IN PERSON: Meditation for Peace Drop-in
2023-11-28 11:00 - 13:00, 2023-11-30 11:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Tuesdays and Thursdays in November (7, 9, 14, 16, 21, 23, 28, 30)
11 AM to 1 PM PT

In Person Only
You’re invited to drop in for open practice time at EBMC and sit or lie in the Main Temple. We have a variety of cushions and chairs available. Host Ramón Honea will ring the bell every half hour. Our Library and Compassion Room will be available for use. You may also enjoy a cup of tea in our Kitchen.

In person participants are asked to use an N95 or KN95 mask. 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. See our complete Safety and COVID guidelines here: https://eastbaymeditation.org/covid-19-updates/

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.

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

IN-PERSON: Healing the Father Wound: Drama Therapy and the Dharma
2024-01-20 09:00 - 17:00
January 20, 2024 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Open to male-identified participants
with Melvin Escobar and Armand Volkas

Many of us come to the practice of meditation to undo karmic knots – traumas that build up in our bodies, minds, and hearts. The father wound is a major kind of karmic knot that, when addressed, can help us heal individual and collective wounds. We will start the day with a dharma talk that provides context about how patriarchal masculinity distorts our relationships to ourselves and others, and then use drama therapy techniques (including improvisation, acting, psychodrama and Playback Theatre) to help us connect to our true nature and needs as men on a spiritual path. No previous experience in theater needed – shy people are welcome!

Registration: Registration is required and space is limited to 20 participants.
Cost: There is no registration fee for attending this event, nor most EBMC events. However, EBMC is not independently funded. The Center and the teachers will be sustained only by your voluntary donations (the practice of generous giving, or “dana”). Please donate generously, in proportion to your ability:
* Either online (you will be offered an opportunity during the online registration process to donate to EBMC; the teachers will not receive any part of this online donation).
* Or at the event, in the two baskets at EBMC, one for the Center, the second for the Teacher.
Thank you for your generosity. EBMC will be only be sustained through our collective generosity.
Teacher Bio:

Melvin Escobar is a bilingual-bicultural Dharma teacher, licensed psychotherapist, and certified yoga instructor. He is a graduate of EBMC’s Commit to Dharma, and for more than a decade has served EBMC in a variety of roles, including on the development team for Resilience, Refuge and (R)evolution, a six-month leadership program for People of Color. He is a U.S.-born bilingual-bi-cultural Salvadoran who has walked the path of service for most of his life, drawing on his life experiences as a working-class queer man of color. 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.

To support the teachings, please do so via:
PayPal: melvin@melvinescobar.com
Venmo: @Melvin-Escobar

Armand Volkas, MFT, RDT/BCT is a psychotherapist, drama therapist and theatre director. He is Clinical Director of the Living Arts Counseling Center in Emeryville, Associate Professor in the Drama Therapy and Expressive Arts Therapy Programs at CIIS, Director of the Living Arts Playback Theatre Ensemble and founder of Healing the Wounds of History, an approach that uses the power of drama and expressive arts therapy to heal generational, historical and collective trauma. Volkas is the son of Auschwitz survivors and resistance fighters from World War II. He was moved by his personal struggle with this legacy to address the issues that arose from it: identity, victimization and perpetration, meaning and grief. Healing the Wounds of History helps participants work through the burden of such legacies by transforming their pain into constructive action. At the heart of Armand’s work is a respect for the power of personal story to build bridges between people and cultures.

Fragrance-free: In order to protect the health of community members with environmental illness, please do not wear fragranced products (including “natural” fragrances) or clothes laundered in fragranced products to EBMC.
EBMC is wheelchair accessible.
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana 100% of our programming is sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds. Thank you for the gifts of your generosity and for supporting the work of East Bay Meditation Center and our beloved teachers who have volunteered their time.
All registered participants will receive a link to join us via Zoom with their EventBrite confirmation email. Those who can attend in person need to be fully Covid vaccinated and wear N95 or KN95 masks. If you feel ill, we ask that you stay home and participate via Zoom, in order to support the health of the Sangha (community). Questions: admin@eastbaymeditation.org

IN PERSON: Silent Meditation Drop-in
2024-02-01 11:00 - 13:00, 2024-02-05 11:00 - 13:00, 2024-02-06 11:00 - 13:00, 2024-02-07 11:00 - 13:00, 2024-02-08 11:00 - 13:00, 2024-02-12 11:00 - 13:00, 2024-02-13 11:00 - 13:00, 2024-02-14 11:00 - 13:00 and 9 more dates
New! Mondays to Thursdays in February (1st to the 29th)
11 AM to 1 PM PT

In Person Only
You’re invited to drop in for open practice time at EBMC and sit or lie in the Main Temple. We have a variety of cushions and chairs available. Staff hosts will ring the bell every half hour. Our Library and Compassion Room will be available for use. You may also enjoy a cup of tea in our Kitchen.
In person participants are asked to use an N95 or KN95 mask. 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. See our complete Safety and COVID guidelines here: https://eastbaymeditation.org/covid-19-updates/

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

IN PERSON: Healing the Wounds of Christianity: A Daylong for the Alphabet (LGBTQIA+) Community
2024-03-31 10:00 - 15:00
IN PERSON: Healing the Wounds of Christianity: A Daylong for the Alphabet (LGBTQIA+) Community
with Melvin Escobar & Dawn Haney
Sunday, March 31, 2024
10:00 AM – 3:00 PM Pacific Time
In person at EBMC (285 17th St, Oakland CA 94612)

As mindfulness practitioners learning in the United States, the cultural dominance of Christianity shapes our practice in unacknowledged ways. For those of us in the Alphabet (LGBTQIA+) Community, how have we attempted to escape the traumatic and historical wounds of Christianity with our mindfulness practice, only to find the same puritan values infused here too? Melvin & Dawn will bring together mindfulness practices and expressive art activities to directly explore Christian dominance (including its whiteness/patriarchy) and how we might collectively heal ourselves and our practices.

