East Bay Meditation Center

ONLINE: People of Color Sangha
2023-11-23 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-11-30 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-12-07 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-12-14 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-12-21 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-12-28 19:30 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
The People of Color Sangha is a growing community of people of color waking up and getting free!
Thursdays
7:30 – 9 PM PST
Closed Captions Provided.
Zoom info: Meeting details are shared through their mailing list (subscribe on their website), and their Facebook group.

ONLINE: 8 Step Buddhist Recovery Deep Refuge
2023-11-25 10:00 - 11:30, 2023-12-02 10:00 - 11:30, 2023-12-09 10:00 - 11:30, 2023-12-16 10:00 - 11:30, 2023-12-23 10:00 - 11:30, 2023-12-30 10:00 - 11:30, 2024-01-06 10:00 - 11:30, 2024-01-13 10:00 - 11:30 and 5 more dates
Every Saturday from 10AM – 11:30AM PST / PDT ONLINE
Compassionate Dharma Deep Refuge Buddhist meetings focus on ways to heal addiction. Based on the Eight Steps to Recovery developed by Dr. Mason-John M.A (hon.doc) and Dr Groves, we believe this inclusive approach can build a solid foundation for those at any level of recovery and for those who have yet to seek help.
Through these practices we hope you gain a practice that can sustain you in your recovery.
We are a multi-recovery space. Whether you are navigating addiction to substances like drugs and alcohol, or process addictions, such as disordered eating, codependency, or sex and love addiction–you are welcome here.
Advance Registration is not required.
For additional information, please contact: ebmcrecovery at gmail dot com.

ONLINE: Celebrating Winter Solstice with T’ai Chi Chih - Embodying Nature and the Elements
2023-12-21 09:00 - 10:30
Celebrating Winter Solstice with T’ai Chi Chih –
Embodying Nature and the Elements
Thursday, December 21, 2023
9:00 – 10:30 AM PST (Time Zone Converter)
Online, over Zoom
T’ai Chi Chih is a moving meditation that gathers the chi/the life force from the earth and circulates the chi in our bodies. These easy-to-learn accessible movements invite softness and continuity as they release tension, negativity and stress and bring healing to the body-heart-mind. Embodying nature and the elements while practicing T’ai Chi Chih, we experience a profound synergy and ever-deepening interconnectedness.
Join us in welcoming the winter season!
🌟 Movements offered both seated and standing
🌟 No prior experience necessary

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

Rosetta Saunders is a 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.

Active with EBMC for the past 12 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 teaches Transforming White Privilege on the Path to Racial Equity with Neighbors for Racial Justice and 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 and embodying awareness and healing movement in her life-long journey of building community.

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

ONLINE: Beginning a Meditation Practice
2024-01-03 18:30 - 20:30, 2024-01-10 18:30 - 20:30, 2024-01-17 18:30 - 20:30, 2024-01-24 18:30 - 20:30
4 Class series, Wednesdays January 3, 10, 17 and 24, 2024
Online on Zoom

6:30 – 8:30PM PST (Time Zone Converter)
Closed Captioning Provided
Part of EBMC’s Core Buddhist Teachings – 7-month Curriculum
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.

Please note: Registered participants will receive a zoom link to join us online with their Eventbrite confirmation email. Thank you for your support
THIS CLASS IS ONLINE ONLY
Universal Access Requests on Zoom:

Please do not use virtual or blurred backgrounds
Please keep your camera still when it’s turned on
Please repeat 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

Teacher Bio:

Mushim Patricia Ikeda is an internationally-known secular mindfulness and Buddhist teacher working primarily with justice activists and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) meditation practitioners. A core teacher at East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland, California, she is an author whose writing has been published in Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, Buddhadharma and various anthologies. She is the founding and guiding teacher of EBMC’s Practice in Transformative Action, a yearlong program that completed its tenth cohort in July 2023, providing secular mindfulness training for justice activists and agents of change. Mushim was selected by Lion’s Roar Buddhist media magazine as one of twenty-six “Great Buddhist Teachers” in the January 2022 issue. If you would like to make a gift to our beloved teacher, please do so via Venmo: @MushimPatricia-Ikeda or PayPal: info@mushimikeda.com
Cost: The teachings are regarded as priceless, so they are offered without a fee. You are invited to support the teachings and our efforts by contributing voluntary donations
To offer a gift to support the teachings, please do so Venmo: Mushim Ikeda @MushimPatricia-Ikeda or PayPal: info@mushimikeda.com
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via 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

