East Bay Meditation Center

ONLINE: Afrikan Healing and Wisdom
2025-01-05 09:00 - 10:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
ONLINE: Afrikan Healing and Wisdom
With Vimalasara Mason-John, Arisika Razak, and Aleta Toure’
First Sundays, starting November 3rd 2024
9:00 – 10:30 AM PT
Closed captioning provided over Zoom

SPECIAL NOTE:
The award winning author Luisah Teish brings in the new year for Afrikan Wisdom Sunday January 5th 9am – 10:30am PT!
DON’T PANIC. PREPARE. As we walk into the cesspool of this administration; we must discuss the ways to invoke, process, and embody the messages of support received from the ancestors.
Emulating their wisdom provides a three tier approach for dealing with the 2025 agenda in community with Nature, Spirit and Each Other. We will discuss the themes we must meditate on and the methods we can use to manifest the best visions provided by our Consciousness.
Participants are invited to bring a clear glass, a personal candle and an image of an Illustrious ancestor whose life and work you admire. White clothing is preferred. We can survive, thrive, and transform. Sankofa Now!
Yeye Teish is the author of Jambalaya: the Natural Woman’s Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals, a women’s spirituality classic. And A Calabash of Cowries: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times. Presently she is raising funds to purchase a ranch in the Bay Area to house the Jambalaya School of Ancient Mysteries/Sacred Arts Center. The Jambalaya School will offer a two-year certificate program in Artistic and Spiritual Activism.

Join us for EBMC’s first Black-led, Black-Sangha Affinity group held on the first Sunday of every month starting on Sunday, November 3rd, 2024 from 9 AM till 10:30 AM.
Today, those of us living in the USA vibrate to the breath of our Ancestral North Star, highest realm of guidance. Our ancestors are with us, as we step into a seemingly repeated quantum leap of time, during one of the most turbulent election seasons since the presidential election of 1876, and the 1877 compromise which ended Reconstruction. We are in a sentinel moment, echoing the situations described in Martin Luther King’s book, “Why We Can’t Wait”. Like our Diasporan kinfolx, we are questioning our common humanity, as we see the age-old dream of peace, and ecological balance distorted in the deep and seemingly bottomless pool of genocide, war, climate change, ecological devastation, poverty and global health pandemics.
Join us as we bring a timely spoonful of Afrikana medicine to these challenging and difficult times. We’ll add ancestral healing traditions to the simple practice of the breath, sharing meditations, libations, chanting and other embodied practices to remember our resilience, honor our ancestors, and support an inclusive and affirming community for all members of the Afrikan Diaspora.

COST

Here at EBMC, we practice gift economics and our programs are offered freely without set fees. Financial gifts from our community help to sustain our teachers AND our center. Generosity is the Buddha’s first teaching, the lifeblood of EBMC, and an act of sacred reciprocity. We ask that those who have more financial means give more, in order to help balance the giving of those who have less financial means.
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana. Consider becoming a monthly donor for any amount! These contributions are especially valuable to our sustainability.
Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all. In this way, we practice sacred reciprocity between teachers and students.

VENMO: @Ariska-Razak
PAYPAL: https://paypal.me/MindfulnessRecovery?locale.x=en_US
ZELLE: Aleta Alston Toure / 7078576455 / withjusticepeace@gmail.com
(Please reference “Afrikan Healing & Wisdom” and the teachers will share the gifts with each other)

REGISTRATION
For January 5th 2025
For February 2nd 2025
For March 2nd 2025
We will continue to add registration for each month!

TEACHING TEAM

Vimalasara (Valerie) Mason-John is the author of the new revised edition of Detox Your Heart – Meditations For Emotional Trauma published by Wisdom books in 2017. She is co-author of the award-winning book Eight Step Recovery – Using The Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction. She is a TEDx speaker and is the author of eight books including her award winning novel Borrowed Body. She is the curator of Teachings in Uncertain Times, an online retreat by Teachers of Color for Tricycle Magazine February 2017. She is a leading African Canadian voice in the field of Mindfulness for Emotional Trauma and Addiction.

Arisika Razak, MPH, EBMC Core teacher, is the former Chair of the Women’s Spirituality Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Previously a nurse-midwife, her teachings incorporate diverse spiritual traditions, women’s health and healing, multicultural feminisms, queer theory, and diversity theory. Arisika has led national and international healing workshops and ritual celebrations for women for over three decades, as well as embodied spiritual workshops for people of all genders. She has co-facilitated workshops with Marlene Jones at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and regularly leads workshops at EBMC.

Aleta Toure’ (Visiting Teacher) Aleta Toure’ bears witness as a vessel for social change through organizing, education and healing arts. She centers healing in monastic lifestyle knowledge though Intentional Communities and Black cooperative movements. Her cooperative serves communities through Black Trauma Anonymous (BTA), Tai chi, Ecstatic Healing Dance and Healing Responders. Aleta spends time within Peace Pagodas, monasteries, hermitages, and dojos which have framed her work through Free Marissa Now, “I am Troy Davis”, University Without Walls and other Diasporic Movements. She leads the 2025 California Reparations Interfaith Healing Walk to bring healing, theory and practice back as a Liberation tool.

HYBRID CLASS SERIES: Beginning a Meditation Practice
2025-01-08 18:30 - 20:30, 2025-01-15 18:30 - 20:30, 2025-01-22 18:30 - 20:30, 2025-01-29 18:30 - 20:30
4 Class series, Wednesdays on January 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th 2025
6:30 – 8:30PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
Part of EBMC’s Core Buddhist Teachings – 6-month Curriculum
HYBRID
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks required

Are you looking for a way to start a mindfulness meditation practice, but don’t quite know how? These four classes will give you the basics of stationary and walking/gentle movement meditation in the vipassana (insight) style, and metta (loving kindness or good will) meditation. Don’t worry about “getting it right” – if you can sit – on a folding chair, on floor cushions, in a wheelchair – or lie down – and breathe, you’re off to a good start! This series is for those seeking stress reduction, or it can be the gateway to those new to Buddhism. Meditation can help you, over time, to develop a sense of increased physical well-being, mental clarity, compassionate connection, and spiritual growth.

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.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may 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.

Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all.
Venmo: @MushimPatricia-Ikeda
PayPal: info@mushimikeda.com
Please indicate “Beginning Meditation” in the subject line.

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.

For in-person participation:
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 60 people to allow ample space for social distancing. Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.) Please note: The teacher may be unmasked while teaching.
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.

For Zoom participation, these are our Universal Access Guidelines:
– Please do not use virtual or blurred backgrounds
– If you or your camera are moving around, please turn off your video
– Please say your name when you speak
– Facilitators will attempt to read any comments in the chat out loud
– Please mute when you’re not speaking.

Teacher

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 and with people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. 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 recipient of an honorary doctor of sacred theology degree from the Starr King School for the Ministry. Mushim was selected by Lion’s Roar Buddhist media magazine as one of twenty-six “Great Buddhist Teachers” in the January 2022 issue. www.mushimikeda.com

ONLINE: Refuge Awaits in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha
2025-01-12 09:00 - 10:30
ONLINE: Refuge Awaits in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha
with Andrés González
Sunday January 12th 2025
Time: 9:00 – 10:30 AM PT (Time Zone Converter)
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom
All are welcome

On January, 7th, 2025, multiple wildfires erupted over the sacred region, Tovangar, known today as the Greater Los Angeles Basin, and over the last several days, terrifying devastation has occurred impacting precious life of all forms.
At East Bay Meditation Center, we recognize that our sangha spans a wide geographic area, and we are all deeply interconnected. Whether you’ve been personally affected by the fires or have felt sorrow and concern for other beings, animals, and the Earth—experiencing rapid loss and upheaval—we want to offer space for connection, practice, and reflection on the Three Refuges: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
These refuges, as the Buddha taught, are found within our own hearts—timeless, enduring, and always accessible, even amidst the turbulence and impermanence of life.

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, you may 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.

Please prioritize offering dana to Mutual Aid LA Network: https://hcb.hackclub.com/donations/start/malan
A description from Mutual Aid LA Network:
“The LA Fires have positioned us to have a unique opportunity to get as much money on the ground as we can manage. Right now our focus is the distribution of resources on the ground. Your donation will go to things like masks, food, water, and community mutual aid volunteers around the city. We are also working with other grassroots orgs whose operations and services have been limited or halted during the emergency. All your donations are very needed now and going forward.”

Resources:
Mutual Aid LA Network’s January 2025 Fire & Wind Storm Resource Library https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1KMk34XY5dsvVJjAoD2mQUVHYU_Ib6COz6jcGH5uJWDY/htmlview

For Zoom participation, these are our Universal Access Guidelines:
– Please do not use virtual or blurred backgrounds
– If you or your camera are moving around a lot, please turn off your video
– Please say your name when you speak
– Facilitators will attempt to read any comments in the chat out loud
– Please mute when you’re not speaking.

Teacher

Andrés González, MSW (he/they/él) is a queer, two-spirit Mestizo with primarily Yaqui, Mexican, Spanish, & Scottish ancestries. He’s also a transracial adoptee, connected to a lineage of Indigenous adoptees separated from family, land, & culture by way of the U.S. child welfare system. Andrés’ lived experience integrating these many worlds has informed his path as a practitioner of curanderismo, dharma teacher, and mental health clinician. Trained in harm reduction & healing-justice as a psychotherapist, he holds a masters degree in social work. He is also a graduate of East Bay Meditation Center’s two-year Spiritual Teacher & Leadership Training and the 2023-2024 Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics’ certification program in psychedelic facilitation. Andrés resides on Yokuts’ land (aka Bakersfield, CA) and lovingly traverses life with his adored service dog, Junior.

HYBRID: EBMC’s New Radical Dharma Book Club (Jan. 18 session)
2025-01-18 11:00 - 12:30
EBMC’s New Radical Dharma Book Club
Launching with books by our “Love, Power and Liberation” speakers
January 18th 2025 session
HYBRID at EBMC and online
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks required

Join us Saturdays from 11-12:30pm PT once a month. You can attend all meetings or drop in.
FIRST SESSION: November 23: Tania Triana facilitating Angela Davis, Freedom is a Constant Struggle (info here)
SECOND SESSION: December 14: Kimi Mojica and Ream facilitating Lama Rod, The New Saints (info here)
THIRD SESSION: January 18, 2025: anuradha bhagwati facilitating Prentis Hemphill, What It Takes to Heal

Join our new Radical Dharma Book Club and engage with EBMC teachers in the practice of dharma discussion and inquiry. We will practice together in community to embody the ideas of Angela Davis, Lama Rod Owens and Prentis Hemphill. Let’s get free together with the Black Radical Tradition at our backs, encouraging us to keep moving towards freedom, the core teaching of Buddhism.
All are welcome. In-person at EBMC and online.

PLEASE NOTE: In-person ticket sales end on Jan. 16, so we can finalize the headcount for the center. If you want to register for in-person after Jan. 16, please email kristal@eastbaymeditation.org. Thank you!

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.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that. And lastly, there is an option to name your own gift.

For in-person participation:
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 60 people to allow ample space for social distancing. Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.) Please note: The teacher may be unmasked while teaching.
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.

Teacher

anuradha bhagwati (she/her) is a disabled, queer, indian-american activist, policy advocate, and writer. She is the critically acclaimed author of Unbecoming: A Memoir of Disobedience and the award-winning co-founder and first executive director of the Service Women’s Action Network. A former United States Marine Corps officer, anuradha helped lead national campaigns to open ground combat positions to women and to stop military sexual assault and harassment. She found her way to her dharma roots as a way of healing from military-related violence. anuradha taught trauma-informed hatha yoga and Buddhist meditation to veterans in New York City for over a decade, and is a long-time practitioner of Theravadan Buddhism. She is committed to cultivating an anti-colonial warrior practice based on love, compassion, equity and justice. She is the founder of Decolonial Dharma, and facilitates both the Buddhists for Justice in Palestine and Disability Solidarity practice groups. anuradha is currently at work on a book about mental health, disability, and life with her rollicking service dog and guide, Duke.

