East Bay Meditation Center

White and Awakening in Sangha: Continuing on the Path
2023-04-23 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
White and Awakening in Sangha: Continuing on the Path

With Crystal Johnson, Heather Lear, and special guests

Sundays, January 22, February 26, March 26, April 23 and June 4, 2023

10:00AM – 12:00PM PST (Time Zone Converter)
Closed Captioning Provided

Since we first launched the White and Awakening in Sangha course in 2014 (and its sibling/cousin courses at SRMC, SFZC, SZBA and Branching Streams) we have had the privilege of being in community with hundreds of white identified people seeking to see more clearly into the delusion of race and move into wise action to disrupt the operation of white supremacy culture and the harm of race-based oppression. Many of you have asked for a regular forum to support your ongoing (un)learning and action.
This edition of Continuing on the Path will consist of 5 2-hour sessions (90 minutes just wasn’t enough!) on Sundays from 10:00-12:00 Pacific Time, January 22, February 26, March 26, April 23 and June 4, 2023 with Crystal Johnson and Heather Lear. We will focus on Metta (Lovingkindness) and Karuna (Compassion) as practices that support, sustain and inspire our efforts. Technology and COVID willing, we will do our best to hold some of these dates as hybrid programs, so that folks in the Bay Area can gather in person (!), and those who can’t come in person can join us via Zoom.
These meetings are a time for us to gather in community as white identified people working to operate in the world in a way that fosters equity, healing and community building. If you are like us, you find yourself from time to time overextending, or worrying about whether you are doing “enough,” or whether you are too concerned with your own happiness when there is so much suffering in the world. These are deeply conditioned mental/emotional habits that drain energy and get in the way of being effective and joyful. The practices of metta and karuna support you to build a sustainable course of action that fosters joy and connection.
In this series, we will offer brief dharma talks, guided practice, small and large group sharing and discussion, and, of course, lots of resources and some new readings. If you would like to be part of a small, peer-led group in between meetings, we will help you arrange that with other participants. We will offer partial recordings of the sessions for those who can’t attend live, but still want to see what we are up to.
If you are white and have not taken the original course, you are also welcome here; just know that this is not a beginning discussion. If you are biracial or otherwise identify with a significant dose of European ancestry, you are also welcome. Again, just know that our focus is on whiteness and white conditioning.
About the money: at the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC), we practice Gift Economics, which means, among other things, that we welcome you into our community, and invite you to contribute according to your capacity and inspiration, rather than as if you are purchasing a product/course. Those of you who have taken the course know that the teachers have always donated their time and wisdom as a personal practice of reparation. All proceeds from your registration contributions will go to support the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC). By donating to EBMC, you are supporting a community founded and dedicated to creating a dharma refuge for BIPOC, LGBTQI2+, people with disabilities, other marginalized communities, and everyone (including us white identified folks) who seek to end suffering and cultivate happiness. Our mission is to foster liberation, personal and interpersonal healing, social action, and inclusive community building. We hope that you will join us.

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

Every Body Every Mind Sangha
2023-04-23 18:00 - 19:30, 2023-04-30 18:00 - 19:30, 2023-05-07 18:00 - 19:30, 2023-05-14 18:00 - 19:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
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

ONLINE WITH SPECIAL HYBRID DATES
March 23rd 2025 with Arisika Razak
April 20th 2025 with Anne Finger
May 18th 2025 with Mushim Ikeda
June 22nd 2025 with Anne Finger
No registration needed to attend these meetings in person. More hybrid dates may be announced in the future.

To join online, please email: ebem at eastbaymeditation dot org to request a Zoom link.
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!
EveryBody, EveryMind Teacher Group: Debra Kerr, Kenji Oshima, Anne Finger, Master John W. Ellis IV, Beth Smith, Mushim Ikeda, Victor Jih, & Zac Krohn
For more info, visit the Every Body Every Mind Sangha Website.