ONLINE: Buddha's Four Big Truths (4 Noble Truths)
2024-01-31 18:30 - 20:30, 2024-02-07 18:30 - 20:30, 2024-02-14 18:30 - 20:30
Wednesdays January 31st, February 7th, 14th and 21st 2024
With Mushim Patricia Ikeda

Online on Zoom
6:30 – 8:30PM PST (Time Zone Converter) Closed Captioning Provided
Part of EBMC’s Core Buddhist Teachings – 7-month Curriculum
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.

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.
Universal Access Requests for Zoom Participation:

Please do not use virtual or blurred backgrounds
Please keep your camera still when it’s turned on
Please repeat 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

ONLINE: Trust the Struggles: Making Peace with the Five Hindrances to Mindfulness
2024-02-05 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-02-12 18:00 - 20:00
An Online Class Series with Melvin Escobar
4 Monday sessions, February 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th, 2024
6:00 – 8PM PST (Time Zone Converter)
Closed Captioning Provided
Why’s it so hard to meditate!? This question is as old as the practice. Join us for this class series that gets to the root of our struggles: The Five Obstacles. We’ll learn ways to work with these “hindrances” guided by Buddhist teachings, contemporary psychological frameworks and an understanding of structural oppression. Through talks, interactive exercises, stationary and gentle moving meditation, and recommendations for home practice, participants will gain awareness on how to use each of the five obstacles as gateways to deepen our practice.
Attend some or all:
Week 1 – Doubt
Week 2 – Sloth + Torpor and Ill Will
Week 3 – Restlessness + Worry
Week 4 – Sensual Desire

All Registered participants will receive a Confirmation Email & Zoom Link via EventBrite.
Universal Access Requests for Zoom Participation:

Please do not use virtual or blurred backgrounds
Please keep your camera still when it’s turned on
Please repeat 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

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 haswalked 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

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 directly to the teacher:
PayPal: melvin@melvinescobar.com
Venmo: @Melvin-Escobar
Thank you for your generosity. EBMC will be only be sustained through our collective generosity.

ONLINE: Nourishing Freedom: Finding the Middle Path to Body Liberation
2024-02-17 10:00 - 14:00
Online, Saturday, February 17th, 2024 (via Zoom)
With Melvin Escobar and Marcella Raimondo
10am – 2pm PST (Time Zone Converter)
Closed Captioning Provided
Radically accepting ourselves and our experiences is a revolutionary act. We receive many problematic messages about food that make it challenging to nourish ourselves. Our bodies, especially those of us living in larger bodies, continue to be subject to great harm and derision. By weaving the timeless Dhamma with contemporary psychological frameworks, we will deconstruct aspects of structural oppression (including diet culture). We will be invited into somatic awareness practices, along with interactive and reflective exercises to explore kinder ways of relating to our bodies to create community on the middle path to body liberation for all.

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

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 haswalked 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.

Marcella Raimondo, PhD, MPH is a queer cisgender able-bodied woman of color and a passionate and spirited clinical trainer speaking from her heart on multicultural issues in eating disorders since 1995. Marcella currently serves as a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in Kaiser Oakland’s eating disorder clinic and also serves as adjunct faculty at the University of San Francisco and UC Berkeley Extension. Marcella herself recovered from anorexia nervosa over 15 years ago. Marcella trains in Kajukenbo at Hand to Hand Kajukenbo Self Defense Center in Oakland and holds a first degree black belt. Her recovery and her martial arts training inspire her dedication to multicultural body nurturance and community celebration.

To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so on 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.
