East Bay Meditation Center

ONLINE: 8 Step Buddhist Recovery Deep Refuge
2025-04-12 10:00 - 11:30, 2025-04-19 10:00 - 11:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | 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: Multiracial Peer-Led Deep Refuge Group
2025-04-12 19:00 - 21:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
HYBRID ON APRIL 12TH 2025!
The Multiracial Deep Refuge Group is a monthly exploratory Deep Refuge Group for and by people who identify as multiracial. Our meetings include periods of mindfulness meditation and sharing of narratives and perspectives as we come together to be seen and to see one another. By sitting and exploring our own unique stories, we can come to know and care for the common threads that bind us together. Our collective work bravely expands the narrative that informs multiracial experience today. Meets 7pm-9pm on the second Saturdays of every month.
Newcomers welcome- please contact us before your first visit: mrdrcoordinators at googlegroups dot com

Center Open Hours
2025-04-13 16:00 - 18:00, 2025-04-20 16:00 - 18:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
We welcome you to drop by the center for unguided silent practice, our library, or a cup of tea in our kitchen.
with EBMC Staff
Sundays
4 – 6 PM Pacific Time
EBMC is a fragrance-free center and is wheelchair accessible. N95/KN95 masks required.
Note: Due to capacity limitations of our small staff, we may occasionally need to shorten or cancel open hours. We will do our best to give as much advanced notice as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

Every Body Every Mind Sangha
2025-04-13 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-04-20 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.

Center Open Hours
2025-04-15 11:00 - 13:00, 2025-04-17 11:00 - 13:00, 2025-04-22 11:00 - 13:00, 2025-04-24 11:00 - 13:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
We welcome you to drop by the center for unguided silent practice, our library, or a cup of tea in our kitchen.
with EBMC Staff
Daytime: Tuesday & Thursday
11 AM – 1 PM Pacific Time
EBMC is a fragrance-free center and is wheelchair accessible. N95/KN95 masks required.
Note: Due to capacity limitations of our small staff, we may occasionally need to shorten or cancel open hours. We will do our best to give as much advanced notice as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

HYBRID: Alphabet Sangha
2025-04-15 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: Kapwa Meditation for Filipinx/a/o Community
2025-04-16 07:00 - 07:30, 2025-04-23 07:00 - 07:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
We are happy to announce that a weekly Kapwa Meditation for Filipinx/a/o folks will begin on Wednesday, Jan. 8, from 7:00 to 7:30 AM Pacific Time. We will continue to gather every Wednesday morning, coming together for support and practice, on our paths of individual and collective transformation.

In addition to our weekly meditation, we would like to remind everyone of our monthly Kapwa Deep Refuge Group for Filipinx/a/o folks. Launched in the Spring of 2024, we meet on the third Sunday of every month, from 9:00 to 10:30 AM Pacific Time.
Together, in both spaces, we aspire to cultivate a special community space in the intersection of Filipinx/a/o identity + culture + history and Buddhist spiritual practice.
The Zoom credentials are the same for both our weekly Wednesday meditation and our monthly gathering.
If you identify as Filipinx/a/o and would like to join, please contact us at: kapwa.deep.refuge@gmail.com

ONLINE: Midday Sangha
2025-04-16 12:00 - 13:35, 2025-04-23 12:00 - 13:35 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Join our peer-led multicultural sangha for silent meditation practice and community building.
Every Wednesday
12:00 – 12:45pm PST Silent sitting, standing or lying down meditation with optional walking meditation.
12:55 – 1:35pm PST Facilitated conversation about our practice and being the dharma in the world
HYBRID EVERY FIRST WEDNESDAY, ONLINE FOR OTHER MEETINGS (unless otherwise noted)
Midday Sangha Coordinating Committee:
emiko yoshikami, Jennie Powe Runde, Sakshi Uomoto, Elese Lebsack and Robert Gavino
email middaysangha at eastbaymeditation dot org for zoom link and password

HYBRID CLASS SERIES: Buddhist Love, Compassion, Joy, & Equanimity
2025-04-16 18:30 - 20:30, 2025-04-23 18:30 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Buddhist Love, Compassion, Joy, & Equanimity
4 Class series, Wednesdays on April 2nd, 9th, 16th, and 23rd
6:30 – 8:30PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
Part 4 of EBMC’s Core Buddhist Teachings – 6-month Curriculum
HYBRID
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks required

The Brahmaviharas (Divine Abodes), also called the Four Immeasurables, are Buddhist teachings and practices that help us to access dynamic calming, stilling, and healing mindbody states. As we cultivate the limitless qualities of loving goodwill, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity, in time we harvest true happiness, spiritual strength, and awakening insight. These practices are considered complementary to insight (mindfulness) meditation. Dharma talks, discussion and Q&A. Instruction provided for beginners in meditation.