ONLINE: Trans/Gender-Expansive Deep Refuge Group
2023-04-24 18:30 - 20:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Trans/Gender-Expansive Deep Refuge Group
Fourth Mondays (online over zoom)
6:30-8pm PM PST
This deep refuge group is by and for trans/gender-expansive people. Our goal is to provide a welcoming community space for trans/gender-expansive folks who are interested in exploring meditation and other aspects of Buddhist practice. Both beginners and experienced practitioners welcome!
To be added to the email list, please email tgedeeprefuge@eastbaymeditation.org with a quick note about your interest in the group. We look forward to practicing with you!

HYBRID: The Enduring Precepts: Basic Buddhist Ethics for Our Times
2023-04-26 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-05-03 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-05-10 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-05-17 18:30 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
An Hybrid Class Series with Mushim Ikeda
Wednesdays April 26th, May 3rd, 10th, 17th
6:30 – 8:30PM PST (Time Zone Converter) Closed Captioning Provided
Part of EBMC’s Core Buddhist Teachings – 7-month Curriculum
Three 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 use of fossil fuels, responsible social media, and gun responsibility. 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 to the Precepts.

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 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:
https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/
East Bay Meditation Center is a scent free / fragrance free space and is wheelchair accessible.

ONLINE: Grieving While Queer
2023-04-27 17:30 - 19:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
A 3 part online class with Tania Triana and Amanda Ream
Three Thursday evenings – April 13, 20, 275:30 – 7pm, Online
(Time Zone Converter) Closed Captioning Provided
In this three part series we will hold space for change, loss and the unknown. Grief is a powerful emotion that can lead us towards meaning, connection and freedom if we tend to what it’s asking for. Working through the queer body we will ask ourselves this simple question: what is needed now? And allow what’s here to be felt and known within a container of support and belgoning.
This class combines dharma teachings with the methodology of generative somatics.

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

Tania Triana [pronouns: she/they/ella/elle] is an educator, activist, and translator raised in Rochester, NY. She joined EBMC in 2014 soon after relocating to Oakland, and accepted the Bodhisattva vows and precepts at a ceremony at EBMC in 2017, and renewed them in 2020. Tania is grateful to have found a spiritual home and social justice community here, and currently serves on the L-Sangha as Board Secretary. When she’s not teaching at the College Preparatory School, Tania enjoys yoga, traveling, cooking, reading, and being tía to the best sobrinitos ever, Javier and Nicolás.

Amanda Ream, pronouns: They. Ream is a queer organizer and somatics practitioner of European ancestry on unceded Ohlone Land, working for over 25 years in the labor movement, currently as the Strategic Campaigns Director for the United Domestic Workers’ Union. Ream is a co-founder of EBMC’s Social Justice Sangha, and the Deep Refuge Group “Racial Justice Skills for White Practitioner’s” and graduated from Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner’s Program in 2016. Ream is a teacher and practitioner with Generative Somatics. They began practicing in the Western Insight Tradition in 2006, and with Generative Somatics in 2011.

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 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: People of Color Sangha
2023-04-27 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-05-04 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-05-11 19:30 - 21:00 | 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: Queer Leather Peer-Led Deep Refuge Group
2023-04-28 19:00 - 20:30 | Off Site Venue
The Queer Leather Meditation Deep Refuge Group is a peer-led meditation group for those of us who have a meditation practice and are queer and leather/kink-identified. We meet on the 4th Friday of every month from 7–8:30 p.m. We are open to and welcome new drop-in participants, whether this is your first sit or your 10,000th! For upcoming meeting details or to join our mailing list or online groups, please visit http://www.queerleathermeditation.org/. If you have questions please contact admin@queerleathermeditation.org.