ONLINE: Maintaining the Calm Within the Storm: Anxiety in Times of Elections
2025-01-24 12:00 - 13:30
HYBRID: Maintaining the Calm Within the Storm: Anxiety in Times of Elections
3 Fridays: October 11th 2024, November 15th 2024, January 24th 2025
12:00 – 1:30 PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
with Kinshasa Bennett, Renata Moreira, Andrés González, & Anjali Sawhney
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom
N95/KN95 Masks Required at EBMC

This will be a 3-part series where we have stationary practice, dharma talks, and discussion as related to using the dharma and mindfulness to relate differently to anxiety as it arises in the mind and body (physical, emotional and energetic) in times of elections. We ask participants to attend all sessions if possible. This series will advance the principles of Engaged Buddhism and address current concerns.

Open to all who are interested and no experience necessary.

NOTE: In-person ticket sales end on January 22nd at 1pm PT so we can finalize our headcount. If we have fewer than 20 in-person registrations, we may opt to run online only. We will confirm with everyone by January 23rd. Thank you!

For in-person participation:
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 60 people to allow ample space for social distancing. Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.) Please note: The teacher may be unmasked while teaching.
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.

For Zoom participation, these are our Universal Access Guidelines:
– Please do not use virtual or blurred backgrounds
– Please keep your camera still when it’s turned on
– Please say your name when you speak
– Facilitators will attempt to read any comments in the chat out loud
– Please mute when you’re not speaking.

Teaching Team

Kinshasa (she/her). Queer, African-American listener, healer, learner. 15 years of experience as a psychologist by day. 46 years as a student of life. Currently integrating sitting, dancing, praying, and vocal meditation practices. Exploring sacred reciprocity in relations with all beings. Incorporating ritual, indigeneity, and authenticity into my (spiritual) life. Launched from EBMC in 2009 and Spirit Rock in 2011 into the spheres of Buddhism, ancestral knowledge, and plant medicine. My formal training includes graduating from the EBMC Spiritual Teacher and Leadership training program in 2023. You may find me watching women’s sports, exploring the community by foot, or dancing in my living room.

Renata Moreira, M.A.S.T, CCHT (She/they/Ela/Elu) is a queer mixed race lifelong educator of Indigenous Xucuru Kariri and Portuguese ancestries. She brings 20 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, development and strategic communications to the intersections of trauma-informed care, mindfulness, and culture making. This dynamic first generation immigrant mama is connected to an eclectic lineage of spiritual wisdom and earth keepers across the Americas. Currently, Renata serves as a social impact and wellness consultant, transpersonal therapist, and mindfulness teacher. She has brought a passionate Metta praxis to countless educational, public, and private sectors since 2012; always holding the firm belief that all people within systems can liberate themselves towards the rise of a more loving and just world for all beings. She is certified as an MBSR instructor, is a graduate of EBMC’s Pita Program, and has served EBMC as Transition Director. When not co-creating beloved communities, cultivating medicinal allies, or geeking out on somatics and liberation, Renata can be found dancing with her 8 yr old magickal daughter and cooking up new ways to play into healing. Connect with Renata via renatametta | Instagram, Facebook | Linktree

Andrés González, MSW (he/they/él) is a queer, two-spirit Mestizo with primarily Yaqui, Mexican, Spanish, & Scottish ancestries. He’s also a transracial adoptee, connected to a lineage of indigenous adoptees separated from family, land, & culture by way of the U.S. child welfare system. Andrés’ lived experience integrating these many worlds has informed his path as a curandero, dharma teacher, and healing-justice practitioner. Trained in harm reduction as a psychotherapist, he holds a masters degree in social work. He is also a graduate of East Bay Meditation Center’s two-year Spiritual Teacher & Leadership Training and the 2023-2024 Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics’ certification program in psychedelic facilitation. Andrés resides on Yokuts’ land (aka Bakersfield, CA) and lovingly traverses life with his adored service dog, Junior.

Anjali Sawhney (she/her/s) is a Certified Integral Life Coach and a trained international Leadership Embodiment Teacher (somatic coaching based on Aikido & Mindfulness). Anjali has coached & facilitated somatics & mindfulness workshops in the non-profit, corporate, and educational sectors including the Richmond Community Foundation, California Endowment, UCSF & City of San Francisco. Anjali also serves directly with untapped BIPOC students, those unhoused, and those in recovery by providing coaching, counseling & series workshops through various non-profits as well as independently. She is currently on the EBMC Program Committee and Leadership Sangha (Board). She is passionate about rallying people through community & spirituality as well as street protests for equity & systemic change, is in awe of nature & live music, & on rare occasions is allowed to groove with her children, Aanika and Jai.

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.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. Please scroll through the entire menu to see all the options. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may 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.

Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all.
To offer a gift to the teachers for their teachings, please do so via:
Venmo: @Kinshasa-Bennett
(the teachers will share the gifts with each other)

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: Afrikan Healing and Wisdom
2025-02-02 09:00 - 10:30, 2025-04-06 09:00 - 10:30
ONLINE: Afrikan Healing and Wisdom
With Vimalasara Mason-John, Arisika Razak, and Aleta Toure’
First Sundays, starting November 3rd 2024
9:00 – 10:30 AM PT
Closed captioning provided over Zoom

Join us for EBMC’s first Black-led, Black-Sangha Affinity group held on the first Sunday of every month starting on Sunday, November 3rd, 2024 from 9 AM till 10:30 AM.
Today, those of us living in the USA vibrate to the breath of our Ancestral North Star, highest realm of guidance. Our ancestors are with us, as we step into a seemingly repeated quantum leap of time, during one of the most turbulent election seasons since the presidential election of 1876, and the 1877 compromise which ended Reconstruction. We are in a sentinel moment, echoing the situations described in Martin Luther King’s book, “Why We Can’t Wait”. Like our Diasporan kinfolx, we are questioning our common humanity, as we see the age-old dream of peace, and ecological balance distorted in the deep and seemingly bottomless pool of genocide, war, climate change, ecological devastation, poverty and global health pandemics.
Join us as we bring a timely spoonful of Afrikana medicine to these challenging and difficult times. We’ll add ancestral healing traditions to the simple practice of the breath, sharing meditations, libations, chanting and other embodied practices to remember our resilience, honor our ancestors, and support an inclusive and affirming community for all members of the Afrikan Diaspora.
REGISTRATION
We will continue to add registration for each month!

