East Bay Meditation Center

ONLINE: People of Color Yoga
2019-11-21 17:45 - 18:45, 2019-11-14 17:45 - 18:45, 2019-11-07 17:45 - 18:45, 2019-10-31 17:45 - 18:45 (America/Los_Angeles) | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Weekly Yoga Practice for Self Identified People of Color led by Satya de la Paz
5:45PM – 6:45PM
Build strength and flexibility while cultivating mindfulness in this all levels hatha yoga class. Each class has a unique, inspiring theme and personalized instruction that will leave you feeling joyous and rejuvenated.
To donate to the Teacher via Venmo use ID: @satyabodyworks
To donate to EBMC click HERE.

Path of the Bodhisattva 2 & Bodhisattva Precepts Ceremony
2019-11-20 18:30 - 20:30, 2019-11-13 18:30 - 20:30, 2019-11-06 18:30 - 20:30
with Mushim Ikeda
4 class series: Path of the Bodhisattva 2, Weds, Oct 30 – Nov 20, 6:30 – 8:30pm
Daylong: Receiving or Witnessing the Bodhisattva Precepts & Vows, Dec 14, 10am – 4:30pm
*Separate registration is needed for each part of the Path of the Bodhisattva class series (Part I, Part II + Precepts Ceremony). Participants interested in receiving the Bodhisattva Vows in Dec are required to take Part I + II of the class series.
I, myself, took the Bodhisattva Vows and made the vow, “Life after life, after life, after life, I will continue my practice and continue my work.” – Bhante Suhita Dharma, Buddhist monk and social worker, 1941-2013
In Mahayana Buddhism, the Bodhisattva is an archetypal great being who tirelessly and joyfully works to liberate all beings from suffering. For the second time, EBMC will offer two class series exploring what it means to creatively embody the Bodhisattva teachings. Those who complete both class series may participate in the final daylong and either witness or take Bodhisattva precepts and vows in order to strengthen their commitment to collective liberation. These are the same vows taken by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Those who do not wish to take the Bodhisattva vows may take either of the two class series. Meditation (instruction provided for beginners), Dharma talks, and interactive exercises.
Space is limited and registration is requested.

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.
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.

Midday Sangha
2019-11-20 12:00 - 13:35, 2019-11-13 12:00 - 13:35, 2019-11-06 12:00 - 13:35
Midday Sangha at EBMC Wednesdays at Noon!
Join our peer-led multicultural sangha for silent meditation practice and community building.
Every Wednesday
12:00 – 12:45 Silent sitting, standing or lying down meditation with optional walking meditation.
12:45 – 1:35 Potluck lunch with facilitated conversation about our practice and being the dharma in the world
Midday Sangha Coordinating Committee:
Abe Doherty, Jenn Biehn, Kam McCallum, Karen Jackson, Manuel Vasquez, Preston Justice, Shawki, Yvette Flores

Alphabet Sangha
2019-11-19 19:00 - 20:30, 2019-11-12 19:00 - 20:30, 2019-11-05 19:00 - 20:30
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
For more information, visit the ALPHABET SANGHA WEBSITE

Tai Chi Chih – Joy through Movement
2019-11-19 18:00 - 18:50, 2019-11-12 18:00 - 18:50, 2019-11-05 18:00 - 18:50
Join us for Alphabet Dharma in Motion
Tai Chi Chih – Joy through Movement
with Jenn Biehn, EBMC Tai Chi Chih teacher
Drop In Format, No Pre-Registration Required.
A form of qigong, Tai Chi Chih is a moving meditation consisting of 20 easy-to-learn, access-centered movements. Tai Chi circulates, balances, and gathers the chi or energy of the body bringing stillness and calm to the heart mind. Practiced with softness and continuity, these flowing movements can release tension, negativity and stress leading to a sense of wholeness. Qigong stretches will be practiced at the beginning of each class to prepare for this moving meditation.
A Buddha Dharma Sangha practitioner and Tai Chi Chih teacher for the past 30 years, Jenn Biehn loves including embodied awareness and healing movement as part of sangha building. She has taught and practiced Tai Chi Chih (TCC) – Joy through Movement at City College of SF and to those healing from trauma in several community-based organizations. An EBMC volunteer for the past 10 years, Jenn is a member of Alphabet Sangha, Midday Sangha Coordinating Committee and Restorative Practices for Dharma Practitioners.

Love: Supported by the Four Divine States
2019-11-18 18:30 - 20:30, 2019-11-11 18:30 - 20:30, 2019-11-04 18:30 - 20:30
Open to All expressions of love: friends, partners, siblings, parent/child, roommates, etc.
with Rev. Liên Shutt
Co-Sponsored by Access To Zen

We all want love.
And, having and holding love and loving feelings can be challenging. Join us in exploring how love can be when expressed in conjunction with the qualities of the Four Divine States of Equanimity, Kindness, Compassion, and Inclusive Joy.
While grounded in these teachings and meditation practices, the course will also be framed by readings from bell hook’s All About Love: New Visions; offering a blend of fierce feminist social criticism to ask us to transform our challenges into strength, manifesting the love and caring we want in our lives here and now.

