East Bay Meditation Center

HYBRID: Finding Liberation in Relationship: Accountability, Boundaries and Feedback
2023-12-06 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-11-29 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Finding Liberation in Relationship: Accountability, Conflict, Boundaries and Feedback
4 Wednesdays evenings: November 29, December 6, 13, 20
6:30-8:30pm PT (Time Zone Converter)
Hybrid, on Zoom and in-person at EBMC

In this time of so much conflict, division and uprising, how do we bring our practice to our relationships, and how do we find freedom and choice there? Our friendships, partnerships, family and communities can be a source of joy and support, and also of struggle and suffering. In this four week class we will explore concrete practices grounded in Buddhist meditation, somatics, and transformative justice. We will practice feedback, boundaries, and nervous system regulation, while applying mindfulness to investigate our conditioned tendencies and positionality in power relations. Through turning towards the delight and difficulty in our relationships we will build resource and resilience and create space to be our most authentic selves.
Join us for an enlightening event where we explore the transformative power of relationships. At Finding Liberation in Relationship, we delve into the essential elements that contribute to healthy and meaningful connections. Through interactive sessions, we’ll discuss the importance of accountability and how it cultivates trust and growth. We’ll also explore the role of conflict as an opportunity for deeper understanding and connection. Learn how to establish healthy boundaries that honor your needs while fostering harmonious relationships. Additionally, we’ll examine the art of giving and receiving feedback to promote personal and collective growth.
Whether you join us in person at HYBRID: East Bay Meditation Center or via Zoom, this event promises to be a transformative experience. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to discover the path to liberation in your relationships!
Teacher Bios

René Rivera is a meditation teacher and restorative justice facilitator working and learning in all the spaces in-between race, gender, and other perceived binaries, as a queer Latinx trans man. René teaches heart-centered, trauma-informed meditation, as a core teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center. He has co-led the first residential meditation retreats for transgender, nonbinary and gender expansive people, and offers classes and retreats for many Buddhist centers and groups. René is a restorative justice facilitator for the Ahimsa Collective, working to heal sexual and gender based violence.

Dawn Haney is a teacher, coach, and consultant, committed to helping communities and organizations learn how to navigate change while attending to dynamics of identity and power. They braid together wisdom from Buddhism, social justice, and psychology traditions, and alchemize this with their own experiences as a white, fat, queer, neurodivergent, nonbinary femme to support individual and community change. A dharma student since 2003, she is a Community Teacher at East Bay Meditation Center, offers DEIA and organizational development consulting to meditation programs and social change groups, and taught across the US as former Co-Director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.
This will be a Hybrid class, where in person participants are asked to use an N95 or KN95 mask. Instructors are given the option to be unmasked while speaking into a microphone. For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 40 people to allow ample space for social distancing. N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.
Attendees who have requests for the teachers to be masked, please share in the access needs in class registration. When using a microphone, our instructors are given the option to teach with or without masks. We encourage teachers to self-test for covid the day of teaching and let participants know they tested negative.
To attend in person, you need to be completely free of fragranced body and clothing products — more information and a list of fragrance free products, including those that are especially good for people of color, appears on our website:
https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/
East Bay Meditation Center is a scent free / fragrance free space and is wheelchair accessible.
Cost: The teachings are regarded as priceless, so they are offered without a fee. You are invited to support the teachings and our efforts by contributing voluntary donations
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via Paypal: paypal.me/eastbaymeditation or our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana 100% of our programming is sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds. Thank you for the gifts of your generosity and for supporting the work of East Bay Meditation Center and our beloved teachers who have volunteered their time.

ONLINE: White and Awakening in Sangha: Continuing on the Path
2023-12-03 10:00 - 12:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
White and Awakening in Sangha: Continuing on the Path – Appreciative Joy and Equanimity
August 13 (hybrid), September 10 (online), October 8 (hybrid), November 12 (online), December 3 (hybrid), 2023
10:00am – 12:00pm Pacific Time with Crystal Johnson, Heather Lear and special guests
Time Zone Converter – Closed Captioning Provided

All registered participants will receive a link to join us via Zoom with their EventBrite confirmation email.

Since we first launched the White and Awakening in Sangha course in 2014 (and its sibling/cousin courses at SRMC, SFZC, SZBA and Branching Streams) we have had the privilege of being in community with hundreds of white identified people seeking to see more clearly into the delusion of race and move into wise action to disrupt the operation of white supremacy culture and the harm of race-based oppression. Many of you have asked for a regular forum to support your ongoing (un)learning and action.
It is said that Wisdom and Compassion are the two “wings” of the Dharma; both are needed for travel on the path to awakening. The Brahmaviharas (Divine Abodes) are the essence of the Buddha’s heart teachings, the cultivation of states that support the Compassion wing. By by cultivating these we create the conditions for wise discernment in navigating our work of social justice.
This spring, we focused on the first two Brahmaviharas: Metta (Lovingkindness) and Karuna (Compassion). This fall, we will consider the other two, namely Mudita (Appreciative Joy) and Equanimity. Together, these four practices provide the heart-support we need to engage in wise social action and move to address the suffering of racial conditioning, to help us stay present and engaged without burning out!
Our social conditioning presents many sorts of obstacles to our efforts. Do you feel that others do more or are better than you, that you will never measure up? Do you get frustrated, discouraged and/or self-critical when things don’t go the way you want them to? Do you feel pressure to “fix everything” “right now?” The practices of Mudita and Equanimity support us to avoid the pitfalls of taking sides, clinging to views, resentment, competitiveness, resignation and despair. Combined with metta and compassion, we can skillfully choose the most effective and sustainable ways to practice anti-racism.
In this series, we will offer brief dharma talks, guided practice, small and large group sharing and discussion, and, of course, lots of resources and some new readings. If you would like to be part of an optional, small, peer-led group in between meetings, we will help you connect with other participants. We will offer partial recordings of the sessions for those who can’t attend live, and still want to join us.
If you are white and have not taken the original course, you are welcome here; just know that this is not a beginning discussion. If you are biracial or otherwise identify with a significant dose of European ancestry, you are also welcome. Again, just know that our focus is on whiteness and white conditioning.
A technical note: You should receive a confirmation email within a day of completing your registration. If you don’t receive this email, please contact us at whiteandawakening@eastbaymeditation.org so that we can troubleshoot this issue!
About the money: at the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC), we practice Gift Economics, which means, among other things, that we welcome you into our community, and invite you to contribute according to your capacity and inspiration, rather than as if you are purchasing a product/course. Those of you who have taken the course know that the teachers have always donated their time and wisdom as a personal practice of reparation. All proceeds from your registration contributions will go to support the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC). By donating to EBMC, you are supporting a community founded and dedicated to creating a dharma refuge for BIPOC, LGBTQI2+, people with disabilities, other marginalized communities, and everyone (including us white identified folks) who seek to end suffering and cultivate happiness. Our mission is to foster liberation, personal and interpersonal healing, social action, and inclusive community building. We hope that you will join us.
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via or our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana.

