East Bay Meditation Center

IN PERSON: Gather & Ground: Compassionate Community Building
2025-10-21 17:00 - 19:00, 2025-10-23 17:00 - 19:00, 2025-10-24 17:00 - 19:00, 2025-10-28 17:00 - 19:00, 2025-10-30 17:00 - 19:00, 2025-10-31 17:00 - 19:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Gather & Ground: Compassionate Community Building
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays
5-7 PM PT
In person only

Starting the week of July 7th, we now have the center open every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 5-7pm. The first hour (5-6pm) will be for meditation in our temple or compassion room space or to peruse our library offerings. The second hour (6-6:45pm) will be for a fun social potluck in the kitchen space. Everyone is encouraged to bring something to share with the group. We hope this effort will build some momentum and energy for EBMC and bring more people in our community together in-person.

These new community building hours are the same evenings as our Alphabet (Tuesdays 7pm), BIPOC (Thursdays 7pm) and Maha Sanghas (Fridays 7pm) so we hope this effort will also encourage people to join those groups with a hope to generate enough attendance to bring them back to in-person every week! This was also based on feedback from the survey. See more info about our Practice Groups here.

There are so many reasons to be in community right now and EBMC wants to support this by opening our space during these times to anyone who needs it. We are stronger when we are in solidarity together to meet the moment we are in. We hope to see you soon! Come practice. Come snack. Come as you are. Feel free to bring a friend!

Please note: During these specific hours, masks will be encouraged, but not required. Again, this is a pilot effort that we are trying in this one area based on survey responses, with a goal of expanding our circle, but as of now, our masking policy remains the same for all other programming and events.

HYBRID: Alphabet Sangha
2025-10-21 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
2025-10-22 07:00 - 07:30, 2025-10-29 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
2025-10-22 12:00 - 13:35, 2025-10-29 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: Path of the Modern Bodhisattva, Class Series 1
2025-10-22 18:30 - 20:30, 2025-10-29 18:30 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Path of the Modern Bodhisattva (Class Series 1 of 2)
with Mushim Ikeda

Wednesday Evenings
October 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th 2025
6:30 – 8:30 PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
HYBRID
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks required

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

Embodiment! Joy! Commitment! Strategic Action! In Mahayana Buddhism, the Bodhisattva works and plays ceaselessly to liberate all suffering beings, lifetime after lifetime. And – how do you and I show up, day after day, in the gigantic mess of our times, to do the great work?

For the seventh 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 and by Thich Nhat Hanh.

Sign up for Series 2 (Nov 5-26, 6:30-8:30pm PT)
Sign up for the daylong ceremony (Dec 14, 10am-4pm PT)

Mushim (Patricia) Ikeda received Bodhisattva precepts and vows at the Zen Buddhist Temple-Toronto, Canada in 1983. She is an EBMC core teacher, a widely-published writer, and a social justice activist based in Oakland, California. Mushim has practiced as both a monastic and a lay householder. For events, writing, video teachings, go to www.mushimikeda.com

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 at bit.ly/ebmc-give 100% of our programming on a 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 “Bodhisattva” 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.

For Zoom participation, these are our Universal Access Guidelines:
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. 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

ONLINE SERIES: A Year to Live
2025-10-23 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
2025-10-23 19:00 - 20:30, 2025-10-30 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: BIPOC Write Action Deep Refuge Group
2025-10-24 18:30 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
The BIPOC Write Action Deep Refuge Group gathers monthly to pause, ground ourselves and practice writing as a form of creative self-expression and mindful reflection. Modeled on the EBMC Daylong event, the exercises are guided by prompts and participants are welcomed, but not required, to share their work with the group.
The Write Action Group is peer-led and members take turns facilitating and offering guiding prompts each month. Meetings are held on 4th Fridays, from 6:30-8:30pm PT over Zoom. Join us! Please email for more information: bipocwriteactiongroup@eastbaymeditation.org
Note: We acknowledge the history of the name “Write Action”, which was created by Kenji Liu and Mushim Ikeda. It was originally called Write Action for POC when they led the first workshop at EBMC on April 10, 2011.

ONLINE: Queer Leather Peer-Led Deep Refuge Group
2025-10-24 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.