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.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may 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.

Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all.
Venmo: @MushimPatricia-Ikeda
PayPal: info@mushimikeda.com
Please indicate “Brahmaviharas” in the subject line.

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 in-person participation:
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 60 people to allow ample space for social distancing. Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.) Please note: The teacher may be unmasked while teaching.
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.

Universal Access Requests on Zoom to help with sound and video quality. If possible…
1. When speaking, introduce your name, pronouns, and (optionally) a brief physical description of yourself.
2. If using virtual backgrounds, please use static, simple, high-contrast backgrounds.
3. Please keep your camera still while your camera is on.
4. Please repeat your name when you speak to help those with visual impairment.
5. The host/volunteer will attempt to read any comments that appear in the chat out loud.
6. Please strive for clear audio and mute when you are not speaking. Phone access is also available.
7. If you have unmet access needs, please send a message to the volunteer or host in the chat. If the chat is not accessible to you, please offer them briefly in one minute or less via voice. Please do not send access requests directly to other participants.

Teacher

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 and with people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. 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 recipient of an honorary doctor of sacred theology degree from the Starr King School for the Ministry. Mushim was selected by Lion’s Roar Buddhist media magazine as one of twenty-six “Great Buddhist Teachers” in the January 2022 issue. www.mushimikeda.com

HYBRID: BIPOC Sangha
2025-04-17 19:00 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
The BIPOC Sangha is a growing community of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color waking up and getting free!
Thursdays
7 – 8:30 PM PT
**Hybrid on First and Third Thursdays (online only on other Thursdays)
**Potluck in the EBMC kitchen on the Third Thursday meeting, from 6-7 PM PT! Bring a dish or beverage to share.
Closed Captions Provided.
Zoom info: Meeting details are shared through their mailing list (subscribe on their website), and their Facebook group.

ONLINE: Maha Sangha with Arisika Razak and Ramona Lisa-Ortiz Smith
2025-04-18 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-04-25 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

ONLINE: Maha Sangha
2025-04-18 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: Kapwa Deep Refuge Group for Filipinx/a/o Practitioners
2025-04-20 09:00 - 10:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
This is a peer-led deep refuge group for self-identifying Filipinx/a/o (including mixed) folks. Together we cultivate a special community space in the intersection of Filipinx/a/o identity + culture + history and Buddhist spiritual practice. We gather to support each other, heal, and walk the Dharma path.

Kapwa Deep Refuge will meet every 3rd Sunday at 9am PST – 10:30am PST via Zoom. The inaugural meeting will be on April 21, 2024.

If you identify as Filipinx/a/o and would like to join, please contact us at: kapwa.deep.refuge@gmail.com

IN PERSON DAYLONG: Healing Wounds of Christianity
2025-04-20 10:00 - 15:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
IN PERSON DAYLONG: Healing Wounds of Christianity
Sunday April 20th 2025
10AM to 3PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
With Melvin Escobar and Dawn Haney
Open to all
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks required

As mindfulness practitioners learning in the United States, the cultural dominance of Christianity shapes our practice in unacknowledged ways. How have we attempted to escape the traumatic and historical wounds of Christianity with our mindfulness practice, only to find the same puritan values infused here too?
Melvin & Dawn will bring together mindfulness practices and expressive art activities to directly explore Christian dominance (including its whiteness/patriarchy) and how we might collectively heal ourselves and our practices.
Note: There will be a lunch break from 12:30-1:30pm. EBMC has a kitchen with a microwave, toaster oven, and refrigerator you may use. There are also a few places in the neighborhood to purchase food and drink.

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.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may 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.

Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all.
For Dawn:
Paypal: dawnmarissa@gmail.com
Venmo: dawnmarissa
For Melvin:
Paypal: melvin@melvinescobar.com
Venmo @Melvin-Escobar

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 in-person participation:
For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 60 people to allow ample space for social distancing. Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.) Please note: The teacher may be unmasked while teaching.
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.