Crystal Johnson is a retired clinical psychologist and a Community Teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) in Oakland, CA, where she also serves on the Leadership Sangha (Board) and as a member of the Radical Inclusivity Committee. She completed the year long Commit2Dharma training at EBMC, as well as the 2-year Dedicated Practitioner Program and the 2-year Community Dharma Leader Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. In her teaching, she focuses on creating/co-creating programs for white dharma practitioners seeking to build awareness, knowledge and skills to challenge the dynamics of white privilege and race-based oppression, and create truly inclusive sangha. Her courses include White and Awakening in Sangha at EBMC, Unpacking Whiteness: Reflection and Action at the San Francisco Zen Center, White and Awakening Together at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Unpacking Whiteness for the Soto Zen Buddhist Association and Unpacking the Whiteness of Leadership for Branching Streams. She offers consultation to individuals and organizations seeking to disrupt the practices of white supremacy culture and support change toward racial equity.

Heather Lear, MIB (she/her), was born and raised with the Dharma in a family of Insight Meditation practitioners. She has served on the teaching team offering the 6-month White and Awakening in Sangha (WAS) program at East Bay Meditation Center since 2019, and currently serves as the Program Manager at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.
Heather is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Advanced Practitioners Program (APP), the Sati Center’s Buddhist Chaplaincy Training, Radiant Heart Qigong Teacher Training, Awakening Joy Teacher Training, and is currently training in Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness (TSM).

HYBRID: The Third Jewel: Taking Refuge in the Sangha to hold grief and rage of the moment
2023-12-02 12:30 - 15:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
The Third Jewel: Taking Refuge in the Sangha to hold the grief and rage of the moment
with Tania Triana, Sarwang Parikh and Ream
Saturday, December 2
12:30 PM – 3:30 PM (Time Zone Converter)
Hybrid, on Zoom and in-person at EBMC

Hatred never ends through hatred.
By non-hate alone does it end.
This is an ancient truth.
As we witness the excruciating violence in Gaza and Israel, the sangha offers a deep refuge to hold our pain, strengthen our hearts, and ready our bodies for action. In a world of violent othering, we gather in solidarity to hold the suffering of all and confirm our shared commitment to peace and justice. We invite you to join Tania Triana, Sarwang Parikh and Ream for a half day of practice, deep listening, sharing and renewal. We welcome your presence and collective strength to create a space of healing.
Teacher Bios

Tania Triana [pronouns: she/they/ella/elle] is an educator, activist, and translator raised in Rochester, NY. She joined EBMC in 2014 soon after relocating to Oakland, and accepted the Bodhisattva vows and precepts at a ceremony at EBMC in 2017, and renewed them in 2020. Tania is grateful to have found a spiritual home and social justice community here, and currently serves on the L-Sangha as Board Secretary. When she’s not teaching at the College Preparatory School, Tania enjoys yoga, traveling, cooking, reading, and being tía to the best sobrinitos ever, Javier and Nicolás.
To offer a gift to support Tania’s teachings, please do so via Venmo: @Tania-Triana

Sarwang Parikh (he/they) was borne into the Dharma within a devotional Hindu Gujarati Indian lineage from an immigrant, working-class family raised in the South. They have been steeped in the practice and study of Vedic Yoga and Buddhism, primarily within the Theravāda lineage, for nearly 20 years. Sarwang’s dedication to the Dharma has been sustained as a long-time sangha member at East Bay Meditation Center (currently in STL: Spiritual Teacher Leadership training and graduate of RRR & PITA); deepened practice and study with Spirit Rock (graduate of Dedicated Practitioners Program ); advancing engaged Buddhism with BPF; and mentoring youth with iBme. Sarwang strives to weave ancient wisdom traditions with a decolonized approach to mental health as a psychotherapist primarily serving BIPOC masculine-of-center folks.
Venmo: @sarwangpPayPal: @Sarwang or paypal.me/Sarwang

Ream, pronouns: She/They. Ream is a queer organizer and somatics practitioner of European ancestry currently in Oakland, CA, organizing for economic and racial justice and immigrants’ rights, working for over 25 years in the labor movement and currently as the Strategic Campaigns Director for the United Domestic Workers’ Union. Ream is a graduate of EBMC’s PITA and WAS programs and is a co-founder of the Social Justice Sangha. Ream is a practitioner with Generative Somatics, teaching “Somatics for White Racial Justice Organizers” and holds trauma healing groups with activists and movement leaders.