ONLINE: Maha Sangha with Arisika Razak and Ramona Lisa-Ortiz Smith
2023-04-28 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-05-05 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-05-12 19:00 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Friday, January 7th Teachers: Arisika Razak and Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith
Maha Sangha for All People & Communities
Creating Freedom in Community
Every Friday night at EBMC, 7:00 – 8:30pm.
Zoom Info: email mahasangha at eastbaymeditation dot org to ask for a Zoom link.
The EBMC Maha Sangha for All People and Communities is a meditation and dharma group with an emphasis on radical inclusivity and social justice.
Maha is a Pali word meaning whole, great, larger/largest, deepest, and Sangha is a Pali word for community, or community of practitioners. Together, these words represent a place where all people and communities are warmly invited to explore the Dharma together in keeping with East Bay Meditation Center’s core mission to foster liberation, personal and interpersonal healing, social action, and inclusive community building. We hope that you will join us.
The EBMC Maha Sangha’s leadership team of teachers, dharma leaders, and sangha members includes: Arisika Razak, Baruch Golden, Chinh Nguyen, Crystal Johnson, Fresh! Lev White, Jd Doyle, Lisa Moore, Shahara Godfrey, Syra Smith, Shay, and Anni Mackin.
Contact: mahasangha at eastbaymeditation org

HYBRID: Maha Sangha
2023-04-28 19:00 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Maha Sangha for All People & Communities
Creating Freedom in Community
Hybrid, every 4th Friday of the month, 7:00 – 8:30pm.
Event Details: Meets weekly on zoom, and starting to meet once a month in person, email mahasangha at eastbaymeditation dot org for more info and get on our newsletter
The EBMC Maha Sangha for All People and Communities is a meditation and dharma group with an emphasis on radical inclusivity and social justice.
Maha is a Pali word meaning whole, great, larger/largest, deepest, and Sangha is a Pali word for community, or community of practitioners. Together, these words represent a place where all people and communities are warmly invited to explore the Dharma together in keeping with East Bay Meditation Center’s core mission to foster liberation, personal and interpersonal healing, social action, and inclusive community building. We hope that you will join us.
The EBMC Maha Sangha’s leadership team of teachers, dharma leaders, and sangha members includes: Arisika Razak, Fresh! Lev White, Rebekah Eppley, Sarwang Parikh and Shay.
Contact: mahasangha at eastbaymeditation org

ONLINE: 8 Step Buddhist Recovery Deep Refuge
2023-04-29 10:00 - 11:30, 2023-05-06 10:00 - 11:30, 2023-05-13 10:00 - 11:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
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.

HYBRID: Tranquility & Concentration through T'ai Chi Chih & Stationary Meditation
2023-04-30 10:00 - 16:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
A Hybrid Daylong with Paul Ciske and nialla rose
Sunday, April 30th, 2023
10AM-4PM PST (Time Zone Converter)
Closed Captioning Provided, Open to all
________
Concentration appears in many of the lists of core Buddhist teachings. In this daylong we will explore cultivating concentration & tranquility through movement and stationary practices. This exploration is intended to help open doors to a number of paths for developing concentration, a key factor in the teachings for liberation.
Note: The accessible T’ai Chi Chih movement practice will be demonstrated both seated and standing and can be adapted to lying down.

nialla rose is a certified Tai Chi Chih teacher. Her Zen Buddhist practice is in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, the Order of Interbeing. She shares dharma within movement to various sanghas and other groups, in particular to people with cancer.

Paul Ciske, Ph.D., is a certified teacher of T’ai Chi Chih, and Leadership/Conscious Embodiment. His Health & Wellness Coaching, Neurologic bodywork & movement private practice, Your Well-Being, is located in Oakland. He has participated in both the Dedicated Practitioners and Advanced Practitioners Programs through Spirit Rock Meditation Center. He is a student of Tsoknyi Rinpoche and participates in the Bay Area Pundarika group.
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 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:
https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/
East Bay Meditation Center is a scent free / fragrance free space and is wheelchair accessible.