Teachers

Melvin Escobar (he/him) is a Core Teacher at the East Bay Meditation Center, licensed psychotherapist, and yoga instructor. He has walked the path of service for much of his life, drawing on his experiences as a queer man of color from an immigrant working-class background. Melvin is driven by the desire to make wisdom teachings accessible in culturally relevant ways and continues daily to learn the revolutionary potential of body-centered contemplative practices for personal and social healing.

Dawn Haney (they/she) has been organizing, coaching, teaching, and writing for 25 years, on feminism, white anti-racism, Buddhism, leadership, and liberation. They weave wisdom from Buddhism and social justice traditions, understanding identity, power, and change through their own experiences as a white, fat, queer, nonbinary femme, and through social movements from migrant justice to fat liberation. A dharma student since 2003, she is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders program, a Community Teacher at East Bay Meditation Center and the Alphabet Sangha, and has taught across the US, including as a former Co-Director of Buddhist Peace Fellowship.

ONLINE: Alphabet Sangha
2025-04-22 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
Please email: alphabetsangha at eastbaymeditation dot org to request Zoom link to join online.
For more information, visit the ALPHABET SANGHA WEBSITE

ONLINE SERIES: A Year to Live
2025-04-24 17:00 - 19:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
ONLINE SERIES: A Year to Live
with Tania Triana and Ream
6 Thursdays
Feb 27th, April 24th, June 26th, August 28th, October 23rd, December 11th
Time: 5-7 PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
OPEN TO ALL
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom

What if 2025 was the last year of your life? In Buddhism, we practice to meet conditions as they arise and to bring our practice to each moment, without preference for the outcome and with the maximum compassion. This yearlong course will build your capacity to live each day of your life with intention, supported by practice, even as the conditions around us intensify, such as climate crisis, political repression and war.

We will come together to meet the world as it unfolds, moment to moment, and to strengthen our practice of mindfulness, wise understanding, wise action, equanimity, and joy. In community, we will prepare for a good death, which is inevitable– one that is supported by heart practices, such as forgiveness and loving kindness, and the Buddha’s ethical teachings on life and loss. With one another, we can face what comes.

This course features six months of live group work with the teachers, and six months of small group peer work over the course of the year. Your registration covers ALL SIX live meetings.

The five remembrances of the Buddha, first found in the Upajjhatthana Sutta (“Subjects for Contemplation”), are intended to be recited every day:

I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.
I am of the nature to have ill health. There is no way to escape having ill health.
I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

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.
The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. Please scroll through the entire menu to see all the options. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an “add-on” to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.
Other ways to give:
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may 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.

Giving to our teachers:
Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all. In this way, we practice sacred reciprocity between teachers and students.
VENMO: @ranger18ream
PAYPAL: Adelante@riseup.net
(Please reference “Year to Live” and the teachers will share the gifts with each other)
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 Zoom participation, these are our Universal Access Guidelines:
– Please do not use virtual or blurred backgrounds
– Please keep your camera still when it’s turned on
– Please say your name when you speak
– Facilitators will attempt to read any comments in the chat out loud
– Please mute when you’re not speaking.

Teaching Team

Tania Triana (they / she / elle / ella) is a queer Black Latina spiritual warrior and proud bilingual daughter of Latin American immigrants. Tania is grateful to have found a spiritual home and social justice community at EBMC and in the virtual sangha of Buddhists for Justice in Palestine. They served on EBMC’s Leadership Sangha (board of directors) from 2019 to 2024, and graduated from the EBMC’s inaugural Spiritual Teacher and Leadership Program in 2023. When she’s not teaching her brilliant high school students or leading meditations at EBMC or BJ Pal, Tania can typically be found with her head buried deep in a book, or out and about enjoying walks in nature, hamming it up at karaoke, or plotting our collective liberation.

Ream (they/them) is a queer organizer 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 Community Teacher at the EBMC and is a co-founder of EBMC’s Social Justice Sangha, and Racial Justice Skills for White Practitioners Deep Refuge Group. Ream is a teacher and practitioner with Generative Somatics.

ONLINE: BIPOC Sangha
2025-04-24 19:00 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
The BIPOC Sangha is a growing community of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color waking up and getting free!
Thursdays
7 – 8:30 PM PT
**Online on Second, Fourth (and the possible Fifth) Thursdays
**Hybrid on First and Third Thursdays
**Potluck in the EBMC kitchen on the Third Thursday meeting, from 6-7 PM PT! Bring a dish or beverage to share.
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
2025-04-25 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.
