East Bay Meditation Center

Alphabet Sangha
2016-12-13 19:00 - 20:30, 2016-12-06 19:00 - 20:30, 2016-11-29 19:00 - 20:30, 2016-11-22 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | 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
For more information, visit the ALPHABET SANGHA WEBSITE

Every Body Every Mind Sangha
2016-12-11 18:00 - 19:30, 2016-12-04 18:00 - 19:30, 2016-11-27 18:00 - 19:30, 2016-11-20 18:00 - 19:30
Every Body Every Mind Sangha is a weekly sitting 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.

Family Practice Class: Opening the Heart through the Buddha's Teachings
2016-12-11 10:00 - 12:30
For Children Ages 0-12 and Family/Caregivers
with Shahara Godfrey, Baruch Golden, Michele Ku, Fresh! White, and Jenn Biehn (movement)
We invite you to come and help create the diverse family sangha at EBMC. We welcome families with babies, toddlers and children up to age 12. The teachers will offer the Buddha’s teachings and mindful practices that can be practiced at home. Parents/caregivers and young people will meet together and separately during the class. Children under 5 will need to have a parent/caregiver stay with them. We will explore bringing the Dharma to our daily lives through song, story, sharing, art, and mindfulness practices. We are committed to creating a diverse family sangha. No prior experience is necessary.
Registration: Registration is required and space is limited. Click here or the link below to register.
http://eastbaymeditation.org/ebmcreg/?event=dec16family
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)
* 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.

Friday Open Practice Group
2016-12-09 18:30 - 20:30, 2016-12-02 18:30 - 20:30, 2016-11-25 18:30 - 20:30, 2016-11-18 18:30 - 20:30
Open to All
Fridays
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Our sangha meets every Friday and is led by a rotating group of teachers; the teacher schedule is available here.
Schedule:
6:30 pm to 7:00 pm Mindful movement (yoga, qigong, or another form of mindful movement, led by the teacher or a guest)
7:00 pm to 7:30 pm Silent meditation with instructions
7:30 pm to 7:45 pm Announcements and break
7:45 pm to 8:25 pm Teacher’s talk on relevant themes and/or group discussion
8:25 pm to 8:30 pm Close
By strengthening our ability to bring mindfulness to the moment-to-moment events in our lives, we bring to consciousness the unconscious thinking patterns that often govern our behavior. As we see and understand those patterns, we break free of their control over us. With this freedom comes joy and the ability to live our lives from a place of wisdom.
This ongoing sitting group at the East Bay Meditation Center is for anyone interested in learning more about mindfulness meditation and practicing this ancient discipline with others. The group will also incorporate mindful movement practices, which enhance and support our meditation practice.
Many thanks to the volunteers who generously offer their time every week to help make this group happen. If you would like to volunteer with our sangha, please send an email to: ebmc.friday.sangha@gmail.com.

People of Color Sangha
2016-12-08 19:00 - 21:00, 2016-12-01 19:00 - 21:00, 2016-11-24 19:00 - 21:00, 2016-11-17 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

EBMC Teen Sangha Fall
2016-12-07 19:00 - 20:30, 2016-11-30 19:00 - 20:30
Wednesdays: September 21 – December 14 2016
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Open to teens, ages 14-19
Led by the EBMC Teen Sangha Team: Raúl Kahlil Betancourt, Lulu Cook, Anthony “T” Maes, Sarwang Parikh, Adrienne Price, Syra Smith, and Phoenix Soleil
EBMC Teen Sangha is a weekly meditation group for teens, ages 14-19. Our focus will be on creating deeper relationships with ourselves and each other, having fun, getting real and supporting each other. Learn mindfulness meditation and explore the dharma (Buddhist teachings) in creative and practical ways. No experience necessary. We are committed to maintaining a Sangha (community) that is welcoming to people of all identities, cultures, beliefs and ways of being.
Registration: Registration is encouraged and space is limited. Click here or the link below to register.
http://eastbaymeditation.org/ebmcreg/?event=fall16teen
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)
* 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
2016-12-07 12:00 - 13:30, 2016-11-30 12:00 - 13:30, 2016-11-23 12:00 - 13:30
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, Bang Nguyen, Jenn Biehn, Kam McCallum, Karen Jackson, Manuel Vasquez, Preston Justice, Shawki, Yvette Flores