Space is limited and registration is requested.

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.
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.

Every Body Every Mind Sangha
2019-11-17 18:00 - 19:30, 2019-11-10 18:00 - 19:30, 2019-11-03 18:00 - 19:30
Every Body Every Mind Sangha is a weekly practice group for people living with disabilities, limitations, differences and chronic illnesses.
Sundays
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Please come and take part in this time to meditate, share our lives and support with each other, and learn more about the dharma. There is no need to register for these weekly meetings, just come and share this path together!
Teachers include Charlie Johnson, Deb Kerr and others.
For more info, visit the Every Body Every Mind Sangha Website.

Gratitude for All the Things – Joys and Sorrows on the Path of Awakening
2019-11-17 10:00 - 16:00
with Melvin Escboar
Buddhist practice teaches us to cultivate gratitude for the 10,000 joys and sorrows of our lives. As we deepen our practice we begin to appreciate both the bountiful blessings in life and the improbable gifts that arise from suffering. Is it possible to transform the resentments we carry as a result of our traumas and challenges, including even those created within our families of origin? Strengthening the four qualities of gratitude (conviction, virtue, generosity, and discernment) is essential to answering this question. This daylong will include a dharma talk, stationary and gentle moving meditation, guided visualization, and interactive exercises.
Space is limited and registration is requested.

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.
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.

Let Your Heart Lead You: To Community, Healing, and Joy through Loving Kindness Meditation
2019-11-16 10:00 - 16:00
Let Your Heart Lead You: To Community, Healing, and Joy through Loving Kindness Meditation
with Mushim Ikeda and Deb Kerr
The practice of lovingkindness has the power to transform our lives. Taught by the Buddha as an antidote to fear and ill-will, lovingkindness meditation reconnects us to our heart’s natural ability to be open and loving, both to ourselves and to others. As we do so, it becomes possible to move beyond “us” and “them” in building resilient communities; we may find deep healing, both internally and in relationships; and a foundation for joy is established. This daylong will include periods of trauma- and access-informed stationary and moving meditation, interactive exercises and instruction in establishing and expanding lovingkindness practice.
Space is limited and registration is requested.

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.
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.

People of Color Sangha
2019-11-14 19:00 - 21:00, 2019-11-07 19:00 - 21:00, 2019-10-31 19:00 - 21:00
The People of Color Sangha is a growing tribe of people of color waking up and getting free!
Thursdays
7:00 – 9:00 PM
For more information, visit the: POC SANGHA WEBSITE

Family Practice Class: Opening the Heart through the Buddha's Teachings
2019-11-10 10:00 - 12:00
Led by Julie Goshe, Michele Ku, Vickie Chang and Lisa Fujie Parks
For Children Ages 0-13 and Family / Caregivers
We invite you to come and be a part of the diverse family sangha at EBMC. We welcome families with babies, toddlers, and children up to age 12. Children under 5 will need to have a parent/caregiver stay with them. We gather to create a safe refuge to share the joys and the challenges of parenting by cultivating loving kindness, compassion, patience and generosity with the support of the sangha. It is a wonderful opportunity to have family time without digital distractions and to learn mindful practices for the whole family. Parents/caregivers and children meet together and sometimes separately during the class. Families with children under the age of 5 meet in a mindful playgroup. We are committed to creating a diverse family sangha, all families are welcomed. No prior experience is necessary.
Please note, each family only needs one registration. Thank You!

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.
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.

ONLINE: Multiracial Peer-Led Deep Refuge Group
2019-11-09 19:00 - 21:00
The Multiracial Deep Refuge Group is a monthly exploratory Deep Refuge Group for and by people who identify as multiracial. Our meetings include periods of mindfulness meditation and sharing of narratives and perspectives as we come together to be seen and to see one another. By sitting and exploring our own unique stories, we can come to know and care for the common threads that bind us together. Our collective work bravely expands the narrative that informs multiracial experience today. Meets 7pm-9pm on the second Saturdays of every month. Online and occasionally hybrid (in-person at EBMC + online).
Newcomers welcome- please contact us before your first visit: mrdrcoordinators at googlegroups dot com

Cultivating Home in Our Hearts
2019-11-02 09:00 - 16:00
A day of Mindfulness and Inquiry for Adult Adoptees, Fostered and/or Child Welfare System Survivors Exclusively
with Dr. Sean Feit Oakes and Fresh “Lev” White
This class is for us who experienced separation from birth families at early ages to explore the heart of the Buddha’s teachings: that pain and loss are built into life and are the seeds of wisdom and liberation. We’ll explore our experiences of family rupture; discuss tools for cultivating self-love, compassion, and the possibility of home in ourselves as a deep refuge.
All adult (18+) adoptees, formerly foster home or system youth, and any adult who were forced/separated from their birth family at young ages are welcome. Providers or family members will be given a separate opportunity to participate.
Space is limited and registration is encouraged.

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.
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.