COST

Here at EBMC, we practice gift economics and our programs are offered freely without set fees. Financial gifts from our community help to sustain our teachers AND our center. Generosity is the Buddha’s first teaching, the lifeblood of EBMC, and an act of sacred reciprocity. We ask that those who have more financial means give more, in order to help balance the giving of those who have less financial means.
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana. Consider becoming a monthly donor for any amount! These contributions are especially valuable to our sustainability.
Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all. In this way, we practice sacred reciprocity between teachers and students.
Giving Information:
VENMO: @Arisika-Razak
PAYPAL: arisikarazak@gmail.com
(Please reference “Afrikan Healing & Wisdom” and the teachers will share the gifts with each other)

TEACHING TEAM

Vimalasara (Valerie) Mason-John is the author of the new revised edition of Detox Your Heart – Meditations For Emotional Trauma published by Wisdom books in 2017. She is co-author of the award-winning book Eight Step Recovery – Using The Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction. She is a TEDx speaker and is the author of eight books including her award winning novel Borrowed Body. She is the curator of Teachings in Uncertain Times, an online retreat by Teachers of Color for Tricycle Magazine February 2017. She is a leading African Canadian voice in the field of Mindfulness for Emotional Trauma and Addiction.

Arisika Razak, MPH, EBMC Core teacher, is the former Chair of the Women’s Spirituality Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Previously a nurse-midwife, her teachings incorporate diverse spiritual traditions, women’s health and healing, multicultural feminisms, queer theory, and diversity theory. Arisika has led national and international healing workshops and ritual celebrations for women for over three decades, as well as embodied spiritual workshops for people of all genders. She has co-facilitated workshops with Marlene Jones at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and regularly leads workshops at EBMC.

Aleta Toure’ (Visiting Teacher) Aleta Toure’ bears witness as a vessel for social change through organizing, education and healing arts. She centers healing in monastic lifestyle knowledge though Intentional Communities and Black cooperative movements. Her cooperative serves communities through Black Trauma Anonymous (BTA), Tai chi, Ecstatic Healing Dance and Healing Responders. Aleta spends time within Peace Pagodas, monasteries, hermitages, and dojos which have framed her work through Free Marissa Now, “I am Troy Davis”, University Without Walls and other Diasporic Movements. She leads the 2025 California Reparations Interfaith Healing Walk to bring healing, theory and practice back as a Liberation tool.

HYBRID CLASS SERIES: Buddha's Four Big Truths (The 4 Noble Truths)
2025-02-05 18:30 - 20:30, 2025-02-12 18:30 - 20:30, 2025-02-19 18:30 - 20:30, 2025-02-26 18:30 - 20:30
Buddha’s Four Big Truths (The 4 Noble Truths)
4 Class series, Wednesdays on February 5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th 2025
6:30 – 8:30PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
Part of EBMC’s Core Buddhist Teachings – 6-month Curriculum
HYBRID
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks required

Why do we suffer? How can we be released from suffering? The Buddha’s first teaching after his Enlightenment is called the Four Truths for Noble Ones. These form the foundation of Buddhist life and understanding. The four “big” truths address human suffering and oppression, analyze their root causes, and describe a path of liberation from human suffering that is both profound and practical. Dharma talks, mindful journaling, meditation, community building and optional readings. Beginners in meditation are welcome.

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.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may 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.

Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all.
Venmo: @MushimPatricia-Ikeda
PayPal: info@mushimikeda.com
Please indicate “4 Big Truths” in the subject line.

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.

For in-person participation:
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 60 people to allow ample space for social distancing. Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.) Please note: The teacher may be unmasked while teaching.
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.

For Zoom participation, these are our Universal Access Guidelines:
– Please do not use virtual or blurred backgrounds
– If you or your camera are moving around, please turn off your video
– Please say your name when you speak
– Facilitators will attempt to read any comments in the chat out loud
– Please mute when you’re not speaking.

Teacher

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 and with people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. 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 recipient of an honorary doctor of sacred theology degree from the Starr King School for the Ministry. Mushim was selected by Lion’s Roar Buddhist media magazine as one of twenty-six “Great Buddhist Teachers” in the January 2022 issue. www.mushimikeda.com

ONLINE: Afrikan Healing and Wisdom
2025-03-02 09:00 - 10:30
ONLINE: Afrikan Healing and Wisdom
With Vimalasara Mason-John, Arisika Razak, and Aleta Toure’
First Sundays
9:00 – 10:30 AM PT
Closed captioning provided over Zoom
It’s spring time and life is blossoming in the midst of suffering. It’s International Women’s Day – a time when we celebrate the birth of the Buddha, and the resistance and achievements of trans-womxn, gender-expansive people and cis womxn. As we remember the legacies of bell hooks, Miss Majors, and Tina Turner, what are we giving birth to?
Join us for EBMC’s first Black-led, Black-Sangha Affinity group held on the first Sunday of every month starting on Sunday, from 9 AM till 10:30 AM.
Today, those of us living in the USA vibrate to the breath of our Ancestral North Star, highest realm of guidance. Our ancestors are with us, as we step into a seemingly repeated quantum leap of time, during one of the most turbulent election seasons since the presidential election of 1876, and the 1877 compromise which ended Reconstruction. We are in a sentinel moment, echoing the situations described in Martin Luther King’s book, “Why We Can’t Wait”. Like our Diasporan kinfolx, we are questioning our common humanity, as we see the age-old dream of peace, and ecological balance distorted in the deep and seemingly bottomless pool of genocide, war, climate change, ecological devastation, poverty and global health pandemics.
Join us as we bring a timely spoonful of Afrikana medicine to these challenging and difficult times. We’ll add ancestral healing traditions to the simple practice of the breath, sharing meditations, libations, chanting and other embodied practices to remember our resilience, honor our ancestors, and support an inclusive and affirming community for all members of the Afrikan Diaspora.
REGISTRATION
We will continue to add registration for each month!