Infinite Joy: Buddha's Practice to Neutralize Jealousy & Apathy
2016-12-05 19:00 - 21:00
Two Mondays, December 5 and 12, 2016
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
with Mushim
Can we experience empathetic joy in others’ successes and joyful moments, even when their experience and worldview is very different from our own? Mudita (unselfish joy) is one of the Brahmaviharas, also called the Four Immeasurables. These are Buddhist teachings and practices that help us to access dynamic calming, stilling, and healing mindbody states. As we cultivate the limitless quality of mudita, over time jealousy and apathy drop away, and we harvest true happiness, spiritual strength, and awakening insight. These practices are considered complementary to insight meditation. Dharma talks, discussion, interactive exercises. Instruction provided for beginners in meditation.
Registration: Registration is required and space is limited. Click here or the link below to register.
http://eastbaymeditation.org/ebmcreg/?event=dec16mudita
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)
* 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.

A Day of Heartfulness for People of Color and Allies: Awakening the Legend of Maitreya Buddha
2016-12-04 10:00 - 16:30
A Day of Mindfulness in the Tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh
with Peggy Rowe and Larry Ward
What does it mean to practice love in these times? We explore America’s legacy of racial promise and dysfunction from the perspectives of Buddhist Psychology and neuroscience. We will enjoy noble silence, sitting meditation, movement meditation, total relaxation, eating meditation, a dharma talk, and community sharing. This is an opportunity to discover and enrich our embodiment of the future Buddha present within us now. Our collective and individual awakening is calling. Whatever our preoccupations or distractions, it is urgent to rouse the cave of our hearts to this highest of callings.
Registration: Registration is required and space is limited. Click here or the link below to register.
http://eastbaymeditation.org/ebmcreg/?event=dec16heartfulness
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)
* 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.

POC Retreatants Peer-Led Deep Refuge
2016-12-03 19:00 - 22:00
This is a monthly meetup open to people of color who have attended residential people of color retreats at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Deer Park Monastery, or both. This Deep Refuge Group is intended to nurture the experience of retreat — mindfulness, sangha, dharma sharing, and the Five Mindfulness Trainings — in our everyday lives. Meetings are held the first Saturday of each month at EBMC, from 7-10pm, and feature a potluck meal, eaten in mindful silence, a practice period, and discussion about the dharma. The group is open to new members until early 2017, so please attend a monthly meeting before March if interested. And please bring a dish to share!

Contact info: pocretreatantgroup@gmail.com

EBMC Teen Sangha Fall: No CLASS on Nov. 23
2016-11-23 19:00 - 20:30

Post-traumatic Growth: For Self-Identified People of Color
2016-11-21 19:00 - 21:00
3 Mondays: November 7, 14, and 21, 2016
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
With Mushim & Melvin Escobar
People of color and people of mixed race heritage are subjected to potentially traumatic situations on a daily basis throughout our lives. This 3-class series will offer an understanding of the neuro-physiological science of trauma, plus embodiment practice tools and mindfulness-based skills that can be practiced in class and at home, and a supportive and compassionate community learning and healing space. In this social-justice-based approach, we will affirm that our communities can thrive and grow into healing, well-being, and joy. Talks, meditation, facilitated discussion, progressive relaxation techniques, and trauma-informed Dynamic Mindfulness gentle movement.
Registration: Registration is required and space is limited. Click here or the link below to register.
https://nov16postraumatic-poc.eventbrite.com
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)
* 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.

Men of Color Daylong
2016-11-20 10:00 - 16:00
Led by EBMC’s Men of Color Deep Refuge Group
Part of our work as self-identified men of color is to unlearn and heal from the violence of systemic oppression. We come together to engage with self and community in ways that empower us to reclaim our inherent worth in a society that often invisibilizes and targets us. We gather in gratitude for what we have and who we are in a society that deludes us with messages of scarcity and denigration. We arrive to learn from one another the skillful means necessary to transform the habit-patterns that often limit us and perpetuate suffering. We converge to steep ourselves in compassionate practices that build pathways towards liberation and to remind ourselves: we are already free.
In our second annual daylong, we gather as self-identified men of color to explore our diverse experiences through the themes of Gratitude, Transformation, & Liberation. We come to awareness through guided meditation, mindful movement, experiential exercises and facilitated discussion. Navigating the world, we recognize we cannot do this work alone; therefore, we invite you to join us in sacred community as we collectively connect and cultivate a deeper understanding of what it means to be mindful men of color.
Registration: Registration is required and space is limited. Click here or the link below to register.
https://nov16mocdaylong-poc.eventbrite.com
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)
* 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.

