East Bay Meditation Center

ONLINE: Queer Leather Peer-Led Deep Refuge Group
2023-05-26 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | 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: People of Color Sangha
2023-05-25 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-05-18 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-05-11 19:30 - 21:00, 2023-05-04 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.

HYBRID: How Have the Buddha's Teachings Helped Me?
2023-05-24 18:30 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Wrap-up class for EBMC’s Core Buddhist Curriculum Jan-May 2023
with Mushim Patricia Ikeda
Wednesday May 24th
6:30 – 8:30PM PST (Time Zone Converter) Closed Captioning Provided
For those who have taken either some or all of EBMC’s 7-Month “Buddhist Core Teachings” in Jan – May 2023, this is a wrap-up class where you can bring your “biggest” Buddhist practice questions, meet Dharma companions on the path, and rejoice in the merit that you have generated!
Please note: The focus of this Class is on what you are doing to deepen your spiritual practice and to transform your life through these wisdom teachings.

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: Trans/Gender-Expansive Deep Refuge Group
2023-05-22 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!

Every Body Every Mind Sangha
2023-05-21 18:00 - 19:30, 2023-05-14 18:00 - 19:30, 2023-05-07 18:00 - 19:30, 2023-04-30 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: 8 Step Buddhist Recovery Deep Refuge
2023-05-20 10:00 - 11:30, 2023-05-13 10:00 - 11:30, 2023-05-06 10:00 - 11:30, 2023-04-29 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
2023-05-19 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-05-12 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-05-05 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
2023-05-19 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-05-12 19:00 - 20:30, 2023-05-05 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: The Enduring Precepts: Basic Buddhist Ethics for Our Times
2023-05-17 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-05-10 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-05-03 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.

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

HYBRID: #MuditaRevolution: Cultivating the Heart of Joy to Compost Capitalism
2023-05-07 13:00 - 16:00, 2023-05-06 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.

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.
