  
• Writing and community care
  
• The unseen labor that makes this work accessible and grounded
  
  

There is no required amount—only what feels possible for you right now. Every gift, at any level, is meaningful.

As a guide, you might consider:

• $10–$25 as an offering of gratitude
  
• $50–$75 to support ongoing teachings and care
  
• $100 or more as a sustaining gift toward the future of this work
  
  

Giving is an act of participation in a living lineage—one that believes freedom is practiced together.