Transgender and Gender Diverse Metta Day Long
2016-11-19 10:30 - 16:30
Led by Fresh! White, Louije Kim, Abe Doherty, Adrienne Price, Marbles Radio (Movement)
Open for those who identify as transgender.
On the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance, we are hosting an opportunity to explore and practice meditation and movements to help implement, compliment, and/or expand our experiences with self-care.
This class is open to those new to meditation, and allows others an opportunity to practice in a safe space which will be lead and held by Trans* identified individuals, and experienced allies.
*Please arrive on time, as the class will begin promptly.
Registration: Registration is required and space is limited. Click here or the link below to register.
http://eastbaymeditation.org/ebmcreg/?event=nov16transmetta
Teacher Bios:
Fresh! White, CPCC, is a Certified Professional Mindfulness & Life Coach. He has been practicing Mindfulness since 2007, and is currently a student of Spirit Rock’s Dharma Leadership Program. In addition to co-leading the Teen Sangha at EBMC, Fresh! is also a rotating teacher at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, and leads a group for Trans* and Gender Variant folks in Oakland as well. Fresh! earned his Early Childhood Education Credits at Skyline College when he committed to being a classroom assistant and volunteer back in the 90s. Since 2003, Fresh! has facilitated or co-lead over 100 discussions in San Francisco and Marin, in schools and workplaces, with a goal of ending bullying for all, with a focus on creating safety for the LBGTQI communities.
Abe Doherty is grateful to have practiced meditation for fifteen years, including through the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) programs Commit to Dharma 2 with Larry Yang in 2010 and Practice in Action with Mushim Ikeda in 2012. Abe is inspired by the collective liberation vision of the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) and has volunteered in various capacities for EBMC since 2008. Having been out as a transgendered person for 23 years, Abe is particularly interested in supporting all people’s gender splendor.
Louije Kim is an Oakland-based mental health clinician and dharma practitioner who has been cultivating a Vipassana practice since 2009. They are deeply committed to the personal and collective liberation of local communities. Louije completed EBMC’s Commit to Dharma program in 2012, and the Dedicated Practitioner Program at Spirit Rock in 2016. They are currently enrolled in the Community Dharma Leader program at Spirit Rock.
Adrienne Price is an educator, cultural producer, and social justice organizer living in Oakland, CA. Since she discovered Dharma practice in 2008, she has worked to deepen her learning. She looks forward to co-leading her first Teen Sangha through EBMC this summer. She has worked as a high school teacher and currently coordinates an education non-profit. She also organizes with SURJ (Standing Up for Racial Justice) and the Bay Area Childcare Collective. She hosts a weekly radio show on Radio Valencia entitled Pure Pop for Queer Lovers (Sundays 10am-12:00pm, www.radiovalencia.fm).
Marbles Jumbo Radio re-constellates queer bodies from the margins to center through dance, physical practice, and discussion-based platforms that engage with the politics of place, belonging, and embodiment. Their recent work has included co-facilitating trainings with Fresh! White, the woods and studio project with taisha paggett in conjunction with Pieter in Los Angeles, and their ongoing community-based project, Wrecking Walden.
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)
* 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.

Mindfulness of Breathing: Working Towards Peace and Insight
2016-11-16 19:00 - 21:00
3 Wednesdays, November 2, 9, 16, 2016
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
With Devin Berry
In this 3 part series, geared toward new meditators and those seeking a refresher course, we will explore the Buddha’s own teaching on cultivating both tranquility and deep insight through the full awareness of breathing.
Registration: Registration is required and space is limited. Click here or the link below to register.
http://eastbaymeditation.org/ebmcreg/?event=nov16breath
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)
* 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.