This will be a Hybrid class, where in person participants are asked to use an N95 or KN95 mask. Instructors are given the option to be unmasked while speaking into a microphone. For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 40 people to allow ample space for social distancing. N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.
Attendees who have requests for the teachers to be masked, please share in the access needs in class registration. When using a microphone, our instructors are given the option to teach with or without masks. We encourage teachers to self-test for covid the day of teaching and let participants know they tested negative.
To attend in person, you need to be completely free of fragranced body and clothing products — more information and a list of fragrance free products, including those that are especially good for people of color, appears on our website
East Bay Meditation Center is a scent free / fragrance free space and is wheelchair accessible.
Cost: The teachings are regarded as priceless, so they are offered without a fee. You are invited to support the teachings and our efforts by contributing voluntary donations
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via Paypal: paypal.me/eastbaymeditation or our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana 100% of our programming is sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds. Thank you for the gifts of your generosity and for supporting the work of East Bay Meditation Center and our beloved teachers who have volunteered their time.

HYBRID: Path of the Bodhisattva, Series 2
2023-11-27 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-11-20 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-11-13 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-11-06 18:30 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Mondays November 6th, 13rd, 20th, 27th

6:30 – 8:30PM PST (Time Zone Converter)
HYBRID on Zoom and onsite at EBMC
Closed Captioning Provided
with Mushim Patricia Ikeda, an EBMC Core Teacher

These times are full of uncertainty and fear — and opportunities for spiritual breakthrough. In Mahayana Buddhism, the Bodhisattva is an archetypal great being who tirelessly and joyfully works to liberate all beings from suffering. For the fourth time, EBMC will offer two class series exploring what it means to creatively embody the Bodhisattva teachings. Those who complete both class series may participate in the final daylong and either witness or take Bodhisattva precepts and vows in order to strengthen their commitment to collective liberation. These are the same vows taken by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.
Part of the Buddhist curriculum at EBMC, which has three components:
Path of the Bodhisattva Class Series ONE
Mondays, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
October 2, 9, 16 and 23
Path of the Bodhisattva Class Series TWO
Note: This is a deepening of the Class Series One materials, not a repeat
Mondays, 6:30 – 8:30 pm PT
November 6th, 13rd, 20th, 27th
Bodhisattva Vows and Precepts
Daylong Retreat and Ceremony
Sunday, December 10, 2023
10 am – 4:30 pm Pacific time
Note: You may participate as a witness/observer, or apply to receive the Bodhisattva Vows and Precepts after participating in the preceding classes
This will be a Hybrid class, where in person participants are asked to use an N95 or KN95 mask. Instructors are given the option to be unmasked while speaking into a microphone. For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 40 people to allow ample space for social distancing. N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.
*Separate registration is needed for each part of the Path of the Bodhisattva class series (Part I, Part II + Precepts Ceremony). Participants interested in receiving the Bodhisattva Vows in Dec are required to take Part I + II of the class series.
I, myself, took the Bodhisattva Vows and made the vow, “Life after life, after life, after life, I will continue my practice and continue my work.” – Bhante Suhita Dharma, Buddhist monk and social worker, 1941-2013
Also, those who do not wish to take the Bodhisattva vows may take either of the two class series. The final daylong is open to everyone who wishes to witness the joyful ceremony (you do not need to have taken any of the previous classes, though it is recommended that you do so) and those who have completed the previous classes and have received permission from the teacher may receive the Bodhisattva Precepts, take the Bodhisattva Vows, and at that time they will receive a Buddhist name from the teacher. Meditation (instruction provided for beginners), Dharma talks, and interactive exercises.
To attend in person, you need to be completely free of fragranced body and clothing products — more information and a list of fragrance free products, including those that are especially good for people of color, appears on our website:
https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/
East Bay Meditation Center is a scent free / fragrance free space and is wheelchair accessible.
Cost: The teachings are regarded as priceless, so they are offered without a fee. You are invited to support the teachings and our efforts by contributing voluntary donations
To offer a gift to support the teachings, please do so Venmo: Mushim Ikeda @MushimPatricia-Ikeda or PayPal: info@mushimikeda.com
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via Paypal: paypal.me/eastbaymeditation or our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana 100% of our programming is sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds. Thank you for the gifts of your generosity and for supporting the work of East Bay Meditation Center and our beloved teachers who have volunteered their time.
All registered participants will receive a link to join us via Zoom with their EventBrite confirmation email. Those who can attend in person need to be fully Covid vaccinated and wear N95 or KN95 masks. If you feel ill, we ask that you stay home and participate via Zoom, in order to support the health of the Sangha (community). Questions: admin@eastbaymeditation.org

Teacher Bio:

Mushim Patricia Ikeda is an internationally-known secular mindfulness and Buddhist teacher working primarily with justice activists and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) meditation practitioners. A core teacher at East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, California, she is an author whose writing has been published in Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, Buddhadharma and various anthologies. She is the founding and guiding teacher of EBMC’s Practice in Transformative Action, a yearlong program that completed its tenth cohort in July 2023, providing secular mindfulness training for justice activists and agents of change. Mushim was selected by Lion’s Roar Buddhist media magazine as one of twenty-six “Great Buddhist Teachers” in the January 2022 issue. If you would like to make a gift to our beloved teacher, please do so via Venmo: @MushimPatricia-Ikeda or PayPal: info@mushimikeda.com

ONLINE: Honoring Transgender Day of Remembrance
2023-11-20 18:30 - 20:00 | Online
Monday, November 20th
6:30 PM – 8 PM PT (Time Zone Converter)

Online, Over Zoom
Join us on Transgender Day of Remembrance for a heartfelt and empowering event, designed to honor and celebrate the transgender community while nurturing our own well-being.
In observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, we invite you to a special gathering that offers a unique blend of meditation and movements. This event is not only an opportunity to pay tribute to those we have lost but also to explore and embrace self-care practices that can enhance our lives.

All registered participants will receive a link to join us via Zoom with their EventBrite confirmation email.

Fresh “Lev” White, CPCC, is a Certified Professional, Mindfulness & Life Coach. He has been practicing Mindfulness since 2007, and is currently a student of Spirit Rock’s Dharma Leadership Program. In addition to Co-leading the Teen Sangha at EBMC, Fresh! is also a rotating teacher at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, and leads a group for Trans* and Gender Variant folks in Oakland as well. Fresh! earned his Early Childhood Education Credits at Skyline College when he committed to being a classroom assistant and volunteer back in the 90s. Since 2003, Fresh! has facilitated or co-lead over 100 discussions in San Francisco and Marin, in schools and workplaces, with a goal of ending bullying for all, with a focus on creating safety for the LBGTQI communities.