HYBRID: Alphabet Sangha
2023-05-02 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-05-16 19:00 - 20:30 | 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

ONLINE: Maha Sangha
2023-05-05 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-05-12 19:00 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Maha Sangha for All People & Communities
Creating Freedom in Community
Every Friday night, 7:00 – 8:30pm.
Hybrid, every 4th Friday of the month
Event Details: Meets weekly on zoom, and starting to meet once a month in person, email mahasangha at eastbaymeditation dot org for more info and get on our newsletter
The EBMC Maha Sangha for All People and Communities is a meditation and dharma group with an emphasis on radical inclusivity and social justice.
Maha is a Pali word meaning whole, great, larger/largest, deepest, and Sangha is a Pali word for community, or community of practitioners. Together, these words represent a place where all people and communities are warmly invited to explore the Dharma together in keeping with East Bay Meditation Center’s core mission to foster liberation, personal and interpersonal healing, social action, and inclusive community building. We hope that you will join us.
The EBMC Maha Sangha’s leadership team of teachers, dharma leaders, and sangha members includes: Arisika Razak, Fresh! Lev White, Rebekah Eppley, Sarwang Parikh and Shay.
Contact: mahasangha at eastbaymeditation org

HYBRID: #MuditaRevolution: Cultivating the Heart of Joy to Compost Capitalism
2023-05-06 13:00 - 16:00, 2023-05-07 13:00 - 16:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
A Hybrid Weekend Series with Dawn Haney, JD Doyle, Lisa Moore, René Rivera
Saturday and Sunday, May 6 & 7, 2023
1-4PM PST (Time Zone Converter)
Closed Captioning Provided, Open to all
________
Through cultivating Communal Joy, also known as the heart practice Mudita, we will explore the power to nourish community. Shifting our focus from material accumulation, to joy in the present moment, has the revolutionary power to bring us increasingly aware of the aliveness in our relationships, in the natural world, and in all we contact. We find greater freedom for ourselves and our communities as we compost capitalism. This workshop includes guided meditation, interactive activities, and discussions.

Dawn Haney (they/she) braids together wisdom from Buddhism and social justice traditions, understanding identity, power, and change through their own experiences as a white, fat, queer, nonbinary femme. She has been organizing, coaching, teaching, and writing for 20 years on feminism, white anti-racism, Buddhism, leadership, and fat liberation. A dharma student since 2003, they are a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders program, a Community Teacher at East Bay Meditation Center, and taught across the US as former Co-Director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.

Lisa Moore began practicing in 1998, with the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. She joined the EBMC community by participating in the first Commit2Dharma study series where she began to deepen her practice of sangha. She studied in the Dharmacharya training with the Ven Pannavati and graduated from the Spirit Rock Dedicated Practitioner program. She is currently working with the programming committee of the Center and is in the Dharmapala training. She teaches at San Francisco State University where she supports the next generation of public health, harm reduction and social justice advocates.

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.

JD Doyle (they,them) co-founded EBMC’s LGBTQIA+ (Alphabet) Sangha. They completed Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s retreat teacher training, Community Dharma Leader training and the Dedicated Practitioner program. They’ve practiced Buddhism since 1995 in the U.S., Thailand, and Burma. For over twenty years, they worked as a public school teacher. JD identifies as genderqueer. They are committed to celebrating the diversity of our human sangha, addressing the impact of racism on our communities, expanding concepts of gender, and living in ways that honor the sacredness of the Earth.
To offer a gift to support the teachings, please do so Venmo: dawnmarissa or Paypal: PayPal.Me/ReneRiveraOak – which will be distributing among all teachers.
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 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:
https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/
East Bay Meditation Center is a scent free / fragrance free space and is wheelchair accessible.

ONLINE: Social Justice Lunchtime Sangha - Peer Led Deep Refuge group
2023-05-09 12:00 - 13:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Social Justice Sangha is a place to practice and reflect with #EBMCOakland organizers and activists. Includes a 30 minute meditation and time for sharing what’s on our hearts.

Contact: socialjustice at eastbaymeditation dot org
