IN PERSON: Gather & Ground: Compassionate Community Building - OPEN MIC NIGHT
2025-12-19 17:00 - 19:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Gather & Ground: Compassionate Community Building
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays
5-7 PM PT
In person only

DECEMBER 19TH: OPEN MIC NIGHT! Come at 5pm to sign up! Share poetry, music, or art.

Starting the week of July 7th, we now have the center open every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 5-7pm. The first hour (5-6pm) will be for meditation in our temple or compassion room space or to peruse our library offerings. The second hour (6-6:45pm) will be for a fun social potluck in the kitchen space. Everyone is encouraged to bring something to share with the group. We hope this effort will build some momentum and energy for EBMC and bring more people in our community together in-person.

These new community building hours are the same evenings as our Alphabet (Tuesdays 7pm), BIPOC (Thursdays 7pm) and Maha Sanghas (Fridays 7pm) so we hope this effort will also encourage people to join those groups with a hope to generate enough attendance to bring them back to in-person every week! This was also based on feedback from the survey. See more info about our Practice Groups here.

There are so many reasons to be in community right now and EBMC wants to support this by opening our space during these times to anyone who needs it. We are stronger when we are in solidarity together to meet the moment we are in. We hope to see you soon! Come practice. Come snack. Come as you are. Feel free to bring a friend!

Please note: During these specific hours, masks will be encouraged, but not required. Again, this is a pilot effort that we are trying in this one area based on survey responses, with a goal of expanding our circle, but as of now, our masking policy remains the same for all other programming and events.

IN PERSON: Ancestors Welcome Here Practice Group
2026-01-21 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-02-18 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-03-18 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-04-15 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-05-20 18:00 - 19:30
IN PERSON: Ancestors Welcome Here Practice Group 2026
Facilitated by Ream
Third Wednesdays, 6-7:30 PM PST
January 21, February 18, March 18, April 15, May 20
At EBMC, 285 17th Street, Downtown Oakland
For self-identified white people

This group invites a reconnection to our ancestral lineages through meditation, healing, and repair, to inspire our action to end injustice in the world, with the support of our wise and loving ancestors.
Practices we will be in together include: directly engaging with our ancestors of lineage, working with unhealed patterns in order to relate more wisely and compassionately to ourselves and our people, inviting connection with the Earth through tending our relationship to land and spirit by offering gratitude, and listening and receiving the Earth’s wisdom. This ancestral healing work makes it possible for us to more fully embody our commitment to justice.
💥 This group is offered through the practice of radical generosity.
Suggested donation per session: $20-75.
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may do so at https://bit.ly/ebmc-give 100% of our programming is sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds. Please reference “Ancestors” in the donation info. 💥

Scent Free and Masking Policy
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. Masks are strongly encouraged and will be provided by the center.

Register here:
TinyURL.com/AncestorsAtEBMC

IN PERSON: New Year, New Member, & Birthday Celebration
2026-01-24 13:00 - 15:00
EBMC New Year, New Member, & Birthday Celebration!
Saturday, January 24th 2026
1 to 3 PM
In person only at 285 17th St., Oakland CA 94612
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
Masks strongly encouraged

Dear Community, let’s ring in 2026 together with new and returning sangha members! Join us at our 285 17th St. building to fill the space and our hearts with joy and community-building. We’re also celebrating our 19th birthday (getting ready for the big 2-0 next year!) with song and cake. Bring your friends and families as we gather in spiritual community to ground in our practices of mindfulness and collective liberation here at EBMC.
If you want to volunteer to help with setup, greeting, or cleanup, please submit a form. Thank you for your generous service.

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 at bit.ly/ebmc-give 100% of our programming on a 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:
We strongly encourage masking for all who are able to do so. We will provide N95 masks at the center if you don’t have one.
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.

Public Transportation/Parking:
– We strongly encourage public transportation/biking/walking since parking in the neighborhood is limited.
– EBMC has bike parking inside the center.
– Please note that parking meters are enforced Monday – Saturday, 8 am – 6 pm, and Sunday 12-6pm.