HYBRID: Maha Sangha
2025-10-24 19:00 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Maha Sangha for All People & Communities
Creating Freedom in Community
Hybrid, every 4th Friday of the month, 7:00 – 8:30pm.
Event Details: Meets weekly on zoom, and starting to meet once a month in person, email mahasangha at eastbaymeditation dot org for more info and get on our newsletter
The EBMC Maha Sangha for All People and Communities is a meditation and dharma group with an emphasis on radical inclusivity and social justice.
Maha is a Pali word meaning whole, great, larger/largest, deepest, and Sangha is a Pali word for community, or community of practitioners. Together, these words represent a place where all people and communities are warmly invited to explore the Dharma together in keeping with East Bay Meditation Center’s core mission to foster liberation, personal and interpersonal healing, social action, and inclusive community building. We hope that you will join us.
The EBMC Maha Sangha’s leadership team of teachers, dharma leaders, and sangha members includes: Arisika Razak, Fresh! Lev White, Rebekah Eppley, Sarwang Parikh and Shay.
Contact: mahasangha at eastbaymeditation org

ONLINE: 8 Step Buddhist Recovery Deep Refuge
2025-10-25 10:00 - 11:30, 2025-11-01 10:00 - 11:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Every Saturday from 10AM – 11:30AM PST / PDT ONLINE
Compassionate Dharma Deep Refuge Buddhist meetings focus on ways to heal addiction. Based on the Eight Steps to Recovery developed by Dr. Mason-John M.A (hon.doc) and Dr Groves, we believe this inclusive approach can build a solid foundation for those at any level of recovery and for those who have yet to seek help.
Through these practices we hope you gain a practice that can sustain you in your recovery.
We are a multi-recovery space. Whether you are navigating addiction to substances like drugs and alcohol, or process addictions, such as disordered eating, codependency, or sex and love addiction–you are welcome here.
Advance Registration is not required.
For additional information, please contact: ebmcrecovery at gmail dot com.

HYBRID: White and Awakening in Sangha
2025-10-26 10:00 - 14:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
HYBRID: White and Awakening in Sangha
Sundays from 10am to 2pm PT
September 28, October 12 and 26, November 9 and 23, 2025
With Crystal Johnson, Kitsy Schoen, and Heather Lear
Open to white-identified practitioners
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks required

Please note; registration for this class is two steps: 1) On-Demand materials and 2) Live Class Registration.

Course Description
Since 2007, the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) has been offering courses designed for white people who want to build awareness and skills for disrupting the operation of white supremacy culture. We began this journey by developing a curriculum that guided white people into deeper awareness of our white conditioning, and built intra- and inter-personal skills to support the creation of inclusive sangha. Over time, we have gone deeper into the dharma practices that guide us toward wise effort and wise action in our lives and communities to address the harm arising from race-based oppression. By bringing our practice to bear our actions are guided by the Precepts and informed by the teaching of the Eightfold Path.

This year, we are offering the foundations class in a revised format and adapted for a time of great conflict and violence, and of intense political and psychological polarization around issues of race and justice and harm. We are offering the basic curriculum in an On-Demand, online format that participants can watch on their own time or by joining one of the hosted “watch parties” that will be offered. The live course meetings will be focused on:

Building a supportive community of white people to deepen our inquiries and support our efforts to grow and change
Digesting and sharing our increasing understanding of white conditioning, the operation of systemic racism and the psychological strategies that keep us stuck as we work to engage with the painful realities of white supremacy
Developing intra- and inter- personal skills for personal and community development
Cultivating meditation practices that allow us to stay present in very difficult circumstances while staying grounded in our values
Building our understanding of, and commitment to, wise effort and action guided by deep compassion

Format
This course is designed to include people with a wide range of experience. We will cover the basics of whiteness through the On-Demand materials that can be viewed privately or in one of the watch parties that we will host. The live sessions (offered both in person and online) will offer additional materials, including guided meditation, dharma talks and discussion, Q&R, small group conversations, and large group sharing. Partial recordings of live sessions will be available for people who wish to review the material or who have to miss a class meeting.