Cost: The teachings are regarded as priceless, so they are offered without a fee. You are invited to support the teachings and our efforts by contributing voluntary donations
To offer a gift to support the teachings, please do so through Venmo: freshencounter, PayPal: fresh@affirmativeacts.org, or CashApp: $FreshWhite

To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via Paypal: paypal.me/eastbaymeditation or our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana 100% of our programming is sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds. Thank you for the gifts of your generosity and for supporting the work of East Bay Meditation Center and our beloved teachers who have volunteered their time.

IN PERSON: Transgender and Gender Diverse Metta Daylong
2023-11-19 10:00 - 16:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Daylong – Sunday, November 19th
10am – 4pm PT (Time Zone Converter)
IN PERSON at EBMC
Join us on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance for a heartfelt and empowering event, designed to honor and celebrate the transgender community while nurturing our own well-being.
In observance of the Transgender Day of Remembrance, we invite you to a special gathering that offers a unique blend of meditation and movements. This event is not only an opportunity to pay tribute to those we have lost but also to explore and embrace self-care practices that can enhance our lives.
This day of practice is open to individuals of all backgrounds and identities. Our experienced Trans* identified facilitators and allies will lead and hold the space, ensuring a supportive environment for all participants.

Teacher Bios

Fresh “Lev” White, CPCC, is a Certified Professional, Mindfulness & Life Coach. He has been practicing Mindfulness since 2007, and is currently a student of Spirit Rock’s Dharma Leadership Program. In addition to Co-leading the Teen Sangha at EBMC, Fresh! is also a rotating teacher at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, and leads a group for Trans* and Gender Variant folks in Oakland as well. Fresh! earned his Early Childhood Education Credits at Skyline College when he committed to being a classroom assistant and volunteer back in the 90s. Since 2003, Fresh! has facilitated or co-lead over 100 discussions in San Francisco and Marin, in schools and workplaces, with a goal of ending bullying for all, with a focus on creating safety for the LBGTQI communities.

Rabbi Dev Noily lives on the unceded land of the Lisjan Ohlone People, in an area commonly known as Oakland, California, Dev is Senior Rabbi of Kehilla Community Synagogue which includes over 500 member households and is part of local and national networks of multifaith organizing and spiritually-rooted activism focused on racial, environmental and economic justice.
Dev is also the co-founder of Jews On Ohlone Land, activating the Jewish community in solidarity with Indigenous sovereignty. They serve on the board of the Interfaith Council of Alameda County and are a current Schusterman Fellow empowering Jewish leaders to drive positive change.
Previously, Dev served as a Spiritual Director for the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College; as a facilitator for difficult conversations among Jews about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; as an advocate for LGBTQ civil rights and religious inclusion; and as a Chaplain for Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Philadelphia.

Riya Christie was born and raised in Jamaica, and moved to the United States where she started her transition. She has ran workshops around safe sex practice, HIV/AIDS, and other STIs, doing outreach to vulnerable communities including LGBT people, sex workers, drug users, and others. In 2016, She graced the cover of See Me: Transforming NYC’s Homeless Youth, a book by a renowned NYC photographer, Alex Fradkin, in collaboration with the Reciprocity foundation – a nonprofit organization that helps homeless youth.
Riya made herself very vulnerable because she wanted society to pay attention to disenfranchised communities and take affirmative action. In 2017, she was a panelist at the LGBTQ+ Career Conference 2017: Strategies for Thriving During and Beyond Berkeley, and spoke about the additional challenges transgender and gender non-conforming individuals often have to navigate while looking for work or advancing their careers. She also performed at Transgender Day of Visibility along with her sister and Momma’s Boyz. Riya now is at the San Francisco LGBT Center helping to connect people with the tools they need to be able to successfully sustain themselves.

This will be an in person class, where participants are asked to use an N95 or KN95 mask. Instructors are given the option to be unmasked while speaking into a microphone. For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 40 people to allow ample space for social distancing. N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.
To attend in person, you need to be completely free of fragranced body and clothing products — more information and a list of fragrance free products, including those that are especially good for people of color, appears on our website:
https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/
East Bay Meditation Center is a scent free / fragrance free space and is wheelchair accessible.
Cost: The teachings are regarded as priceless, so they are offered without a fee. You are invited to support the teachings and our efforts by contributing voluntary donations
To offer a gift to support the teachings, please do so through Venmo: freshencounter, PayPal: fresh@affirmativeacts.org, or CashApp: $FreshWhite
Funds will be split by the teachers
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via Paypal: paypal.me/eastbaymeditation or our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana 100% of our programming is sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds. Thank you for the gifts of your generosity and for supporting the work of East Bay Meditation Center and our beloved teachers who have volunteered their time.

ONLINE: Cultivating Home in Our Hearts: A Daylong for Adult adoptees and fostered
2023-11-18 10:00 - 16:00 | Online
Cultivating Home in Our Hearts: A Daylong for Adult adoptees and fostered, and/or child welfare system survivors
A day of mindfulness, music, and inquiry for adult adoptees, fostered, and/or child welfare system survivors with Sean Feit Oakes, PhD, Amber Field Music, and Fresh Lev White
Saturday, November 18
10 AM – 4 PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
Online, over Zoom
Closed Captioning Provided
This class is for us who experienced separation from birth families at early ages to explore the heart of the Buddha’s teachings: that pain and loss are built into life and are the seeds of wisdom and liberation. We’ll explore our experiences of family rupture, discuss tools for cultivating self-love, compassion, and the cultivation of home in ourselves as a deep refuge.
All adult (18+) adoptees, formerly foster home or system youth, and any adult who were forced/separated from their birth family at young ages are welcome.
Teacher Bios

All registered participants will receive a link to join us via Zoom with their EventBrite confirmation email.

