East Bay Meditation Center

ONLINE: People of Color Sangha
2023-10-12 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-10-05 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-09-28 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-09-21 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: Social Justice Lunchtime Sangha - Peer Led Deep Refuge group
2023-10-10 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

HYBRID: Path of the Bodhisattva, Series 1
2023-10-09 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-10-02 18:30 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Mondays October 2nd, 9th, 16th & 23rd
6:30 – 8:30PM PST (Time Zone Converter)
HYBRID on Zoom and onsite at EBMC
Closed Captioning Provided
with Mushim Patricia Ikeda, an EBMC Core Teacher

These times are full of uncertainty and fear — and opportunities for spiritual breakthrough. In Mahayana Buddhism, the Bodhisattva is an archetypal great being who tirelessly and joyfully works to liberate all beings from suffering. For the fourth 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 Fourteenth Dalai Lama.
Part of the Buddhist curriculum at EBMC, which has three components:
Path of the Bodhisattva Class Series ONE
Mondays, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
October 2, 9, 16 and 23
Path of the Bodhisattva Class Series TWO
Note: This is a deepening of the Class Series One materials, not a repeat
Mondays, 6:30 – 8:30 pm PT
October 30, and November 6, 13, and 20
Bodhisattva Vows and Precepts
Daylong Retreat and Ceremony
Sunday, December 10, 2023
10 am – 4:30 pm Pacific time
Note: You may participate as a witness/observer, or apply to receive the Bodhisattva Vows and Precepts after participating in the preceding classes
This will be a Hybrid class, where in person participants are asked to use an N95 or KN95 mask. Instructors are given the option to be unmasked while speaking into a microphone. 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.
*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
Also, those who do not wish to take the Bodhisattva vows may take either of the two class series. The final daylong is open to everyone who wishes to witness the joyful ceremony (you do not need to have taken any of the previous classes, though it is recommended that you do so) and those who have completed the previous classes and have received permission from the teacher may receive the Bodhisattva Precepts, take the Bodhisattva Vows, and at that time they will receive a Buddhist name from the teacher. Meditation (instruction provided for beginners), Dharma talks, and interactive exercises.
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.
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 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.
All registered participants will receive a link to join us via Zoom with their EventBrite confirmation email.

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

Every Body Every Mind Sangha
2023-10-08 18:00 - 19:30, 2023-10-01 18:00 - 19:30, 2023-09-24 18:00 - 19:30, 2023-09-17 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 & HYBRID: White and Awakening in Sangha: Continuing on the Path
2023-10-08 10:00 - 12:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
White and Awakening in Sangha: Continuing on the Path – Appreciative Joy and Equanimity
August 13 (hybrid), September 10 (online), October 8 (hybrid), November 12 (online), December 3 (hybrid), 2023
10:00am – 12:00pm Pacific Time with Crystal Johnson, Heather Lear and special guests
Time Zone Converter – Closed Captioning Provided

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

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.
It is said that Wisdom and Compassion are the two “wings” of the Dharma; both are needed for travel on the path to awakening. The Brahmaviharas (Divine Abodes) are the essence of the Buddha’s heart teachings, the cultivation of states that support the Compassion wing. By by cultivating these we create the conditions for wise discernment in navigating our work of social justice.
This spring, we focused on the first two Brahmaviharas: Metta (Lovingkindness) and Karuna (Compassion). This fall, we will consider the other two, namely Mudita (Appreciative Joy) and Equanimity. Together, these four practices provide the heart-support we need to engage in wise social action and move to address the suffering of racial conditioning, to help us stay present and engaged without burning out!
Our social conditioning presents many sorts of obstacles to our efforts. Do you feel that others do more or are better than you, that you will never measure up? Do you get frustrated, discouraged and/or self-critical when things don’t go the way you want them to? Do you feel pressure to “fix everything” “right now?” The practices of Mudita and Equanimity support us to avoid the pitfalls of taking sides, clinging to views, resentment, competitiveness, resignation and despair. Combined with metta and compassion, we can skillfully choose the most effective and sustainable ways to practice anti-racism.
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 an optional, small, peer-led group in between meetings, we will help you connect with other participants. We will offer partial recordings of the sessions for those who can’t attend live, and still want to join us.
If you are white and have not taken the original course, you are 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.
A technical note: You should receive a confirmation email within a day of completing your registration. If you don’t receive this email, please contact us at whiteandawakening@eastbaymeditation.org so that we can troubleshoot this issue!
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.
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via or our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana.