Prerequisites
Please come to the class with an established meditation practice, a genuine openness to learning from the teachers and other participants, and the willingness and capacity to move through difficult emotions and psychological disruption while staying engaged. This work requires courageous and honest self-reflection and the commitment to show up for ourselves and each other with compassion. We rely on the strength of our community to get through the hard stuff.
You will get the most out of this course if you:

Watch all the materials offered and complete the exercises
Do the offered practices every day
Show up with a wide open heart and willingness to be surprised
Come in person, if at all possible. We are very happy to welcome those who join us from far away, and we do feel there is something lost in being remote…

We invite you into our practice of Gift Economics
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. 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 seeks 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.
For this course, the teachers offer their time without monetary compensation as a practice of reparation, so that 80% of your donation for the On-Demand materials, and 100% of your registration contributions will go to support the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC). We will invite you to offer dana twice in this registration process (yes it’s a little clunky…).

Next Steps

First, please register for the On-Demand materials through Spirit Rock. The dana that you offer here will support EBMC (80%) who created the class, and Spirit Rock (20%), who produced it.
Second, please register through EventBrite for the EBMC live class here. We invite you to contribute as generously as you can, given your economic circumstances.
You may also contribute each time the class meets, or at any time, by going to the EBMC Donation page or through Venmo at @eastbaymeditation. If you attend the class in person, you may also contribute via check or cash.

Questions? Write to us at WhiteandAwakeninginSangha@eastbaymeditation.org

The On-Demand materials qualify for 6 homestudy CE credits for $100 for psychologists and California licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, and chiropractors.

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!

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.

TEACHERS

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.

Kitsy Schoen, MSW, began her mindfulness practice and was inspired to work as a hospice social worker after meeting Stephen Levine in 1979. Throughout her career she has been able to integrate mindfulness and her passion for racial equity into her work. At Kaiser Permanente, Kitsy led the NCAL Kaiser Psychiatry’s Cultural Diversity Workgroup and was a founding member of the “Isms Collaborative”, a group of representatives from public and private health care organizations that sought to address workplace bias in agencies committed to reducing health disparities. In 2004 she began Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leader program with the specific focus of bringing insight and compassion practices to working with other white people on racism. In 2007, she joined the Leadership Sangha (board) of East Bay Meditation Center and began offering antiracism classes to white practitioners. Kitsy has provided training and consultation to numerous mental health training programs and dharma centers on issues of racism, power and privilege.

Heather Lear (she/her) was born and raised with the Dharma in a family of Insight Meditation practitioners in the South, and is now based on unceded Ramaytush Ohlone land in San Francisco. She studies and teaches at the intersection of heart-centered Dharma, embodiment practices and DEIA work around white and awakening in community, and serves as the Program Manager at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Heather has completed various study and teaching programs, including Spirit Rock’s LEAP program, the Sati Center’s Buddhist Chaplaincy Training, and Radiant Heart Qigong Teacher Training with Teja Bell. She has served on the board at Insight Santa Cruz, on the teaching team offering the 6-month White and Awakening in Sangha program at the East Bay Meditation Center since 2019, and is part of the current Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leaders (CDL7) cohort.

Every Body Every Mind Sangha
2025-10-26 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-11-02 18:00 - 19:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Every Body Every Mind Sangha is a weekly practice group for people living with disabilities, limitations, differences and chronic illnesses.
Sundays
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

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

To join online, please email: ebem at eastbaymeditation dot org to request a Zoom link.
Please come and take part in this time to meditate, share our lives and support with each other, and learn more about the dharma. There is no need to register for these weekly meetings, just come and share this path together!
EveryBody, EveryMind Teacher Group: Debra Kerr, Kenji Oshima, Anne Finger, Master John W. Ellis IV, Beth Smith, Mushim Ikeda, Victor Jih, & Zac Krohn
For more info, visit the Every Body Every Mind Sangha Website.

ONLINE: Trans/Gender-Expansive Deep Refuge Group
2025-10-27 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!