Fresh “Lev” White, CPCC, is a Certified Professional, Mindfulness & Life Coach. He has been practicing Mindfulness since 2007, and is currently a student of Spirit Rock’s Dharma Leadership Program. In addition to Co-leading the Teen Sangha at EBMC, Fresh! is also a rotating teacher at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, and leads a group for Trans* and Gender Variant folks in Oakland as well. Fresh! earned his Early Childhood Education Credits at Skyline College when he committed to being a classroom assistant and volunteer back in the 90s. Since 2003, Fresh! has facilitated or co-lead over 100 discussions in San Francisco and Marin, in schools and workplaces, with a goal of ending bullying for all, with a focus on creating safety for the LBGTQI communities.

Phoenix Song is a queer, non-binary Korean American adoptee teacher, performer and healer featured in SF Magazine’s Best of the Bay for yoga music. They believe that everyone can sing and love to help people free their voices and rhythm in private and group classes. Phoenix leads ancestral healing, grief, and diversity/solidarity workshops and trainings that use expressive arts and somatic processes. If you would like to support Phoenix’s teachings, please do so via Venmo @phoenixsongmusic or PayPal Phoenixsongmusic@gmail.com. To learn more about their sound healing offerings, classes, and performances, please visit https://phoenixsongmusic.com/

Sean Feit Oakes, PhD, E-RYT, SEP, teaches Buddhism and Haṭha Yoga with a focus on the integration of meditation, trauma resolution, and social justice. He has studied in Theravāda, Zen, and Vajrāyāna Buddhist lineages, including training as a monk in Burma, and was mentored to teach Insight Meditation by Jack Kornfield. He trained in Yoga with David Moreno and Alice Joanou, and Organic Intelligence with Steven Hoskinson.  Dr. Oakes received his PhD in Performance Studies from UC Davis in 2016, writing on states of consciousness in Buddhist meditation and experimental dance, and teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, East Bay Meditation Center, and Ashtanga Yoga Berkeley.

Cost: The teachings are regarded as priceless, so they are offered without a fee. You are invited to support the teachings and our efforts by contributing voluntary donations
To make a gift to support the teachings, please do so via Venmo: freshencounter, PayPal: fresh@affirmativeacts.org, CashApp: $FreshWhite
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via Paypal: paypal.me/eastbaymeditation or our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana 100% of our programming is sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds. Thank you for the gifts of your generosity and for supporting the work of East Bay Meditation Center and our beloved teachers who have volunteered their time.

ONLINE: Practicing Tai Chi - Embodying the Heart Qualities Together in these Challenging Times
2023-11-14 09:00 - 10:15 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Practicing Tai Chi – Embodying the Heart Qualities Together in these Challenging Times
Tuesday Morning, November 14
9 AM – 10:15 AM PT (Time Zone Converter)
Online, over Zoom
Tai Chi – Embodying the Heart Qualities is a grounding, empowering practice that includes easy-to-learn, accessible Tai Chi movements.
This moving meditation helps us embody and strengthen the heart qualities including lovingkindness, compassion, and equanimity… as we co-create together a peaceful world for all beings.
This moving meditation, led by the experienced co-facilitators Jenn Biehn and Rosetta Saunders, will guide you in embodying and strengthening heart qualities such as lovingkindness, compassion, and equanimity.
🌟 Movements offered both seated and standing
🌟 No prior experience necessary

Registered participants will receive a link to join us via Zoom with their Eventbrite confirmation email.
Teacher Bios

Rosetta Saunders is a drum artist who uses sacred rhythms for intergenerational healing and cross-cultural ceremonial circles. With over two years of experience practicing Tai Chi and Qi Gong, she brings a unique perspective to the practice, intertwining movement, rhythm, and heart qualities.

Jenn Biehn has been a certified Tai Chi Chih teacher for over 30 years. She is now dedicated to training new individuals to bring these ancient practices into their communities, sharing the benefits of Tai Chi with a wider audience.

To make a gift to support the teachings, please do so via PayPal: sweetdrum8@gmail.com or Venmo: @Rosetta-Saunders
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via Paypal: paypal.me/eastbaymeditation or our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana.
100% of our programming is sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds. Thank you for the gifts of your generosity and for supporting the work of East Bay Meditation Center and our beloved teachers who have volunteered their time.

ONLINE & HYBRID: White and Awakening in Sangha: Continuing on the Path
2023-11-12 10:00 - 12:00, 2023-10-08 10:00 - 12:00, 2023-09-10 10:00 - 12:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States

IN PERSON: Ancestors Welcome Here DAYLONG: Healing White Supremacy
2023-11-05 10:00 - 16:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
IN PERSON: Ancestors Welcome Here DAYLONG: Healing White Supremacy (for white people)
with Ream and Sara Oakes
Sunday, Nov 5th, 2023

10am- 4pm PT
White people*: We need all the help we can get. Working at the level of the body, we will welcome our well ancestors of blood and bone to extend their blessings to us, and to give us their full support and backing in our efforts to end white supremacy in our lifetimes.
We all come from people who lived in interdependence with each other and connection with the Earth. This class invites a reconnection to our lineages through practicing meditation, healing and repair, so that we can know ourselves and our inherent belonging more deeply.
*For self-identified white people. If you identify as white and are committed to racial justice, this class is for you.

This is an in person event where in person participants are asked to use an N95 or KN95 mask. Instructors are given the option to be unmasked while speaking into a microphone. For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 40 people to allow ample space for social distancing. N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.
We also ask all participants to be free of fragranced products — more information and a list of fragrance free products, including those that are especially good for people of color, appears on our website:
https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/
Teacher Bios:

Ream, pronouns: She/They. Ream is a queer organizer and somatics practitioner of European ancestry currently in Oakland, CA, organizing for economic and racial justice and immigrants’ rights, working for over 25 years in the labor movement and currently as the Strategic Campaigns Director for the United Domestic Workers’ Union. Ream is a graduate of EBMC’s PITA and WAS programs and is a co-founder of the Social Justice Sangha. Ream is a practitioner with Generative Somatics, teaching “Somatics for White Racial Justice Organizers” and holds trauma healing groups with activists and movement leaders.