Crystal Johnson is a retired clinical psychologist and a Community Teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) in Oakland, CA, where she also serves on the Leadership Sangha (Board) and as a member of the Radical Inclusivity Committee. She completed the year long Commit2Dharma training at EBMC, as well as the 2-year Dedicated Practitioner Program and the 2-year Community Dharma Leader Program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. In her teaching, she focuses on creating/co-creating programs for white dharma practitioners seeking to build awareness, knowledge and skills to challenge the dynamics of white privilege and race-based oppression, and create truly inclusive sangha. Her courses include White and Awakening in Sangha at EBMC, Unpacking Whiteness: Reflection and Action at the San Francisco Zen Center, White and Awakening Together at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Unpacking Whiteness for the Soto Zen Buddhist Association and Unpacking the Whiteness of Leadership for Branching Streams. She offers consultation to individuals and organizations seeking to disrupt the practices of white supremacy culture and support change toward racial equity.

Heather Lear, MIB (she/her), was born and raised with the Dharma in a family of Insight Meditation practitioners. She has served on the teaching team offering the 6-month White and Awakening in Sangha (WAS) program at East Bay Meditation Center since 2019, and currently serves as the Program Manager at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.
Heather is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Advanced Practitioners Program (APP), the Sati Center’s Buddhist Chaplaincy Training, Radiant Heart Qigong Teacher Training, Awakening Joy Teacher Training, and is currently training in Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness (TSM).

ONLINE: 8 Step Buddhist Recovery Deep Refuge
2023-10-07 10:00 - 11:30, 2023-09-30 10:00 - 11:30, 2023-09-23 10:00 - 11:30, 2023-09-16 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.

ONLINE: Maha Sangha
2023-10-06 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-09-29 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-09-15 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

ONLINE: Maha Sangha with Arisika Razak and Ramona Lisa-Ortiz Smith
2023-10-06 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-09-29 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-09-22 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-09-15 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: Alphabet Sangha
2023-10-03 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-09-19 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: Kwan Yin Dharmas: Compassion Practice for Queer and Trans People
2023-09-28 17:30 - 19:00, 2023-09-21 17:30 - 19:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Class Series, Thursday evenings
Sept 14, 21, 28 – 5:30-7 PM
Online over Zoom

Kwan Yin Dharmas: Compassion Practice for Queer and Trans People
Welcome to a transformative class series designed exclusively for queer and trans individuals, where the guiding light of Kwan Yin’s compassion will illuminate your path.
🕊️ About the Class Series:
Kwan Yin is the bodhisattva who “hears the cries of suffering of the world with ease.” She/They is always extending their compassion and protection to us, we need only to call on them to strengthen our relationship to what she’s offering: safety, guidance and belonging for all queer and trans people.
In this class we will work with the dharmas of compassion (karuna), equanimity (upekkha) and loving kindness (metta), calling the bodhisattva to us through chanting their invocation, to hold and protect queer and trans people everywhere. No experience, or even interest, in working with a deity is necessary. Each class will include embodied practice in compassion and the felt sense of safety, and discussion in small groups.

TEACHER BIOS:

emiko (she/they) was raised with the Dharma through the Western Insight tradition and began practicing Vipassana meditation as a child. Ancestrally, she comes from a long lineage of Jodo Shinshu Buddhist priests. Seeded with Insight meditation, steeped in the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, guided by Kuan Yin, touched deeply by Dzogchan, and growing into Higashi Honganji, emiko welcomes the many Dharma streams that flow through their life. They are a graduate of the East Bay Meditation Center’s first Spiritual Teacher & Leadership training and is currently a participant in the Sacred Mountain Sangha’s Dharmapala Training. She facilitates various sanghas locally and internationally, and works to create Dharma spaces by and for marginalized groups such as sex workers, and those disabled, neurodiverse, and/or chronically ill. As a mixed-raced, mixed-Buddhist queer, they practice holding contradictions with equanimity as they strive to co-create a more just and compassionate world.

Ream, pronouns: She/They. Ream is a queer organizer and somatics practitioner of European ancestry currently in Oakland, CA, organizing for economic and racial justice and immigrants’ rights, working for over 25 years in the labor movement and currently as the Strategic Campaigns Director for the United Domestic Workers’ Union. Ream is a graduate of EBMC’s PITA and WAS programs and is a co-founder of the Social Justice Sangha. Ream is a practitioner with Generative Somatics, teaching “Somatics for White Racial Justice Organizers” and holds trauma healing groups with activists and movement leaders.

ONLINE: Trans/Gender-Expansive Deep Refuge Group
2023-09-25 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: Maha Sangha
2023-09-22 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: Queer Leather Peer-Led Deep Refuge Group
2023-09-22 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.
