ONLINE: Maha Sangha
2026-01-02 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-01-09 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-01-16 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | 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: 8 Step Buddhist Recovery Deep Refuge
2026-01-03 10:00 - 11:30, 2026-01-10 10:00 - 11:30, 2026-01-17 10:00 - 11:30
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: Afrikan Healing and Wisdom
2026-01-04 09:00 - 10:30
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.

Every Body Every Mind Sangha
2026-01-04 18:00 - 19:30, 2026-01-11 18:00 - 19:30
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 CLASS SERIES: Finding Liberation in Relationship
2026-01-05 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-01-12 18:30 - 20:30
Finding Liberation in Relationship: Accountability, Conflict, Boundaries and Feedback
4 Monday evenings
December 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd 2025
6:30-8:30 PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
Online, open to all
With Dawn Haney and Regent Brown
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom

In this time of so much conflict, devastation and uprising, how do we bring our practice to our relationships, and how do we find freedom and choice there? Our friendships, partnerships, family and communities can be a source of joy and support, and also of struggle and suffering. In this four week class we will explore concrete practices grounded in Buddhist meditation, somatics, and transformative justice.
We will practice feedback, boundaries, mindful accountability, and nervous system regulation, while applying mindfulness to investigate our conditioned tendencies and positionality in power relations. Through turning towards the delight and difficulty in our relationships, including with Sangha, we will build resource and resilience and create space to be our most authentic selves in our relationships and in the larger world.

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.

To support our teachers, please do so via:
Venmo: dawnmarissa or Paypal: dawnmarissa@gmail.com
Venmo: @Regent_Brown or CashApp: $RegentBrown

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.

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.

Teaching Team

Dawn Haney is a teacher, coach, and consultant, committed to helping communities and organizations learn how to navigate change while attending to dynamics of identity and power. They braid together wisdom from Buddhism, social justice, and psychology traditions, and alchemize this with their own experiences as a white, fat, queer, neurodivergent, nonbinary femme to support individual and community change. A dharma student since 2003, she is a Community Teacher at East Bay Meditation Center, mentors new meditation teachers, and offers DEIA and organizational development consulting to meditation programs and social change groups.

Regent Brown (Queen) is a biracial Afro-Indigenous, disabled, two-spirit womxn who has been practicing the Dharma since 2016 and part of the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) community of practice since 2018. Regent’s story has had many twists including surviving cancer twice, relocating during the pandemic, and being married for over a decade. And these twists have only deepened Regent’s passion for liberatory practices in the dharma. Regent supports liberation and decolonization as a coach, circle keeper, trainer, healer, facilitator, and participant in interdependent community wellness. As a recent graduate of the inaugural Freedom Together Mindfulness Teacher Program, and a current member of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders program, Regent joins a bountiful group of BIPOC mindfulness teachers working to weave decolonized practices through their work, relationships, and communities. Regent’s other practices of manifesting joy include karaoke, goats, traveling to photograph sunsets, gardening, and discovering small parks while walking her 7 year old Corgi mix pup, Perkelsnertz.

ONLINE: Parent-Caregiver Sangha
2026-01-05 20:00 - 21:15
EBMC’s Parent-Caregiver teaching team will be offering a monthly parents’ meditation group for restoration, support and connection.

Parenting often can be challenging…as well as a great practice. We offer a short talk, guided meditation and sharing. We gather to create a safe refuge to share the joys and the challenges of caring for young people by cultivating loving-kindness, compassion, patience and generosity with the support of the sangha. We welcome all parents/grandparents/caregivers of young people to join us. No prior experience necessary.

Meeting time: First Mondays of the month, 8-9:15 PM Pacific Time. On Zoom (closed captions provided).

Click here for more information.

IN-PERSON: Gather & Ground: Compassionate Community Building
2026-01-06 17:00 - 19:00, 2026-01-08 17:00 - 19:00, 2026-01-09 17:00 - 19:00, 2026-01-13 17:00 - 19:00, 2026-01-15 17:00 - 19:00, 2026-01-16 17:00 - 19:00
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
2026-01-06 19:00 - 20:30
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
2026-01-07 07:00 - 07:30, 2026-01-14 07:00 - 07:30
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

HYBRID: Midday Sangha
2026-01-07 12:00 - 13:35
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

ONLINE: Beginning a Mindfulness Meditation Practice
2026-01-07 18:30 - 20:30, 2026-01-14 18:30 - 20:30
ONLINE: Beginning a Mindfulness Meditation Practice
4 Class series, Wednesdays on January 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th
6:30 – 8:30PM PT (Time Zone Converter)
Part of EBMC’s Core Buddhist Teachings – 6-month Curriculum
Open to all
Closed Captioning Provided on Zoom

Are you looking for a way to start a mindfulness meditation practice, but don’t quite know how? These four classes will give you the basics of stationary and walking/gentle movement meditation in the vipassana (insight) style, and metta (loving kindness or good will) meditation. Don’t worry about “getting it right” – if you can sit – on a folding chair, on floor cushions, in a wheelchair – or lie down – and breathe, you’re off to a good start! This series is for those seeking stress reduction, or it can be the gateway to those new to Buddhism. Meditation can help you, over time, to develop a sense of increased physical well-being, mental clarity, compassionate connection, and spiritual growth.

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 “Beginning Meditation” 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 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 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

ONLINE: BIPOC Sangha
2026-01-08 19:00 - 20:30
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: Multiracial Peer-Led Deep Refuge Group
2026-01-10 19:00 - 21:00
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. Online and occasionally hybrid (in-person at EBMC + online).
Newcomers welcome- please contact us before your first visit: mrdrcoordinators at googlegroups dot com

ONLINE: Social Justice Lunchtime Sangha - Peer Led Deep Refuge group
2026-01-13 12:00 - 13:00
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

ONLINE: Alphabet Sangha
2026-01-13 19:00 - 20:30
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: Midday Sangha
2026-01-14 12:00 - 13:35

HYBRID: BIPOC Sangha
2026-01-15 19:00 - 20:30
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.