Sara began her spiritual practice in the path of yoga and devotional chanting in 2000 when she also started training in dance and the healing arts. She has practiced in the Insight Meditation tradition since 2004 attending regular retreats with teachers in the U.S.A., Europe, India and Myanmar. She is a graduate of both the Dedicated Practitioners and the Community Dharma Leader Programs at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She has a private practice in Craniosacral therapy, Organic Intelligence, and Somatic Experiencing trauma resolution for people of all ages in the East Bay. website: https://saraoakes.com/

ONLINE: Ancestors Welcome Here: Healing White Supremacy (for white people)
2023-11-02 17:30 - 19:00, 2023-10-26 17:30 - 19:00, 2023-10-19 17:30 - 19:00 | Online
ONLINE: Ancestors Welcome Here: Healing White Supremacy (for white people)
with Ream and Sara Oakes
Thursdays, 10/19, 10/26, 11/2

5:30 – 7 PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
Closed Captioning Provided
White people*: We need all the help we can get. Working at the level of the body, we will welcome our well ancestors of blood and bone to extend their blessings to us, and to give us their full support and backing in our efforts to end white supremacy in our lifetimes.
We all come from people who lived in interdependence with each other and connection with the Earth. This class invites a reconnection to our lineages through practicing meditation, healing and repair, so that we can know ourselves and our inherent belonging more deeply.
*For self-identified white people. If you identify as white and are committed to racial justice, this class is for you.

All registered participants will receive a link to join us via Zoom with their EventBrite confirmation email.

Teacher Bios:

Ream, pronouns: She/They. Ream is a queer organizer and somatics practitioner of European ancestry currently in Oakland, CA, organizing for economic and racial justice and immigrants’ rights, working for over 25 years in the labor movement and currently as the Strategic Campaigns Director for the United Domestic Workers’ Union. Ream is a graduate of EBMC’s PITA and WAS programs and is a co-founder of the Social Justice Sangha. Ream is a practitioner with Generative Somatics, teaching “Somatics for White Racial Justice Organizers” and holds trauma healing groups with activists and movement leaders.

Sara began her spiritual practice in the path of yoga and devotional chanting in 2000 when she also started training in dance and the healing arts. She has practiced in the Insight Meditation tradition since 2004 attending regular retreats with teachers in the U.S.A., Europe, India and Myanmar. She is a graduate of both the Dedicated Practitioners and the Community Dharma Leader Programs at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She has a private practice in Craniosacral therapy, Organic Intelligence, and Somatic Experiencing trauma resolution for people of all ages in the East Bay. website: https://saraoakes.com/

HYBRID: Path of the Bodhisattva, Series 1
2023-10-23 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-10-16 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-10-09 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-10-02 18:30 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Mondays October 2nd, 9th, 16th & 23rd
6:30 – 8:30PM PST (Time Zone Converter)
HYBRID on Zoom and onsite at EBMC
Closed Captioning Provided
with Mushim Patricia Ikeda, an EBMC Core Teacher

These times are full of uncertainty and fear — and opportunities for spiritual breakthrough. In Mahayana Buddhism, the Bodhisattva is an archetypal great being who tirelessly and joyfully works to liberate all beings from suffering. For the fourth time, EBMC will offer two class series exploring what it means to creatively embody the Bodhisattva teachings. Those who complete both class series may participate in the final daylong and either witness or take Bodhisattva precepts and vows in order to strengthen their commitment to collective liberation. These are the same vows taken by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.
Part of the Buddhist curriculum at EBMC, which has three components:
Path of the Bodhisattva Class Series ONE
Mondays, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
October 2, 9, 16 and 23
Path of the Bodhisattva Class Series TWO
Note: This is a deepening of the Class Series One materials, not a repeat
Mondays, 6:30 – 8:30 pm PT
October 30, and November 6, 13, and 20
Bodhisattva Vows and Precepts
Daylong Retreat and Ceremony
Sunday, December 10, 2023
10 am – 4:30 pm Pacific time
Note: You may participate as a witness/observer, or apply to receive the Bodhisattva Vows and Precepts after participating in the preceding classes
This will be a Hybrid class, where in person participants are asked to use an N95 or KN95 mask. Instructors are given the option to be unmasked while speaking into a microphone. For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 40 people to allow ample space for social distancing. N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.
*Separate registration is needed for each part of the Path of the Bodhisattva class series (Part I, Part II + Precepts Ceremony). Participants interested in receiving the Bodhisattva Vows in Dec are required to take Part I + II of the class series.
I, myself, took the Bodhisattva Vows and made the vow, “Life after life, after life, after life, I will continue my practice and continue my work.” – Bhante Suhita Dharma, Buddhist monk and social worker, 1941-2013
Also, those who do not wish to take the Bodhisattva vows may take either of the two class series. The final daylong is open to everyone who wishes to witness the joyful ceremony (you do not need to have taken any of the previous classes, though it is recommended that you do so) and those who have completed the previous classes and have received permission from the teacher may receive the Bodhisattva Precepts, take the Bodhisattva Vows, and at that time they will receive a Buddhist name from the teacher. Meditation (instruction provided for beginners), Dharma talks, and interactive exercises.
To attend in person, you need to be completely free of fragranced body and clothing products — more information and a list of fragrance free products, including those that are especially good for people of color, appears on our website:
https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/
East Bay Meditation Center is a scent free / fragrance free space and is wheelchair accessible.
Cost: The teachings are regarded as priceless, so they are offered without a fee. You are invited to support the teachings and our efforts by contributing voluntary donations
To offer a gift to support the teachings, please do so Venmo: Mushim Ikeda @MushimPatricia-Ikeda or PayPal: info@mushimikeda.com
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via Paypal: paypal.me/eastbaymeditation or our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana 100% of our programming is sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds. Thank you for the gifts of your generosity and for supporting the work of East Bay Meditation Center and our beloved teachers who have volunteered their time.
All registered participants will receive a link to join us via Zoom with their EventBrite confirmation email.