IN PERSON: Embracing Change: Zen & The Art of Creating a Life You Want
2026-03-14 09:30 - 15:30
Embracing Change: Zen & the Art of Creating a Life You Want
With Rev. Keiryu Liên Shutt
Saturday March 14th 2026
In person only at 285 17th St., Oakland CA 94612
Masking is strongly encouraged
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible

Are you at a point in your life in which you feel like it’s time for a change, but you’re not sure how to proceed?
Change can be hard. Especially if it’s not one that we’ve chosen: a job or relationship loss, an illness, or other life-transition events. At such time, thinking about all the possible options can feel confusing: “Should I do what I’ve always wanted to do or stay with what I know? Go towards my ‘heart’s desire’ or get more training?”
At times like these, teachings both from Buddhism and from the motivational field can help us. Join Rev. Liên for a daylong workshop in which we will explore how to incorporate both dharma practices and behavior-change skills in order to find stability and centeredness so that you can be truly present and aware.
Discover tools to help you set and achieve goals. Meditation and Buddhist practices along with evaluative and skill-building tools will be practiced in small and large groups. Plan for a day in which you will be engaged from the heart and with mindfulness.The time for change has come into your life. Come see how you can learn to meet this with ease, grace and skill, and go towards the life that is waiting to be created by 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 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.
Note that all financial gifts received here go directly to EBMC, and we invite you to give separately to our teachers, using the information below.
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 give to Rev. Keiryu Liên Shutt:
Venmo: @SuddenLeap-A2Z
last 4 #: 2585
PayPal: SuddenLeap.A2Z@Gmail.com
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:
We strongly encourage masking for all who are able to do so. We will provide N95 masks at the center if you don’t have one.
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.

Public Transportation/Parking:
– We strongly encourage public transportation/biking/walking since parking in the neighborhood is limited.
– EBMC has bike parking inside the center.
– Please note that parking meters are enforced Monday – Saturday, 8 am – 6 pm, and Sunday 12-6pm.

Teacher

REV. LIÊN SHUTT (she/they) is a priest lineage holder in the Shunryu Suzuki tradition. Born to a Buddhist family in Vietnam, she received her meditation training in the Insight and Soto Zen traditions in the United States, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. A founding member of the Buddhists of Color in 1998, she currently is the guiding teacher of Access to Zen, an inclusive, anti-oppression sangha and nonprofit in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her book, Home is Here: Practicing Antiracism with the Engaged Eightfold Path, was published by North Atlantic Books in 2023. She lives in Oakland, on Huichin land, with her partner, exploring waterways and forests as often as they can. Visit AccessToZen.org for ways to connect.

IN-PERSON: Earth Drum Medicine: Women’s Drum Circle
2026-03-21 12:30 - 14:00, 2026-04-18 12:30 - 14:00, 2026-06-20 12:30 - 14:00
Earth Drum Medicine, Women’s drum circle facilitated by Afefe Oke’ and Rosetta Saunders.
Combining meditation with the powerful practice of drumming, this group will meet at our Webster site on the third Saturday of each month at the EBMC Webster St site, 2406 Webster St., Oakland.
The circle is open to all women-identified folks and gender-expansive folks who identify with women’s community.
While some drums will be provided, you are encouraged to bring your own if you have one!

Third Saturday of each month
12:30pm-2pm
Please arrive early to allow time for parking

All skill levels are welcome! Everyone is welcome regardless of their drum abilities. We sit in a circle and will do what we can to help this with mobility limitations.
To register, or for more information, please contact Afefe Oke’ at ginittaglass at gmail dot com
PLEASE NOTE: There will NOT be a meeting in May 2026. We will resume in June 2026.

In-Person Kapwa Gathering for Filipinx/a/o Practitioners
2026-03-21 15:00 - 17:00, 2026-04-18 15:00 - 17:00, 2026-05-16 15:00 - 17:00, 2026-06-20 15:00 - 17:00
Dear Kapwa Sangha,
You’re invited to a new monthly gathering for self-identifying Filipinx/a/o (including mixed) practitioners offered at EBMC this spring. The intention is to offer a consistent, low-pressure space for practice and community connection.
Gathering Details
Dates:
Third Saturdays
March 21, April 18, and May 16
Time:
3:00–5:00 pm PT
Location:
East Bay Meditation Center
285 17th St, Oakland
Format
– Peer-led meditation or contemplative practice
– Potluck and time for informal connection
Food offerings are completely open. If possible, please label items with ingredients or common allergens (e.g., dairy-free, nuts, gluten).
Accessibility & Care
This gathering will follow EBMC’s existing policies regarding masking, fragrance-free spaces, and accessibility.
Children are welcome. Adults are responsible for any minors they bring. No childcare will be provided.
Attendance
This is an in-person offering; no Zoom option will be available.
Participants are always welcome to just show up. If you plan to attend, you’re also welcome to email me (mpapaya3 at gmail dot com) in advance so I can get a general sense of attendance. You’re welcome to attend one gathering, some, or all of them. Building community happens through presence; through showing up, sitting together, sharing food, and practicing alongside one another over time. This gathering is offered in that spirit, with the hope of creating a space that can be shaped collectively through our participation.