COST

Here at EBMC, we practice gift economics and our programs are offered freely without set fees. Financial gifts from our community help to sustain our teachers AND our center. Generosity is the Buddha’s first teaching, the lifeblood of EBMC, and an act of sacred reciprocity. We ask that those who have more financial means give more, in order to help balance the giving of those who have less financial means.
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana. Consider becoming a monthly donor for any amount! These contributions are especially valuable to our sustainability.
Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all. In this way, we practice sacred reciprocity between teachers and students.
Giving Information:
VENMO: @Arisika-Razak
PAYPAL: arisikarazak@gmail.com
(Please reference “Afrikan Healing & Wisdom” and the teachers will share the gifts with each other)

TEACHING TEAM

Vimalasara (Valerie) Mason-John is the author of the new revised edition of Detox Your Heart – Meditations For Emotional Trauma published by Wisdom books in 2017. She is co-author of the award-winning book Eight Step Recovery – Using The Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction. She is a TEDx speaker and is the author of eight books including her award winning novel Borrowed Body. She is the curator of Teachings in Uncertain Times, an online retreat by Teachers of Color for Tricycle Magazine February 2017. She is a leading African Canadian voice in the field of Mindfulness for Emotional Trauma and Addiction.

Arisika Razak, MPH, EBMC Core teacher, is the former Chair of the Women’s Spirituality Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Previously a nurse-midwife, her teachings incorporate diverse spiritual traditions, women’s health and healing, multicultural feminisms, queer theory, and diversity theory. Arisika has led national and international healing workshops and ritual celebrations for women for over three decades, as well as embodied spiritual workshops for people of all genders. She has co-facilitated workshops with Marlene Jones at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and regularly leads workshops at EBMC.

Aleta Toure’ (Visiting Teacher) Aleta Toure’ bears witness as a vessel for social change through organizing, education and healing arts. She centers healing in monastic lifestyle knowledge though Intentional Communities and Black cooperative movements. Her cooperative serves communities through Black Trauma Anonymous (BTA), Tai chi, Ecstatic Healing Dance and Healing Responders. Aleta spends time within Peace Pagodas, monasteries, hermitages, and dojos which have framed her work through Free Marissa Now, “I am Troy Davis”, University Without Walls and other Diasporic Movements. She leads the 2025 California Reparations Interfaith Healing Walk to bring healing, theory and practice back as a Liberation tool.

ONLINE: Four Foundations for Resilience and Well-Being
2025-03-03 18:00 - 20:00, 2025-03-10 18:00 - 20:00, 2025-03-17 18:00 - 20:00, 2025-03-24 18:00 - 20:00
ONLINE SERIES: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness for Resilience and Well-being
4 Class Series
Mondays on March 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th 2025
6:00 – 8:00PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
With Melvin Escobar
Open to All
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness is a central teaching in Buddhist practice. They can provide a solid basis for skillful action in times of stress. We will explore these teachings and interweave them with contemporary psychological frameworks, informed by an understanding of structural oppression.
Through talks, interactive exercises, stationary and gentle moving meditation, and recommendations for home practice, participants will gain awareness to help us be more in the moment and fully appreciate this one precious life.

Attend all or some:
Week 1 – Mindfulness of Body
Week 2 – Mindfulness of Feeling
Week 3 – Mindfulness of Mind
Week 4 – Mindfulness of Dhammas

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.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may 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.

Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all.
PayPal: melvin@melvinescobar.com
Venmo: @Melvin-Escobar
Please indicate “4 Foundations” in the subject line.

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.

For Zoom participation, these are our Universal Access Guidelines:
– Please do not use virtual or blurred backgrounds
– If you or your camera are moving around, please turn off your video
– Please say your name when you speak
– Facilitators will attempt to read any comments in the chat out loud
– Please mute when you’re not speaking.

Teacher

Melvin Escobar is a core teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center, licensed psychotherapist, and certified yoga instructor. Melvin has walked the path of service for much of his life, drawing on his experiences as a queer working-class Salvadoran born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. Having encountered the priceless wisdom embodied in Buddhism and Yoga, he continues daily to learn the revolutionary potential of body-centered contemplative practices for personal and social healing

HYBRID: Buddha's "How to Guide" to a Life of Happiness (Eightfold Path)
2025-03-05 18:30 - 20:30, 2025-03-12 18:30 - 20:30, 2025-03-19 18:30 - 20:30, 2025-03-26 18:30 - 20:30
Buddha’s “How to Guide” to a Life of Happiness (Eightfold Path)
4 Class series, Wednesdays on March 5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th 2025
6:30 – 8:30PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
Part 3 of EBMC’s Core Buddhist Teachings – 6-month Curriculum
HYBRID
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks required

Everyone wants to live and be happy, yet human life is marked by suffering. Many are intimately and historically affected by social injustice, and we all experience loss of what is dear to us, sickness, aging, and death. How do we develop wisdom (insight) and spiritual strength (a practice that sustains us during the hard times)? The Buddha’s teaching of the Eightfold Path is a roadmap for a life well-lived. This class series will include meditation, Dharma talks, and discussion. Beginners in meditation are welcome.

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.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may 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.
Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all.
Venmo: @MushimPatricia-Ikeda
PayPal: info@mushimikeda.com
Please indicate “Eightfold Path” in the subject line.
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.

For in-person participation:
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 60 people to allow ample space for social distancing. Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.) Please note: The teacher may be unmasked while teaching.
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.

For Zoom participation, these are our Universal Access Guidelines:
– Please do not use virtual or blurred backgrounds
– If you or your camera are moving around, please turn off your video
– Please say your name when you speak
– Facilitators will attempt to read any comments in the chat out loud
– Please mute when you’re not speaking.