Teacher Bio:

Mushim Patricia Ikeda is an internationally-known secular mindfulness and Buddhist teacher working primarily with justice activists and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) meditation practitioners. A core teacher at East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, California, she is an author whose writing has been published in Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, Buddhadharma and various anthologies. She is the founding and guiding teacher of EBMC’s Practice in Transformative Action, a yearlong program that completed its tenth cohort in July 2023, providing secular mindfulness training for justice activists and agents of change. Mushim was selected by Lion’s Roar Buddhist media magazine as one of twenty-six “Great Buddhist Teachers” in the January 2022 issue. If you would like to make a gift to our beloved teacher, please do so via Venmo: @MushimPatricia-Ikeda or PayPal: info@mushimikeda.com

IN PERSON: Meditation & Movement: Creating Space in Your Body & Your Life
2023-10-22 10:00 - 13:00 | Snow Park
Meditation & Movement: Creating Space in Your Body & Your Life
RESCHEDULED to Sunday, October 22, 2023
10:00AM – 1:00PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
East Bay Meditation Center at Snow Park, 19th Street & Harrison Street
(One block from EBMC, three blocks from the 19th Street BART station)
Using practice, demonstrations, and discussions, this retreat will use meditation and movement to explore how to create and maintain greater mindfulness and spiritual balance throughout the day. Simple meditation techniques are taught for a range of practitioners, especially beginners. Movements embodying the Five Elements are taught standing, sitting and reclining, and are appropriate for people with diverse abilities. This retreat will be held at Snow Park, so bring a water bottle, a snack and a blanket to sit on. The park is highly shaded from many trees, and bathrooms are available. Because this is an outdoor event, masks are optional, but social distancing is encouraged.

Teacher Bios:

Mushim Patricia Ikeda is an internationally-known secular mindfulness and Buddhist teacher working primarily with justice activists and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) meditation practitioners. A core teacher at East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, California, she is an author whose writing has been published in Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, Buddhadharma and various anthologies. She is the founding and guiding teacher of EBMC’s Practice in Transformative Action, a yearlong program now in its ninth year, providing secular mindfulness training for justice activists and agents of change. Mushim was selected by Lion’s Roar Buddhist media magazine as one of twenty-six “Great Buddhist Teachers” in the January 2022 issue. If you would like to make a gift to our beloved teacher, please do so via Venmo: @MushimPatricia-Ikeda or PayPal: info@mushimikeda.com

Master John W. Ellis IV is a martial artist with more than 35 years of experience in helping people strengthen the connections between the body, mind and spirit. He teaches toddlers, youth, adults, senior citizens, athletes, the physically challenged, and autistic children. He has more than 40 years of meditation practice in Christian, Zen, Vipassana and New Thought traditions; and has written about martial arts, spirituality, and alternative health for major media. Master Ellis leads Ananda Martial Arts and Fitness Academy in Oakland, where he teaches traditional martial arts, self-defense and Five Realms Meditative Movement

ONLINE: Kwan Yin Dharmas: Compassion Practice for Queer and Trans People
2023-09-28 17:30 - 19:00, 2023-09-21 17:30 - 19:00, 2023-09-14 17:30 - 19:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Class Series, Thursday evenings
Sept 14, 21, 28 – 5:30-7 PM
Online over Zoom

Kwan Yin Dharmas: Compassion Practice for Queer and Trans People
Welcome to a transformative class series designed exclusively for queer and trans individuals, where the guiding light of Kwan Yin’s compassion will illuminate your path.
🕊️ About the Class Series:
Kwan Yin is the bodhisattva who “hears the cries of suffering of the world with ease.” She/They is always extending their compassion and protection to us, we need only to call on them to strengthen our relationship to what she’s offering: safety, guidance and belonging for all queer and trans people.
In this class we will work with the dharmas of compassion (karuna), equanimity (upekkha) and loving kindness (metta), calling the bodhisattva to us through chanting their invocation, to hold and protect queer and trans people everywhere. No experience, or even interest, in working with a deity is necessary. Each class will include embodied practice in compassion and the felt sense of safety, and discussion in small groups.

TEACHER BIOS:

emiko (she/they) was raised with the Dharma through the Western Insight tradition and began practicing Vipassana meditation as a child. Ancestrally, she comes from a long lineage of Jodo Shinshu Buddhist priests. Seeded with Insight meditation, steeped in the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, guided by Kuan Yin, touched deeply by Dzogchan, and growing into Higashi Honganji, emiko welcomes the many Dharma streams that flow through their life. They are a graduate of the East Bay Meditation Center’s first Spiritual Teacher & Leadership training and is currently a participant in the Sacred Mountain Sangha’s Dharmapala Training. She facilitates various sanghas locally and internationally, and works to create Dharma spaces by and for marginalized groups such as sex workers, and those disabled, neurodiverse, and/or chronically ill. As a mixed-raced, mixed-Buddhist queer, they practice holding contradictions with equanimity as they strive to co-create a more just and compassionate world.

Ream, pronouns: She/They. Ream is a queer organizer and somatics practitioner of European ancestry currently in Oakland, CA, organizing for economic and racial justice and immigrants’ rights, working for over 25 years in the labor movement and currently as the Strategic Campaigns Director for the United Domestic Workers’ Union. Ream is a graduate of EBMC’s PITA and WAS programs and is a co-founder of the Social Justice Sangha. Ream is a practitioner with Generative Somatics, teaching “Somatics for White Racial Justice Organizers” and holds trauma healing groups with activists and movement leaders.