IN PERSON: Finding Liberation in Relationship for BIPOC
2026-04-20 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-04-27 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-05-04 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-05-11 18:30 - 20:30
Finding Liberation in Relationship for BIPOC
With Regent Brown and René Rivera
4 Monday evenings: April 20, 27, May 4, 11
6:30-8:30pm PT
In person only at 285 17th St., Oakland CA 94612
Masking is strongly encouraged
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible

This popular class series is back again this year for BIPOC only, and we need it more than ever! As systems collapse, our relationships are a crucial refuge. For us, as people of color, 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 to bring more choice and agency to our relationships with ourselves and others.
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 in our relationships and in the larger world. Our world is falling apart, conflict is rising and our freedoms are being taken away, together we will turn our attention to find our ground in our beloved communities.

Cost
The teachings are regarded as priceless. So they are offered without a fee. You are invited to support the teachings and our efforts by contributing voluntary donations (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.
Note that all financial gifts received here go directly to EBMC, and we invite you to give separately to our teachers, using the information below.

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.
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.
Regent Brown
Venmo: @Regent-Brown
CashApp: $RegentBrown
René Rivera
Venmo: @ReneRivera
PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/ReneRiveraOak

For in-person participation:
We strongly encourage masking for all who are able to do so. We will provide N95 masks at the center if you don’t have one.
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.

Public Transportation/Parking:
– We strongly encourage public transportation/biking/walking since parking in the neighborhood is limited.
– EBMC has bike parking inside the center.
– Please note that parking meters are enforced Monday – Saturday, 8 am – 6 pm, and Sunday 12-6pm.

Teachers

Regent Brown (Queen) is a biracial Afro-Indigenous, disabled, two-spirit womxn who has been practicing the Dharma since 2016 and part of the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) community of practice since 2018. Regent’s story has had many twists including surviving cancer twice, relocating during the pandemic, and being married for over a decade. And these twists have only deepened Regent’s passion for liberatory practices in the dharma. Regent supports liberation and decolonization as a coach, circle keeper, trainer, healer, facilitator, and participant in interdependent community wellness. As a recent graduate of the inaugural Freedom Together Mindfulness Teacher Program, and a current member of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders program, Regent joins a bountiful group of BIPOC mindfulness teachers working to weave decolonized practices through their work, relationships, and communities. Regent’s other practices of manifesting joy include karaoke, goats, traveling to photograph sunsets, gardening, and discovering small parks while walking her 7 year old Corgi mix pup, Perkelsnertz.

René Rivera (he, him) 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, working to heal sexual and gender based violence.

IN PERSON: Beginning a Meditation Practice at EBMC (May Day 2026)
2026-05-01 16:30 - 19:00
Beginning a Mindfulness Meditation Practice at EBMC: May Day Edition

With René Rivera
Friday May 1st 2026
4:30-6pm: Program
6-7pm: Optional potluck and fellowship
In person only at 285 17th St., Oakland CA 94612
Masking is strongly encouraged
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible

A special May Day community offering: Come to EBMC to learn (or re-learn) how to meditate with EBMC Core Teacher René Rivera.

Get a taste of what it’s like to practice mindfulness meditation at the EBMC temple! Honor International Workers’ Day and learn (or re-learn) how to meditate for personal and collective liberation.
Hear a short dharma talk, try stationary (sitting or lying down) and walking (or gentle movement) mindfulness meditation, and ask questions.
Stay for potluck and fellowship in our kitchen afterward to make new friends! Please bring a snack or drink to share, if you like.
We look forward to welcoming you to the EBMC community, whether you are new or returning to this spiritual home.

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.
Note that all financial gifts received here go directly to EBMC, and we invite you to give separately to our teachers, using the information below.
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 give to René:
Venmo: @ReneRivera
PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/ReneRiveraOak
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:
We strongly encourage masking for all who are able to do so. We will provide N95 masks at the center if you don’t have one.
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.