Teacher

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 and with people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. 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 recipient of an honorary doctor of sacred theology degree from the Starr King School for the Ministry. Mushim was selected by Lion’s Roar Buddhist media magazine as one of twenty-six “Great Buddhist Teachers” in the January 2022 issue. www.mushimikeda.com

HYBRID DAYLONG: Cultivating Capacity: Gathering for Anti-Racist White Folks
2025-03-09 09:00 - 14:00
Cultivating Capacity: A Gathering of Anti-Racist White Folks for Reflection, Connection and Accountability
Sunday, March 9th 2025
9AM – 2PM PT (Time Zone Converter) *Please note, Daylight Saving Time is on this day!*
HYBRID
With Crystal Johnson, JD Doyle, and Sarah Emerson
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks required

There is a lot of pressure in the current cultural context to move towards oppositional positions that reinforce separation. Many people feel a loss of agency and power, which can lead to desire for dominance as a remedy. We see increasing scapegoating of trans, immigrant, and poor communities to maintain the power of a small elite, and the hardening of views in all arenas of social engagement.
As white anti-racist practitioners, we may also feel the pressure to “get it right,” or “fix it.” To identify the “good” and “bad” in order to bring about “change.” One of the risks we face is that we will fall into the very white cultural practices that we seek to undermine: including dominance, righteousness, and the comfort of “knowing what’s true.”
In this gathering, with the sangha as our refuge, we can ask: What is our agency that is not dominating or controlling? Gathering in the intimacy and beauty of accountability we can mutually support and develop our capacity for complexity, our capacity to fully meet this moment together, holding the discomfort and fear, in the community space of accountability.
This gathering will include practice, dharma reflections, and small and large group discussion.

Recommended Resources:

Characteristics of white supremacy culture: https://www.whitesupremacyculture.info/characteristics.html
Hospicing Modernity, Vanessa Machado de Oliveira
When No Thing Works, Norma Wong

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.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may 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.

For in-person participation:
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 60 people to allow ample space for social distancing. Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.) Please note: The teacher may be unmasked while teaching.
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.

For Zoom participation, these are our Universal Access Guidelines:
– Please do not use virtual or blurred backgrounds
– If you or your camera are moving around, please turn off your video
– Please say your name when you speak
– Facilitators will attempt to read any comments in the chat out loud
– Please mute when you’re not speaking.

Teaching Team

Sarah Dōjin Emerson is a Zen Buddhist priest and Dharma teacher at the Brooklyn Zen Center. She lived and trained at the San Francisco Zen Center and the Houston Zen Center and has taught at both, as well as the Stone Creek Zen Center and EBMC in the White and Awakening in Sangha program. She has a M.A. in Counseling Psychology from California Institute of Integral Studies, and has worked in the fields of mental health and pastoral care with children and adults. She experiences Zen practice as deeply supportive to inquiring into, challenging and transforming systems of oppression, particularly racial inequities and the harm they cause in U.S.. Sarah also works in grief support- clinically, ritually and in community. She lives with her partner, Charlie Pokorny (who is also a Soto Zen Buddhist priest), their children (who are her most profound and constant teachers) and numerous pets in Brooklyn, NY.

JD Doyle (they/them) co-founded the East Bay Meditation Center’s LGBTQIA+ (Alphabet) Sangha over 15 years ago and co-lead the first Buddhist meditation residential retreats for transgender, nonbinary and gender expansive people. While JD is based in Oakland, CA, they offer meditation retreats and classes at many Buddhist Centers. Their training includes: Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s retreat teacher training, Community Dharma Leader training and the Dedicated Practitioner program. They’ve practiced Buddhism since 1995 in the U.S., Thailand, and Burma. For over twenty years, they worked as a public school teacher. JD identifies as white, neurodivergent, disabled and trans genderqueer. They are committed to celebrating the diversity of our human sangha, addressing the impact of racism on our communities, expanding concepts of gender, and living in ways that honor the sacredness of the Earth.
For more info: www.heartmindteaching.com

Crystal Johnson is a retired clinical psychologist, and a dharma practitioner and teacher who is a Community Teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, CA. Crystal has co-created and co-teaches programs for White dharma practitioners seeking to build awareness, knowledge, and skills to challenge the dynamics of White privilege and race-based oppression, and to create truly diverse sangha. Her classes have included White and Awakening in Sangha, a six-month program at the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, CA, Unpacking the Whiteness of Leadership, a six-session course for the Soto Zen Buddhist Association, and White and Awakening Together, an eight-session course at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.
Crystal is a graduate of the 1 year Commit2Dharma study program at the East Bay Meditation Center, and the 2 year Dedicated Practitioner and the 2 year Community Dharma Leader Program, both at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA. She offers consultation for individuals and (White-dominated) organizations seeking to increase awareness of race-based harm and identify and address barriers to racial equity embedded in organizational culture, policies, and practices. She can be reached at whiteandawakening@eastbaymeditation.org.

HYBRID: Celebrating the Changing Seasons w/ Mindful Movement: Spring Equinox
2025-03-20 09:00 - 10:30
Celebrate the Changing Seasons with Mindful Movement: Spring Equinox
9:00 – 10:30AM PT (Time Zone Converter)
HYBRID
with Rosetta Saunders and Jenn Biehn
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks required

We invite you to join us in engaging movement meditation as we welcome the seasons of Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter throughout this year.
We will practice easy-to-learn tai chi and qigong movements that gather the chi/the life force from the earth and circulate the chi in our bodies.These accessible movements invite softness and continuity as they release tension, negativity and stress and bring healing to the body-heart-mind-spirit.
Embodying mindful awareness, we experience a profound synergy and ever-deepening interconnectedness –so important in these challenging times.
Movements will be offered both seated and standing. No prior experience necessary.
Join us as we welcome the changing seasons of 2025.

OPTIONAL SOCIALIZING AT THE CENTER: After the class, you’re invited to stay for snacks and fellowship in the EBMC kitchen, from 10:30-11:15AM!

Save the Dates for Our Other Classes!
Summer Solstice – Saturday, June 21 from 9-10:30am PT
Fall Equinox – Sunday, September 21st from 9:00-10:30am PT
Winter Solstice – Sunday, December 21st from 9:00-10:30am PT

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.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may 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.
Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all.
To make a gift to support the teachings, please do so via
PayPal: sweetdrum8@gmail.com
or Venmo: @Rosetta-Saunders
Please indicate “Spring Equinox” in the subject line.
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.

For in-person participation:
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 60 people to allow ample space for social distancing. Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.) Please note: The teacher may be unmasked while teaching.
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.

For Zoom participation, these are our Universal Access Guidelines:
– Please do not use virtual or blurred backgrounds
– If you or your camera are moving around, please turn off your video
– Please say your name when you speak
– Facilitators will attempt to read any comments in the chat out loud
– Please mute when you’re not speaking.

