HYBRID: Alphabet Sangha
2023-12-19 19:00 - 20:30, 2024-01-02 19:00 - 20:30, 2024-01-16 19:00 - 20:30, 2024-02-06 19:00 - 20:30, 2024-02-20 19:00 - 20:30, 2024-03-05 19:00 - 20:30, 2024-03-19 19:00 - 20:30, 2024-04-02 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) and 3 more dates | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
A meditation group for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Same-Gender Loving, and Two-Spirit communities. Because that’s such a mouthful, we call ourselves the Alphabet Sangha.
Tuesdays
7:00 – 8:30 pm
HYBRID on First and Third Tuesdays of the month! Meet at EBMC or online.
Please email: alphabetsangha at eastbaymeditation dot org to request Zoom link to join online.
For more information, visit the ALPHABET SANGHA WEBSITE

HYBRID: Finding Liberation in Relationship: Accountability, Boundaries and Feedback
2023-12-20 18:30 - 20:30
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.

HYBRID: People of Color Sangha
2024-01-04 19:00 - 20:30, 2024-01-18 19:00 - 20:30, 2024-02-15 19:00 - 20:30, 2024-03-21 19:00 - 20:30, 2024-04-18 19:00 - 20:30, 2024-05-16 19:00 - 20:30
The People of Color Sangha is a growing community of people of color waking up and getting free!
Thursdays
7 – 8:30 PM PST
(please note the 7pm start time is new for 2024)
Closed Captions Provided.
Zoom info: Meeting details are shared through their mailing list (subscribe on their website), and their Facebook group.

HYBRID: The Buddha’s “How to” Guide to a Life of Happiness and Well-being (Eightfold Path)
2024-02-28 18:30 - 20:30, 2024-03-06 18:30 - 20:30, 2024-03-13 18:30 - 20:30, 2024-03-20 18:30 - 20:30
Wednesdays, Feburary 28th, March 6th, 13th, 20th, 2024
6:30 – 8:30PM PST (Time Zone Converter)
With Mushim Patricia Ikeda

HYBRID over Zoom and in-person at EBMC

Closed Captioning Provided
Part of EBMC’s Core Buddhist Teachings – 7-month Curriculum

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.

Please note: Registered participants will receive a zoom link to join us online with their Eventbrite confirmation email. Thank you for your support

Mushim Patricia Ikeda is a socially-engaged Buddhist teacher, community activist, diversity, equity and inclusion consultant, parent and author based in Oakland, California. She has a background in both monastic and lay Buddhist practice. At EBMC, Mushim is also guiding teacher of the award-winning yearlong Practice in Transformative Action (PiTA) program, which provides secular mindfulness training for justice activists. Mushim is the recipient of a Global Diversity Leadership award; an honorary doctor of sacred theology degree from the Starr King School of Ministry; and was named one of Colorlines’s 20 transformative racial justice leaders in 2018.

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.

For in-person participation:
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 40 people to allow ample space for social distancing. 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.
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
– A good microphone, strong internet connection, and quiet environment help with audio access
– Please mute when you’re not speaking.

HYBRID: Brahmaviharas: Buddhist Love, Compassion, Joy & Equanimity
2024-03-27 18:30 - 20:30, 2024-04-10 18:30 - 20:30, 2024-04-17 18:30 - 20:30, 2024-04-24 18:30 - 20:30
Brahmaviharas: Buddhist Love, Compassion, Joy & Equanimity
With Mushim Patricia Ikeda
Part of EBMC’s Core Buddhist Curriculum Jan – July 2024
HYBRID on Zoom and in person at EBMC
4 Wednesdays: March 27; & April 10, 17, 24, 2024
(No class on April 3)
6:30-8:30PM PST
Closed Captions
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.

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

Mushim Patricia Ikeda is a socially-engaged Buddhist teacher, community activist, diversity, equity and inclusion consultant, parent and author based in Oakland, California. She has a background in both monastic and lay Buddhist practice. At EBMC, Mushim is also guiding teacher of the award-winning yearlong Practice in Transformative Action (PiTA) program, which provides secular mindfulness training for justice activists. Mushim is the recipient of a Global Diversity Leadership award; an honorary doctor of sacred theology degree from the Starr King School of Ministry; and was named one of Colorlines’s 20 transformative racial justice leaders in 2018.

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.

For in-person participation:
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 40 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.)
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.

HYBRID: Enduring Precepts: Basic Buddhist Ethics for Our Times
2024-05-01 18:30 - 20:30, 2024-05-08 18:30 - 20:30, 2024-05-15 18:30 - 20:30, 2024-05-22 18:30 - 20:30
HYBRID: Enduring Precepts: Basic Buddhist Ethics for Our Times
with Mushim Ikeda
Hybrid, with one class Zoom only
Part of EBMC’s Core Buddhist Teachings – 7 month Curriculum

Wednesdays May 1, 8 (Zoom only), 15, 22 — 2024
6:30 – 8:30PM PST (Time Zone Converter)
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks required
Four years ago, pandemic-panicked people in the United States were hoarding toilet paper and steaks. Today we’re dealing with ongoing volatile ethical issues such as war, climate crisis, use of AI (artificial intelligence) in tech, and political divisiveness. Rooted in EBMC’s mindfulness-based, diversity-equity-inclusion and social justice-centered mission, this four-class series offers a path to reflect on current ethical discernment and action. Buddhist life, for both laypersons and monastics, is rooted in Five Precepts, guidelines that are paths of deep contemplative investigation resulting in behaviors and actions aligned toward non-harm, in the service of all life. The compassionate realization of our “interbeing,” and the sometimes complex relationship of intent to impact are woven into this “Living Dharma” approach. Dharma talks, discussion and Q&A. Instruction provided for beginners in meditation.

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

Mushim Patricia Ikeda is a socially-engaged Buddhist teacher, community activist, diversity, equity and inclusion consultant, parent and author based in Oakland, California. She has a background in both monastic and lay Buddhist practice. At EBMC, Mushim is also guiding teacher of the award-winning yearlong Practice in Transformative Action (PiTA) program, which provides secular mindfulness training for justice activists. Mushim is the recipient of a Global Diversity Leadership award; an honorary doctor of sacred theology degree from the Starr King School of Ministry; and was named one of Colorlines’s 20 transformative racial justice leaders in 2018.

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.

For in-person participation:
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 40 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.)
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.