Public Transportation/Parking:
– We strongly encourage public transportation/biking/walking since parking in the neighborhood is limited.
– EBMC has bike parking inside the center.
– Please note that parking meters are enforced Monday – Saturday, 8 am – 6 pm, and Sunday 12-6pm.

Teacher

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 loves to share his own daily life practice of bringing awareness to how he shows up in all kinds of relationships, with self, beloveds, friends, family, community and with the land. René is a facilitator in training for the School of Consent and a restorative justice facilitator, working to heal sexual and gender based violence.

IN PERSON: Outdoor Morning Meditation
2026-06-01 07:15 - 07:45, 2026-06-08 07:15 - 07:45, 2026-06-15 07:15 - 07:45, 2026-06-22 07:15 - 07:45, 2026-06-29 07:15 - 07:45, 2026-07-06 07:15 - 07:45, 2026-07-13 07:15 - 07:45
Start your week off right with gentle mindfulness meditation on Monday mornings this spring and summer! Instruction will be offered for seated and movement meditation. All are welcome to attend and no experience is necessary.
Meditation has been scientifically proven to reduce stress, improve focus, and support the nervous system. Practicing in community also helps build a supportive community. Mats, chairs, and blankets provided, and you may also bring your own accessories. We look forward to practicing meditation with you!

Location: Lot 2270, at 23rd and Broadway in Oakland
Days: Mondays, June 1st to July 27th
Time: 7:15-7:45am
Teacher schedule:

Day
Teacher

June 1
Renato Almanzor

June 8
Patrick Brown

June 15
Tania Triana

June 22
Tania Triana

June 29
Tania Triana

July 6
Elese Lebseck

July 13
Jonathan Relucio

July 20
Jonathan Relucio

July 27
Renato Almanzor

This program is a partnership between EBMC and Northlake.

IN PERSON: Fierce Vulnerability: Healing, Spirit & Action in Times of Collapse
2026-06-27 10:00 - 17:00, 2026-06-28 10:00 - 17:00
IN PERSON: Fierce Vulnerability: Healing, Spirit & Action in a Time of Collapse
Saturday and Sunday, June 27th and 28th, 2026
10 AM to 5 PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
With Kazu Haga and Guangping Chu
Open to all
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks strongly encouraged

We will discuss the teachings from Kazu Haga’s latest book, “Fierce Vulnerability: Healing from Trauma, Emerging through Collapse“. The book invites people into imagining a movement that sees injustice not as a political issue but a manifestation of collective trauma, and therefore understands that we can’t “shut down” injustice anymore than we can “shut down” trauma.
Through touching our own heartbreak and vulnerability, we will mobilize the fierceness to stop violence and injustice while cultivating the love necessary to heal it.
The workshop will include dharma talks, meditations, role-plays and interactive small group work.
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.
Note that all financial gifts received here go directly to EBMC, and we invite you to give separately to our teachers, using the information below.

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: @kazuhaga
Paypal: PayPal.me/kazuhaga
kazuhaga.com/support
Please reference “Fierce Vulnerability”.

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 are strongly encouraged 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.

Public Transportation/Parking:
– We strongly encourage public transportation/biking/walking since parking in the neighborhood is limited. Please avoid parking your car on the street in a metered space during this time as it will cause an interrupted retreat experience.
– EBMC is 4-5 blocks from 19th Street Bart (about a 7 minute walk).
– EBMC has bike parking inside the center.
– Please note that parking meters are enforced Monday – Saturday, 8 am – 6 pm.
– Parking on Alice, Jackson and 17th between Alice and Lakeside drive is unmetered and has no time limit on Saturdays. – There are also garages on Harrison at 15th and on Harrison between 17th and 19th. If you are planning to drive, please allow extra time for parking.

Teachers

Kazu Haga is a trainer and practitioner of nonviolence and restorative justice with over 25 years of experience in social movement work. He is a founding core member of the Ahimsa Collective, a Jam facilitator and author of Healing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm and Fierce Vulnerability: Healing from Trauma, Emerging through Collapse. He works with incarcerated people, youth, and activists from around the country. He is a resident of the Canticle Farm community on Lisjan Ohlone land, Oakland, CA, where he lives with his family. You can find out more about his work at www.kazuhaga.com.