ONLINE: Alphabet Sangha
2025-10-28 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: Maha Sangha
2025-10-31 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: Afrikan Healing and Wisdom
2025-11-02 09:00 - 10:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
ONLINE: Afrikan Healing and Wisdom
With Vimalasara Mason-John, Arisika Razak, and Aleta Toure’
First Sundays, starting November 3rd 2024
9:00 – 10:30 AM PT
Closed captioning provided over Zoom

November 2nd: GIVING THANKS/THANKSTAKING
Note that this day is also when we change our clocks in most of the United States (fall back one hour), so please plan accordingly.
This month in the USA we celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day – honoring the resistance and resilience of Native American peoples to European imperialism, and genocide. Today, let’s share stories of our joint struggles against enslavement and settler-colonialism, celebrating the bonds of kinship, support, and intermarriage that developed between our peoples throughout the Americas and the Caribbean. In particular, let’s remember the Plymouth Rock Black Indigenous people, whose story so rarely gets told.
We also acknowledge the complexity of our histories, recognizing African American participation as Buffalo soldiers in wars against Native Americans, and our enslavement by the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek (Muscogee), and Seminole nations. We honor the steps towards healing taken by the Cherokee nation which apologized for the enslavement of African Americans and granted full citizenship rights to all the descendents of Cherokee freedpeople.
Please bring your stories, your ancestors and your lineages to share.
——
Join us for EBMC’s first Black-led, Black-Sangha Affinity group held on the first Sunday of every month starting on Sunday, November 3rd, 2024 from 9 AM till 10:30 AM.
Today, those of us living in the USA vibrate to the breath of our Ancestral North Star, highest realm of guidance. Our ancestors are with us, as we step into a seemingly repeated quantum leap of time, during one of the most turbulent election seasons since the presidential election of 1876, and the 1877 compromise which ended Reconstruction. We are in a sentinel moment, echoing the situations described in Martin Luther King’s book, “Why We Can’t Wait”. Like our Diasporan kinfolx, we are questioning our common humanity, as we see the age-old dream of peace, and ecological balance distorted in the deep and seemingly bottomless pool of genocide, war, climate change, ecological devastation, poverty and global health pandemics.
Join us as we bring a timely spoonful of Afrikana medicine to these challenging and difficult times. We’ll add ancestral healing traditions to the simple practice of the breath, sharing meditations, libations, chanting and other embodied practices to remember our resilience, honor our ancestors, and support an inclusive and affirming community for all members of the Afrikan Diaspora.

REGISTRATION LINKS – sign up now for current and future meetings!
November 2nd registration
December 7th registration

COST

Here at EBMC, we practice gift economics and our programs are offered freely without set fees. Financial gifts from our community help to sustain our teachers AND our center. Generosity is the Buddha’s first teaching, the lifeblood of EBMC, and an act of sacred reciprocity. We ask that those who have more financial means give more, in order to help balance the giving of those who have less financial means.
To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, please do so via our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana. Consider becoming a monthly donor for any amount! These contributions are especially valuable to our sustainability.
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.
Giving Information:
VENMO: @Arisika-Razak
PAYPAL: arisikarazak@gmail.com
(Please reference “Afrikan Healing & Wisdom” and the teachers will share the gifts with each other)

TEACHING TEAM

Vimalasara (Valerie) Mason-John is the author of the new revised edition of Detox Your Heart – Meditations For Emotional Trauma published by Wisdom books in 2017. She is co-author of the award-winning book Eight Step Recovery – Using The Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction. She is a TEDx speaker and is the author of eight books including her award winning novel Borrowed Body. She is the curator of Teachings in Uncertain Times, an online retreat by Teachers of Color for Tricycle Magazine February 2017. She is a leading African Canadian voice in the field of Mindfulness for Emotional Trauma and Addiction.

Arisika Razak, MPH, EBMC Core teacher, is the former Chair of the Women’s Spirituality Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Previously a nurse-midwife, her teachings incorporate diverse spiritual traditions, women’s health and healing, multicultural feminisms, queer theory, and diversity theory. Arisika has led national and international healing workshops and ritual celebrations for women for over three decades, as well as embodied spiritual workshops for people of all genders. She has co-facilitated workshops with Marlene Jones at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and regularly leads workshops at EBMC.