Teachers

Rosetta Saunders is a retired educator and historian with over 20 years teaching “People of Colors History” in the United States. Currently a core facilitator for Deep Time Liberation, Ancestral Healing retreats, Rosetta’s passion for West African and Afro-Cuban drumming has primarily been a source for individual and collective healing. She aligns herself with her ancestral lineage through Earth based practices. She was introduced to the Buddha/Dharma in 2002 and completed a two-year Dharmacharya program with Venerable Pannavati and Pannadipa receiving Confirmation of Ordination and recently completed the Braided Wisdom Leadership training program and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction certification program.

A Buddha/Dharma.Sangha practitioner for the past 40 years and active with EBMC for the past 14 years, Jenn Biehn has served on the Leadership Sangha and is a co-founder of Dharma in Motion, Restorative Practices for Dharma Practitioners, and Midday Sangha. She has taught Transforming White Privilege on the Path to Racial Equity with Neighbors for Racial Justice and currently teaches Tai Chi Chih – Joy Through Movement through EBMC and other Bay Area community centers. She was recently an elder mentor for the Braided Wisdom Leadership Training Program which included cross cultural mindfulness practices. Jenn’s spiritual practice includes engaging with nature through cross country skiing and backpacking in the high Sierra as well as embodying awareness and healing movement in her life-long journey of building community.

HYBRID: Ceasefire Sangha Presents: EBMC Live from the West Bank
2025-03-23 10:00 - 11:30
HYBRID: Ceasefire Sangha Presents: EBMC Live from the West Bank
March 23, 2025
10 – 11:30 AM PT
With Tania Triana, Ream and anuradha bhagwati
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks required

Join us for a morning of practice with Palestine. This event will include a live feed from the region of Masafer Yatta, where members of the EBMC community are practicing peaceful, protective presence. We invite you to bring your meditation/spiritual practice as an offer for the safety of the people of Palestine.
As we practice with Palestine, we will extend the blessings of the dharma from Oakland and our online sangha to all communities of resistance around the globe. Times are clearly difficult, and what else is true: We are in this together.
All are welcome.
For more information on Masafer Yatta see the recent Oscar winning film: No Other Land.
Presented with decolonial dharma.

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.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may 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.

For in-person participation:
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 60 people to allow ample space for social distancing. Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.) Please note: The teacher may be unmasked while teaching.
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.

Universal Access Requests on Zoom to help with sound and video quality. If possible…
1. When speaking, introduce your name, pronouns, and (optionally) a brief physical description of yourself.
2. If using virtual backgrounds, please use static, simple, high-contrast backgrounds.
3. Please keep your camera still while your camera is on.
4. Please repeat your name when you speak to help those with visual impairment.
5. The host/volunteer will attempt to read any comments that appear in the chat out loud.
6. Please strive for clear audio and mute when you are not speaking. Phone access is also available.
7. If you have unmet access needs, please send a message to the volunteer or host in the chat. If the chat is not accessible to you, please offer them briefly in one minute or less via voice. Please do not send access requests directly to other participants.

HYBRID: Open Hours Open Mic at EBMC
2025-03-30 16:00 - 20:00
HYBRID: Open Hours Open Mic at EBMC
March 30th 2025
4 – 8 PM PT
With Ramón Honea, EBMC Community and Facilities Liaison
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks required

Do you have a song to sing, a poem or written word to share, personal art to show? Then come on down to the center on Sunday March 30th! If you can’t come down, join us on Zoom(sharing online is welcome too). This will be a hybrid way of gathering in community.
The theme is Joy and Resistance, although all shares are welcome. Each share will be maximum three minutes long with a bell rung to end it. BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ voices will be invited to share first.

For accessibility, please:

Limit the use of instruments
Provide visual descriptions of yourself and any art
Provide trigger warnings when appropriate

There will be vegetarian pizza, salad and falafels in our kitchen. It is a potluck so add any food that you can bring. We will finish the night with some dancing.

SCHEDULE
4 PM: Doors open
4-5 PM: Sign-ups, potluck, and meditation
5-7 PM: Open mic time
7-8 PM: Dancing and clean up
Remember parking is free on Sunday and all are welcome.

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.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may 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.

For in-person participation:
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 60 people to allow ample space for social distancing. Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.) Please note: The teacher may be unmasked while teaching.
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.

Universal Access Requests on Zoom to help with sound and video quality. If possible…
1. When speaking, introduce your name, pronouns, and (optionally) a brief physical description of yourself.
2. If using virtual backgrounds, please use static, simple, high-contrast backgrounds.
3. Please keep your camera still while your camera is on.
4. Please repeat your name when you speak to help those with visual impairment.
5. The host/volunteer will attempt to read any comments that appear in the chat out loud.
6. Please strive for clear audio and mute when you are not speaking. Phone access is also available.
7. If you have unmet access needs, please send a message to the volunteer or host in the chat. If the chat is not accessible to you, please offer them briefly in one minute or less via voice. Please do not send access requests directly to other participants.

HYBRID CLASS SERIES: Buddhist Love, Compassion, Joy, & Equanimity
2025-04-02 18:30 - 20:30, 2025-04-09 18:30 - 20:30
Buddhist Love, Compassion, Joy, & Equanimity
4 Class series, Wednesdays on April 2nd, 9th, 16th, and 23rd
6:30 – 8:30PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
Part 4 of EBMC’s Core Buddhist Teachings – 6-month Curriculum
HYBRID
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks required

The Brahmaviharas (Divine Abodes), also called the Four Immeasurables, are Buddhist teachings and practices that help us to access dynamic calming, stilling, and healing mindbody states. As we cultivate the limitless qualities of loving goodwill, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity, in time we harvest true happiness, spiritual strength, and awakening insight. These practices are considered complementary to insight (mindfulness) meditation. Dharma talks, discussion and Q&A. Instruction provided for beginners in meditation.

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.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may 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.

Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all.
Venmo: @MushimPatricia-Ikeda
PayPal: info@mushimikeda.com
Please indicate “Brahmaviharas” in the subject line.

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.