HYBRID: Introduction to Mindfulness & Meditation
2023-09-11 18:00 - 20:30, 2023-09-04 18:00 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Four Mondays 6-8:30pm
August 21 & 28 and September 4 & 11
Hybrid at East Bay Meditation Center and Online over Zoom

Mindfulness is an ancient teaching that has proven to be more relevant and beneficial in these current times. It has been scientifically proven to improve empathy, manage stress levels, and increase present moment awareness. This course is ideal for those who want to begin meditation practice, develop consistency, or to revive a long-term practice.
Beginners and seasoned practitioners are all welcome to explore the basics of mindfulness, establish a daily practice, incorporate various meditation practices, and embody a mindful lifestyle.
This program is suitable for both new and experienced meditators.
Space is limited & registration is required.

Imee Contreras is the founder of Mindfulness Asia, and co-founder and principal teacher of Philippine Insight Meditation Community. Mentored by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Tara Brach, Ph.D., and Carol Cano, M.A., she received formal training at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center. She is a mentor for Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach’s Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program and The Power of Awareness course, serves as a Cross-Cultural Mindfulness teacher and Board Member at Braided Wisdom and an affiliate teacher at UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center. She is a visiting teacher in various meditation centers around the world, a founding Advisory Council member of the Global Compassion Coalition, and is credentialled by the International Mindfulness Teachers Association.

Janet Roos is the COO, Board Member, and Teacher’s Assistant at Non-Profit Braided Wisdom, a Cross-Cultural Mindfulness Organization. She holds certifications from Braided Wisdom’s Leadership Training Program and UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center. Credentialed by the International Mindfulness Teachers Association, she’s passionate about bringing Mindfulness Practices to diverse communities, including Non-Profits, University Athletes, Corporations, and others interested, stemming from a family steeped in the beliefs of service and giving back.

Ramón Honea (He/They/Them) is a biracial, gay, second generation Oakland Chicano native, he served for 20 years as a teacher/administrator in the SF/Oakland Unified School Districts. After that, through therapy, he found meditation and the East Bay Meditation Center’s “POC night” where he joined the coordinating committee in 2010 and served for several years. Obtained a mindfulness teaching credential through the Mindfulness Training Institute in 2019. Currently an Assistant Teacher in Braided Wisdom under teacher Carol Cano.and now working on a contract with EBMC to reopen the center to be an all hybrid center. They bring a “holding” experience from working at Spirit Rock Meditation Center as a residential Retreat Manager and from managing week long silent retreats in the desert. Obtained a mindfulness teaching credential through the Mindfulness Training Institute in 2019. Recently graduated from EBMC’s three year Spiritual Teacher Leader program (STL).
Cost: The teachings are regarded as priceless. So they are offered without a fee. You are invited to support the teachings and our efforts by contributing voluntary donations (the practice of “Dana”) for the expenses of the meditation center and the support of the teachers.
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via Paypal: paypal.me/eastbaymeditation or our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana 100% of our programming is sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds. Thank you for the gifts of your generosity and for supporting the work of East Bay Meditation Center and our beloved teachers who have volunteered their time.
Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks and be fully vaccinated against covid19, which at this time means having received the covid bivalent booster no less than two weeks before the event. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.)
To attend in person, you need to be completely free of fragranced body and clothing products — more information and a list of fragrance free products, including those that are especially good for people of color, appears on our website:
https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/
East Bay Meditation Center is a scent free / fragrance free space and is wheelchair accessible.

ONLINE: Apranihita: Meditation as Radical Rest
2023-09-04 10:00 - 16:00 | Online
Daylong Program – 10AM – 4PM
Labor Day Monday, September 4th
Online over Zoom

Apranihita: Meditation as Radical Rest
Thich Nhat Hanh identifies apranihita (aimlessness) as one of three doors of liberation. In the context of capitalist culture that values people based on their productivity, the practice of apranihita invites us to feel our wholeness, worth, and perfection in our very being. Our facilitation team brings lived experience of chronic illness and psychiatric disability in our queer bodies of color. This practice has been central for some of us in navigating the world at these intersections. We hope to share how the practice can support us in rewriting dominant narratives around “laziness,” value, and rest.
In this daylong retreat, we will practice aimlessness and explore a relationship with this form of radical rest. Our time together will include talks, breakout groups, easeful meditation practice, and opportunities to reflect on what rest means for you and your community. All levels of practice and familiarity with Buddhism and meditation are welcome!
TEACHER BIOS:

emiko (she/they) was raised with the Dharma through the Western Insight tradition and began practicing Vipassana meditation as a child. Ancestrally, she comes from a long lineage of Jodo Shinshu Buddhist priests. Seeded with Insight meditation, steeped in the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, guided by Kuan Yin, touched deeply by Dzogchan, and growing into Higashi Honganji, emiko welcomes the many Dharma streams that flow through their life. They are a graduate of the East Bay Meditation Center’s first Spiritual Teacher & Leadership training and is currently a participant in the Sacred Mountain Sangha’s Dharmapala Training. She facilitates various sanghas locally and internationally, and works to create Dharma spaces by and for marginalized groups such as sex workers, and those disabled, neurodiverse, and/or chronically ill. As a mixed-raced, mixed-Buddhist queer, they practice holding contradictions with equanimity as they strive to co-create a more just and compassionate world.

Rahil Rojiani (they/them) is a queer, genderfluid, South Asian Ismaili Muslim, and an abolitionist trauma-focused psychiatrist. Their Dharma journey is held in multiple Tibetan and Theravadin lineages, including as a student of Lama Rod Owens. Rahil has been facilitating healing spaces and teaching meditation primarily for BIPOC and community organizers since 2014. With a particular love for element and shadow work, Rahil is dedicated to the intersection of justice and somatic healing for collective liberation.

Guangping Chu (all pronouns) is a student in the Plum Village tradition with the dharma name Playful Freedom of the Source. Meditation practice is an integral part of their healing journey, which includes uprooting patriarchy, singing to trees, making reparations for intergenerational wealth, navigating chronic Lyme Disease, and generous amounts of play time. Guangping facilitates meditation in numerous spaces on land and online, including Heartwood: A BIPOC Mindfulness Community.