Aleta Toure’ (Visiting Teacher) Aleta Toure’ bears witness as a vessel for social change through organizing, education and healing arts. She centers healing in monastic lifestyle knowledge though Intentional Communities and Black cooperative movements. Her cooperative serves communities through Black Trauma Anonymous (BTA), Tai chi, Ecstatic Healing Dance and Healing Responders. Aleta spends time within Peace Pagodas, monasteries, hermitages, and dojos which have framed her work through Free Marissa Now, “I am Troy Davis”, University Without Walls and other Diasporic Movements. She leads the 2025 California Reparations Interfaith Healing Walk to bring healing, theory and practice back as a Liberation tool.

Communal Grief Project for BIPOC
2025-11-02 10:00 - 16:00 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
Communal Grief Project for BIPOC
Part 1: Monday, October 13th 2025
Part 2: Sunday, November 2nd 2025
10 AM to 4 PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
With Mushim Ikeda and Damali Robertston
Open to BIPOC, ages 18+
In person only at EBMC (285 17th St, Oakland CA)
The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible
N95/KN95 masks required

This 2-part secular series, open to BIPOC-identified folx, offers a space for reflection and connection through communal listening circles and guided practices to help us move through grief, with the support of a licensed therapist. Together, we’ll look beyond grief related to death and explore how all forms of loss — from police violence and climate anxiety to threats against human rights and bodily autonomy shape our lives.

You are invited to attend both sessions or only one. Daylong #1 (Oct. 13th 2025 – register here) focuses on Communal grief and Daylong #2 (Nov. 2nd 2025 – register here) focuses on individual experiences with grief.

This listening circle is part of The Communal Grief Project, a larger international project on grief in the U.S., Mexico, and Tanzania. To participate you must be 18 years of older and be okay with a member of our team taking notes on the information shared during the listening circles. Information shared will be completely anonymous — your name and information will not be identifiable. We are gathering information about experiences with grief in order to develop communal grief practices to help heal ourselves and our communities. You can learn more about the project here: https://communalgriefproject.com/

These daylongs will include breaks and an extended lunch period. Snacks and drinks will be provided but you are invited to bring a lunch.

NOTE: Space is limited to 25 attendees. Please sign up now to save your spot!

REGISTER FOR PART 1, OCTOBER 13, 2025
REGISTER FOR PART 2, NOVEMBER 2, 2025

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 at bit.ly/ebmc-give 100% of our programming on a 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 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.
East Bay Meditation Center is a scent free / fragrance free space and is wheelchair accessible.

Public Transportation/Parking:
– We strongly encourage public transportation/biking/walking since parking in the neighborhood is limited.Please avoid parking your car on the street in a metered space during this time as it will cause an interrupted retreat experience.
– EBMC is 4-5 blocks from 19th Street Bart (about a 7 minute walk).
– EBMC has bike parking inside the center.
– Please note that parking meters are enforced Monday – Saturday, 8 am – 6 pm.
– Parking on Alice, Jackson and 17th between Alice and Lakeside drive is unmetered and has no time limit on Saturdays. – There are also garages on Harrison at 15th and on Harrison between 17th and 19th. If you are planning to drive, please allow extra time for parking.

Teachers

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

Damali Robertson, MA is a certified Resilience Toolkit facilitator, trauma-informed leader, and emerging filmmaker guided by three values: Love, Liberation, and Compassion. As a sought-after facilitator, she recently co-facilitated a series of BIPOC grief retreats at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She also co-facilitates a weekly forum about spirituality and social justice called Imagining Justice. As Director of Community Engagement at LifeLong Medical Care, She has spent the last two years leading trauma-informed and human-centered work for more than 1,000 staff and hundreds of community members. She is also currently making a film about faith and spirituality as pathways to collective liberation. Damali’s life and work are grounded in mindfulness practices, spiritual principles, and lived-commitments to equity, justice and thriving. Damali holds BAs in Political Science and Literature from Africa and the Diaspora from Pitzer College, an MA in Communications for Social and Behavior Change from the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, and an MA in Social Justice and Community Organizing from Prescott College.