All registered participants will receive an EventBrite confirmation email.

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.) Please note: Teachers 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.

Teacher Bios

Melvin Escobar (he/him) is a Core Teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center, licensed psychotherapist, and yoga instructor. He has walked the path of service for much of his life, drawing on his experiences as a queer man of color from an immigrant working-class background. Melvin is driven by the desire to make wisdom teachings accessible in culturally relevant ways and continues daily to learn the revolutionary potential of body-centered contemplative practices for personal and social healing.

Dawn Haney (they/she) has been organizing, coaching, teaching, and writing for 25 years, on feminism, white anti-racism, Buddhism, leadership, and liberation. They weave wisdom from Buddhism and social justice traditions, understanding identity, power, and change through their own experiences as a white, fat, queer, nonbinary femme, and through social movements from migrant justice to fat liberation. A dharma student since 2003, she is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders program, a Community Teacher at East Bay Meditation Center and the Alphabet Sangha, and has taught across the US, including as a former Co-Director of Buddhist Peace Fellowship.

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 support the teachings of Dawn and Melvin, please donate via:
Dawn – Paypal: dawnmarissa@gmail.com -or- Venmo: @dawnmarissa
Melvin – Paypal: melvin@melvinescobar.com -or- Venmo @Melvin-Escobar
paypal.me/PAYPALmelvinescobar; https://www.venmo.com/u/Melvin-Escobar

To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via:
Paypal: paypal.me/eastbaymeditation
Our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana

IN PERSON: Healing the Healer: Cultivating Healing Within and In Community (for BIPOC and people of multi-heritage)
2024-04-27 10:00 - 16:00
Healing the Healer: Cultivating Healing Within and In Community
For BIPOC and people of multi-heritage
with Melvin Escobar and Jonathan Relucio
Saturday, April 27th, 2024
10am-4pm Pacific Time
In person at EBMC (285 17th St, Oakland CA 94612)

Healers and caregivers are invited to this workshop for a day of rest and renewal.
Jonathan and Melvin have over forty years combined experience doing social justice
work and will offer how the teachings in Buddhism and Yoga can connect us to the
healing that is possible in community. We will explore how to cultivate and build
resilience and self-compassion so that we can continue to be of service to self and
others.

All registered participants will receive an EventBrite confirmation email.

For in-person participation:
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.) Please note: Teachers 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.

Teacher Bios

Melvin Escobar is a core teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center, licensed
psychotherapist, and yoga instructor. He has walked the path of service for much of his life, drawing on his experiences as a queer man of color from an immigrant working-class background. Melvin is driven by the desire to make wisdom teachings accessible in culturally relevant ways and continues daily to learn the revolutionary potential of body-centered contemplative practices for personal and social healing.

For a decade, Jonathan Relucio taught trauma healing yoga, meditation, and
mindfulness in urban schools, mental health clinics and juvenile detention centers as
Senior Trainer for Niroga Institute. He completed East Bay Meditation Center’s Spiritual Teacher and Leadership (STL) Program and Spirit Rock’s Mindfulness, Yoga and Meditation Training; he is grateful to be a practitioner and teacher at both centers. Jonathan facilitates transformation in social justice movements with Rockwood Leadership Institute; integrates mindfulness with restorative circles for healing and racial equity; and is the co-founder of AllThriveEd.org. With over 20 years of experience in social services, community organizing, training, and leadership development, Jonathan values yoga and Dharma as liberation practices that heal us from oppressive systems.

To support the teachings of Jonathan and Melvin, please do so via:
–For Jonathan —
PayPal: discaya@gmail.com
Venmo: @JonathanRelucio, https://www.venmo.com/u/JonathanRelucio
–For Melvin —
PayPal: melvin@melvinescobar.com, paypal.me/PAYPALmelvinescobar
Venmo: @Melvin-Escobar, https://www.venmo.com/u/Melvin-Escobar

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.

2024 Open House Ice Cream Social
2024-06-02 13:00 - 16:00
Open House Ice Cream Social
Sunday, June 2nd 2024
1 to 4 PM
We are hosting a special event for our sangha to gather at our new space!
Activities

Ice cream outside from 1-3 PM (vegan and nut-free options will be available)
Short ceremony and meditation practice, led by EBMC Core Teacher Melvin Escobar, from 2 – 3 PM
Altar for Mothers, Fathers, Parents, and Caregivers of Gaza and Beyond that sangha members can add to
Writing or drawing messages of hope for the new center

This is your last chance to see the new building before we close it for renovations. Friends and family are welcome! We look forward to seeing you!
Please note:
N95 or KN95 masks are required inside unless eating/drinking.
The building is wheelchair-accessible and fragrance-free.

If you would like to volunteer for the event, please email kaiayo@eastbaymeditation.org

Center Open Hours
2024-08-13 11:00 - 13:00, 2024-08-15 11:00 - 13:00, 2024-08-20 11:00 - 13:00, 2024-08-22 11:00 - 13:00, 2024-08-27 11:00 - 13:00, 2024-08-29 11:00 - 13:00, 2024-09-03 11:00 - 13:00
We welcome you to drop by the center for unguided silent practice, our library, or a cup of tea in our kitchen.
with EBMC Staff
Daytime: Tuesday & Thursday
11 AM – 1 PM Pacific Time
EBMC is a fragrance-free center and is wheelchair accessible. N95/KN95 masks required.
Note: Due to capacity limitations of our small staff, we may occasionally need to shorten or cancel open hours. We will do our best to give as much advanced notice as possible. Thank you for your understanding.