Guangping Chu (all pronouns) loves to play with kids and trees. A recovering public school teacher, she is a radical educator and accomplice to unschooling, helping make space for kids to play, be free, connect with more than human worlds, and nourish their spiritual roots. They are also a steward of multiple mindfulness meditation communities centering QTBIPOC and community organizers. Guangping’s healing journey includes uprooting patriarchy and toxic masculinity, making reparations for intergenerational wealth, navigating chronic illness, learning their ancestral language(s), and being silly, to name a few threads. He is a queer, mixed race, Chinese American heritage Buddhist and ordained member of Tiếp Hiện, in the Vietnamese Plum Village tradition.

Watering Our Roots, Planting Seeds: Exploring South Asian Lineages and Collective Futures
2026-07-11 12:30 - 17:00
Watering Our Roots, Planting Seeds:
Exploring South Asian Lineages and Collective Futures
Saturday, July 11th 2026
12:30pm Doors and altar-building
1-4pm Program
4-5pm Social time
In-person at EBMC (2406 Webster St., Oakland CA)

Together with Access to Zen, EBMC is excited to invite everyone to attend our biggest summer event, “Watering Our Roots, Planting Seeds: Exploring South Asian Lineages and Collective Futures”! Join us for a very special afternoon dedicated to uplifting the South Asian histories of Buddhism, music, dance, and yoga. We’ll also look at what it means for a diverse community to practice with these lineages today and in the future.
Let’s join together to celebrate past and present, our personal and shared heritages, and an afternoon of joy in community!
Featuring:

Live Indian classical music concert with Srinivas Reddy (sitar) and Ferhan Naheeb Qureshi (tabla)
Panel discussion with Srinivas Reddy, Jyoti Argade, and Anjali Rao, moderated by Rahil Rojiani
Opening ritual with Sakkshi
Interactive altar-building
Music and snacks from community members – details to be announced!

PLEASE NOTE THE ADDRESS OF EBMC’S NEW BUILDING:
2406 Webster St., Oakland, CA
[If you are using a navigation/map app, DO NOT type in East Bay Meditation Center. That will take you to our 285 17th St. location instead.]
Doors open 12:30pm. Program begins at 1:00pm and ends at 4pm. From 4-5pm, enjoy music, snacks, and mingling!
In person attendance: Space is limited to the first 200 people who register.
Please allow time for parking! We recommend using public transit if possible.

Cost
We’re continuing to fundraise for EBMC so that we can keep our center sustained. We humbly request that folx give at the highest level they can for the benefit of the collective. If you are able, please purchase a Generosity Ticket for someone who cannot afford to buy one for themselves. The tickets are sliding scale and there is an option to name your own donation amount. Thank you!

Our Organizations
Learn more about EBMC here.
Learn more about Access to Zen here.

SPECIAL GUESTS!

Srinivas Reddy (musician & panelist) is a scholar, translator and musician. He studied classical sitar in the traditional guru-shishya style with Pandit Partha Chatterjee, a direct disciple of the late sitar maestro Pandit Nikhil Banerjee. Srinivas also trained in classical South Asian languages and literatures at Brown University and UC Berkeley. He has released three CDs and published five books including the latest Illuminating Worlds: An Anthology of Classical Indian Literature (Bloomsbury 2024). Srinivas is currently Associate Professor of South Asian Studies at Nayanta University in Pune, India. www.sankalpana.org

Ferhan Najeeb Qureshi (musician) is a senior disciple of the legendary tabla master Ustad Tari Khan. Prior to his ongoing training with Ustad Tari Khan, Ferhan took his initial lessons in Hindustani music theory and practice with Surinder Singh Mann. Ferhan studies the Punjab gharana of classical tabla which both of his teachers represent. In addition to performing tabla lehra (tabla solo), Ferhan Qureshi has also accompanied numerous distinguished classical artists (vocalists, instrumentalists and dancers) both in the United States and in Pakistan.