ONLINE: Introduction to Mindfulness and Meditation
2025-11-03 18:00 - 20:30 | East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th Street, Oakland, CA, 94612, United States
ONLINE: Introduction to Mindfulness and Meditation
4 week course
Mondays on November 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th 2025
6:00 – 8:00PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
With Imee Contreras, Janet Roos and Rebekah Eppley
Online only
All are welcome

This 4-week introductory course invites you to explore the foundations of mindfulness while nurturing compassion, joy, and ease in daily life. Drawing from both Buddhist teachings and contemporary science, we will practice the Four Foundations of Mindfulness alongside guided meditations on the Brahma Vihāras — loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity.
Each session combines guided meditation, short talks, and group reflections to deepen understanding and connection. Participants will also receive resources and practices to support mindfulness during the week, helping to establish or strengthen a regular meditation practice.
Our aim is to create a safe, inclusive space for:

Learning practical mindfulness tools for everyday life
Cultivating steady presence and emotional balance through weekly practices
Connecting with Sangha — a supportive community of practitioners

Open to beginners and experienced meditators alike. No prior meditation experience is needed.

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.
Note that all Eventbrite ticket sales go to EBMC and not the teachers.

To support our dear teachers,
Venmo: @Rebekah-Eppley
PayPal: raeppley@gmail.com
(Please reference “Intro to Mindfulness” and the teachers will share the gifts with each other)

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.
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:
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.

Teachers

Imee Contreras
Imee is recognized as a leading mindfulness teacher in the Philippines and across Asia. She is the founder of Mindfulness Asia and Nibbāna Forest Refuge. She is a co-founder of Philippine Insight Meditation Community and Katahimikan; Philippine Day of Mindfulness. She is a mentor for Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach’s Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program and the Power of Awareness at Sounds True, an authorized teacher at UCLA Health, a Cross-Cultural Mindfulness Teacher and Board Member of Braided Wisdom, and a visiting teacher at East Bay Meditation Center. She is a founding Advisory Council member of the Global Compassion Coalition.
She graduated from Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leadership Program, UCLA’s Training in Mindfulness Facilitation program, and is an IMTA-Certified Mindfulness Teacher. She develops and facilitates mindfulness programs for companies, schools, and events; both locally and internationally. She volunteers to teach incarcerated women serving life imprisonment and also supports abused women and children in the Philippines.

Janet E. Roos (she/her) CMT-P
Janet serves as the Chief Financial Officer, Teacher/Mindfulness Facilitator, and Consultant for non-profit Braided Wisdom. She is a UCLA-Certified Mindfulness Facilitator, a graduate of the Braided Wisdom Leadership Training Program, and a certified Mindfulness Mentor (Banyan).
With a passion for integrating mindfulness into daily life, she has introduced mindfulness best practices to corporate employees, athletes, and diverse communities.
With a leadership journey spanning decade, she began as a co-captain in athletics and went on to lead more than 35 years of innovation in business technology, driving change across diverse industries from Financial Services, Information Technology, Consultancy and Health Care. A four-time Hall of Fame inductee and recognized elite athlete, Janet has learned through both triumphs and challenges that true resilience comes from within. She deeply honors the value and love of family and community. As well as, a daily mindfulness practice in everyday life as a gentle path to reconnect with ourselves and to nurture deeper connection with one another and with the living earth that sustains us.
She draws inspiration from time spent in nature, where she finds balance, renewal, and a reminder of the deep interconnectedness of all life. She is grateful to offer service to community through volunteer work and brings her experience and open-heart as a member of the board of two nonprofit organizations.

Rebekah Eppley
Rebekah is a writer and worked as a librarian at Oakland Public Library for 18 years. She was introduced to meditation and the Dharma through a Mindful Writing course in 2013 by her late teacher Chris Malcomb. She started a more formal meditation practice with Zenju Earthlyn Manuel at her Still Breathing Center in 2014 and found her way to the East Bay Meditation Center in late 2014 where she has been practicing since. She made her Bodhisattva vows with Mushim Ikeda in 2017 and renewed them in 2024. She’s a member of EBMC’s Program Committee and volunteers and teaches with EBMC’s Maha Sangha. In 2023 she graduated from EBMC’s Spiritual Teacher and Leadership program and is currently part of the Community Dharma Leaders Training at Spirit Rock.