For in-person participation:
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 60 people to allow ample space for social distancing. Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.) Please note: The teacher may be unmasked while teaching.
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.

Universal Access Requests on Zoom to help with sound and video quality. If possible…
1. When speaking, introduce your name, pronouns, and (optionally) a brief physical description of yourself.
2. If using virtual backgrounds, please use static, simple, high-contrast backgrounds.
3. Please keep your camera still while your camera is on.
4. Please repeat your name when you speak to help those with visual impairment.
5. The host/volunteer will attempt to read any comments that appear in the chat out loud.
6. Please strive for clear audio and mute when you are not speaking. Phone access is also available.
7. If you have unmet access needs, please send a message to the volunteer or host in the chat. If the chat is not accessible to you, please offer them briefly in one minute or less via voice. Please do not send access requests directly to other participants.

Teacher

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 and with people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. 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 recipient of an honorary doctor of sacred theology degree from the Starr King School for the Ministry. Mushim was selected by Lion’s Roar Buddhist media magazine as one of twenty-six “Great Buddhist Teachers” in the January 2022 issue. www.mushimikeda.com

ONLINE: Afrikan Healing and Wisdom
2025-04-06 09:00 - 10:30
ONLINE: Afrikan Healing and Wisdom
With Vimalasara Mason-John, Arisika Razak, and Aleta Toure’
First Sundays, starting November 3rd 2024
9:00 – 10:30 AM PT
Closed captioning provided over Zoom
April 6th 2025 registration
May 4th 2025 registration
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APRIL 6th PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
Healing Intergenerational Trauma: Working with the Ancestors with Shirley E. Mason, aka Cuban Redd
One of my biggest successes during my time on this Earthplane is the success of having *Broken the Cycle* (of verbal, physical. sexual abuse) so my children could grow in an environment without fear caused by the ones whose role it was to support, nurture, and love them. I did not achieve this by myself. My mothers attitude played a major role. I would also like to address the concept of “good and bad ancestors” and the fact that so-called bad Ancestors are shunned with no seeming redemptive quality. It is said in the Buddhist tradition that when healing occurs, it heals the Ancestral line backwards and forwards.
Guest Speaker:
Shirley E. Mason, aka Cuban Redd, has performed all over the London circuit & and festivals, including Edinburgh twice, Hay-On-Wye and Stoke Newington. She has been ‘Open to Spirit’ from birth and has travelled many pathways to become the practising Nicheren Daishonin Bhuddist, studying ‘Shekem Maat’ with Shola Caroline Arewa whilst always remembering and lifting up her blood stained Elder brother Yashua. She is currently an Ambassador for the Africa Centre in London UK.

Join us for EBMC’s first Black-led, Black-Sangha Affinity group held on the first Sunday of every month starting on Sunday, November 3rd, 2024 from 9 AM till 10:30 AM.
Today, those of us living in the USA vibrate to the breath of our Ancestral North Star, highest realm of guidance. Our ancestors are with us, as we step into a seemingly repeated quantum leap of time, during one of the most turbulent election seasons since the presidential election of 1876, and the 1877 compromise which ended Reconstruction. We are in a sentinel moment, echoing the situations described in Martin Luther King’s book, “Why We Can’t Wait”. Like our Diasporan kinfolx, we are questioning our common humanity, as we see the age-old dream of peace, and ecological balance distorted in the deep and seemingly bottomless pool of genocide, war, climate change, ecological devastation, poverty and global health pandemics.
Join us as we bring a timely spoonful of Afrikana medicine to these challenging and difficult times. We’ll add ancestral healing traditions to the simple practice of the breath, sharing meditations, libations, chanting and other embodied practices to remember our resilience, honor our ancestors, and support an inclusive and affirming community for all members of the Afrikan Diaspora.

COST

Here at EBMC, we practice gift economics and our programs are offered freely without set fees. Financial gifts from our community help to sustain our teachers AND our center. Generosity is the Buddha’s first teaching, the lifeblood of EBMC, and an act of sacred reciprocity. We ask that those who have more financial means give more, in order to help balance the giving of those who have less financial means.
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana. Consider becoming a monthly donor for any amount! These contributions are especially valuable to our sustainability.
Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all. In this way, we practice sacred reciprocity between teachers and students.
Giving Information:
VENMO: @Arisika-Razak
PAYPAL: arisikarazak@gmail.com
(Please reference “Afrikan Healing & Wisdom” and the teachers will share the gifts with each other)

REGISTRATION
For March 2nd 2025
For April 6th 2025
We will continue to add registration for each month!

TEACHING TEAM

Vimalasara (Valerie) Mason-John is the author of the new revised edition of Detox Your Heart – Meditations For Emotional Trauma published by Wisdom books in 2017. She is co-author of the award-winning book Eight Step Recovery – Using The Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction. She is a TEDx speaker and is the author of eight books including her award winning novel Borrowed Body. She is the curator of Teachings in Uncertain Times, an online retreat by Teachers of Color for Tricycle Magazine February 2017. She is a leading African Canadian voice in the field of Mindfulness for Emotional Trauma and Addiction.

Arisika Razak, MPH, EBMC Core teacher, is the former Chair of the Women’s Spirituality Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Previously a nurse-midwife, her teachings incorporate diverse spiritual traditions, women’s health and healing, multicultural feminisms, queer theory, and diversity theory. Arisika has led national and international healing workshops and ritual celebrations for women for over three decades, as well as embodied spiritual workshops for people of all genders. She has co-facilitated workshops with Marlene Jones at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and regularly leads workshops at EBMC.

Aleta Toure’ (Visiting Teacher) Aleta Toure’ bears witness as a vessel for social change through organizing, education and healing arts. She centers healing in monastic lifestyle knowledge though Intentional Communities and Black cooperative movements. Her cooperative serves communities through Black Trauma Anonymous (BTA), Tai chi, Ecstatic Healing Dance and Healing Responders. Aleta spends time within Peace Pagodas, monasteries, hermitages, and dojos which have framed her work through Free Marissa Now, “I am Troy Davis”, University Without Walls and other Diasporic Movements. She leads the 2025 California Reparations Interfaith Healing Walk to bring healing, theory and practice back as a Liberation tool.