Anjali Rao (panelist) brings an intersectional and decolonial feminist lens to the study of philosophy and religion integrating storytelling, art and poetry. Deeply influenced by her yoga practice and dance training, her work emphasizes an embodied approach and explores how spirituality, power and politics intersect. Her first book, Yoga As Embodied Resistance: A Feminist Lens in Caste, Gender And Sacred Resilience in Yoga History, North Atlantic Books was named as one of the 10 most inspiring, insightful and seriously worthwhile books of 2025 by Yoga Journal and “a scholarly work and a deeply personal journey” by L.A Book Review.
She is on the faculty of multiple yoga education programs. She considers herself a first, foremost and forever a student and is currently pursuing a PhD in Philosophy and Religion (Women’s Spirituality) in California Institute of Integral Studies.

Jyoti Argade (panelist) is a bharatanatyam artist, scholar, and educator whose work sits at the intersection of devotion, embodied practice, and critical inquiry into South Asian performance traditions. Born into a family of bharatanatyam teachers, she trained under her mother, Srimati Veena Argade, and later with V.P. and Shantha Dhananjayan in the Kalakshetra style. She has performed at The Asia Society, The Brooklyn Museum, The Guggenheim, The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, and the American Dance Festival, among others.
Jyoti holds a PhD in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and served as Chair and Associate Professor of Dance at the University of East London. As a producer, she produced Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company’s historic first tour to India, where she chaired public dialogues on diaspora, identity, and the politics of contemporary South Asian dance. Her scholarly work examines the historical, devotional, and political dimensions of South Asian dance traditions, with ongoing research into the devadasi lineage and bharatanatyam’s modern reconstruction for nationalist and global stages. She runs a bharatanatyam studio in Berkeley and leads The Actual Project, a consultancy focused on leadership and organizational development. Jyoti is also the mother to two extraordinary humans.

Rahil Rojiani (they/them) (panel moderator & planning team) is a queer, genderfluid, South Asian facilitator and healer, currently swimming the waters of capitalism as an abolitionist trauma-oriented psychiatrist. They are committed to a path of weaving together the many threads and contradictions of their life, spanning decades of community organizing, neuroscience research and medical training in ivory tower academia, contemplative and somatic healing practices, and a primary orientation toward Spirit. Rahil’s spiritual lineages include Mahamudra and Dzogchen schools of Buddhism, the esoteric tradition of Ismaili Islam in which they were raised, and Hindustani classical music through sitar under Srinivas Reddy and the Ali Akbar College of Music. They feel most alive when supporting queer and trans BIPOC communities in healing complex trauma through conscious use of psychiatric tools, liberatory somatics, shadow work, and reconnecting to Spirit for the sake of our collective liberation in apocalyptic times. When not making long lists, you might find them climbing, gardening, reading, or deliciously lost in deep conversation and cuddles with their dear ones.

Sakkshi (she/her) (opening ritual & planning team) is a Queer immigrant rooted in Indian lineage and the living tradition of Sanathana Dharma the eternal Vedic path she has walked alongside her family for over three decades. Her practice is supported by the rhythms of ancestral ritual and the wisdom of Jyotish aka Vedic astrology, where our energetic footprint becomes a way to explore the relationship between karma and dharma, a journey she holds space for through her Jyotish practice, Cosmicdesi. In her work as the founder of a boutique residential design firm, she brings this same philosophy into the spaces people inhabit, understanding that the places we build are extensions of the lives we are creating. She is a devoted student of ancestral veneration and healing, understanding that the wounds and gifts carried in our bloodlines are portals to collective liberation. For the past four years, she has been co-facilitating weekly meditations at East Bay Meditation Center. At the heart of her work lives a single conviction: that separation is an illusion, and that through conscious creation, our remembering, and aligned action we can return to a living relationship with our metaphysical existence as our birthright.

Sarwang Parikh (he/they) (planning team) is a decolonial psychotherapist and meditation teacher based on unceded Ohlone land in the SF Bay Area. Born into a devotional Indian lineage with an immigrant, working-class background, Sarwang has been practicing and studying the Dharma for over 25 years through their ancestral traditions of Vedic yoga, Theravāda, and Indian Vajrayāna. They have completed various multi-year teaching and study programs, including East Bay Meditation Center’s (EBMC) 2-year Spiritual Teacher Leader program, and are currently in Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leader cohort. Sarwang teaches with Dharma Homies, East Bay Meditation Center, Braided Wisdom and Inward Bound Mindfulness where they also serve on the board. Rooted in a liberatory approach to mindfulness and healing, Sarwang integrates deep ancestral wisdom with contemporary practices. They find joy in playing their handpan, frolicking with friends in nature, and getting free on the dance floor.
