All News

NEW! Commit 2 Sangha Program

Dear Sangha,

We are excited to present a NEW program called Commit 2 Sangha, from April to June 2024, and led by teachers Dawn Haney, Patrick Brown, and René Rivera!

 

Commit 2 Sangha is a 3-month program to deepen practice in sangha, our spiritual community.

 

Please join us for 6 sessions of a non-judgmental learning space to build connections with other EBMC mindfulness practitioners and deepen wisdom to practice Buddhist and social justice teachings that cultivate community. In the midst of the challenges of life, we are creating a community of practice that cultivates refuge and resilience, particularly centered for people with marginalized identities.

 

We offer this in-person pilot program to develop some of the relationships and capacities for the center to offer future online/hybrid versions, and a potential yearlong program in the lineage of Larry Yang’s Commit 2 Dharma.

 

Applications are open NOW through March 29: bit.ly/c2s2024

 

We hope you will join us for this new community-building series!  If you have questions, please email c2s at eastbaymeditation dot org

Community Meeting: Shaping EBMC’s New Potential Home! (HYBRID)

Join us in an incredible journey to discover our new potential building! Be part of shaping our future as we unveil plans, gather feedback, and explore possibilities together.

We’re excited to share the details of our building search and upcoming fundraising campaign. Your ideas and insights are invaluable, guiding our project’s direction

Saturday, August 26th:

Building Tour – 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM,

In-person & Zoom Discussion – 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM

Register here to get the meeting information for zoom and tours.

Due to staff capacity and health safety, space for the physical tours and in-person discussions at the center will be limited to 40.

Building Tour:

Get a firsthand look at the potential building, exploring its space and envisioning the possibilities it holds. Whether you’re a longtime community member or new to the fold, this tour will help you become familiar with the layout and start imagining how it could become a vibrant hub for our activities. Address of the tour about .5 mile from 19th st. BART and EBMC’s current space. It will be shared after registration

Hybrid Meeting: During this interactive meeting, we will:

Share insights on our building search and fundraising campaign.

Provide an opportunity for you to voice your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions.

Clarify any questions you might have about the project’s goals and direction.

Introduce the proposed building’s floor plan for review.

Our architect team, who will present the building plan and address your queries live on August 16th, which will be recorded and shared August 26th.

Your Role:

Participate actively, share thoughts, and help us understand your priorities. This open forum welcomes all voices, fostering an inclusive environment where every opinion matters.

Join Us:

Save the dates and contribute your enthusiasm on these important occasions.

Celebrate with us! Re-opening Community Gathering – July 16th

East Bay Meditation Center is celebrating our community by hosting a summer party at Snow Park!

We have been mostly online for over three years. As we learn to meet in person more safely, we are looking forward to marking this new moment with a community celebration. Join us as we commemorate EBMC’s hybrid programming at our July 16th Reopening Celebration at Snow Park followed by a week of hybrid classes and practice groups.

On Sunday, July 16th from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM we will be holding space at Snow Park, a block from our center and also hosting group tours of the temple. We are honored to have one of our dear EBMC founders, Larry Yang, welcome us to the celebrations at the park. Join us for group meditations, sound healing, dance and drumming under the oak trees. You’re also invited to bring your spiritual friends and community, roll out a blanket and catch up in the sun.

Small group tours of EBMC will happen on the hour, with sign-ups at the park, and include: access to a memorial altar honoring sangha/community members lost in these last three plus years, a twenty-minute group meditation in the temple room, and information about the center and upcoming programs. For the tour, you will be asked to put on shoe booties at the door and to wear a KN95/N95 mask throughout your time inside the center.

There will be a closing circle at the Snow Park’s Putting Green at 1:45 pm.

Come celebrate with us! Watch this space for the Sunday event and weeklong hybrid schedule.

Email ramon (at) eastbaymeditation.org if you want to volunteer, have proposals or questions

Please save the date and look out for more details to come.

Larry is a senior advisor in Mindfulness and Healing Justice for the Kataly Foundation, to provide grants for supporting community-based mindfulness and awareness practices and projects for ethnically and racially diverse multicultural communities and organizations. For 20 years, Larry has taught meditation retreats nationally. He has a special interest in creating access to both Buddhist and secular mindfulness for non-dominant cultures, and in transforming the strong currents of White Supremacy in our Mindfulness communities. Larry has practiced meditation for 30+ years, with extensive time in Burma and Thailand, and a six month period of ordination as a Buddhist monastic. Larry is one of the founding teachers of both East Bay Meditation Center (Oakland) and Insight Community of the Desert (Palm Springs). He has trained teachers for spiritual leadership within communities of color and LGBTQI communities for 15 years. Larry was honored for his work in racial justice by being selected as the community Grand Marshal in the 2016 San Francisco LGBTIQ Pride Parade, whose theme that year was “For Racial and Economic Justice.” His book, “Awakening Together: the Spiritual Practice of Inclusivity and Community,” is published by Wisdom Publications. 

 

 

 

Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks and be fully vaccinated against covid19, which at this time means having received the covid bivalent booster no less than two weeks before the event. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.)

To attend in person, you need to be completely free of fragranced body and clothing products — more information and a list of fragrance free products, including those that are especially good for people of color, appears on our website:

https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/

East Bay Meditation Center is a scent free / fragrance free space and is wheelchair accessible.

 

EBMC is hiring! – Development and Fundraising Coordinator

About the Role

The Development and Fundraising Coordinator will be the primary person responsible for administrative and communication to execute fundraising efforts, including our recurring donor program, three yearly fundraising campaigns, fundraising events, and gift economics education. The Development and Fundraising Coordinator works in partnership with the Development Director who frames EBMC’s development strategy and practices in a shared leadership structure.  EBMC operates from a Shared Leadership framework, where workers develop a sense of shared ownership and accountability through committee work, emergent strategy, and staff relationship building.  This is a full time, 35 hour per week, salaried position.  

Click here to read full Job Description.

 

If you are interested in joining the team at East Bay Meditation Center and helping us uplift our mission of fostering liberation, personal and interpersonal healing, social action, and inclusive community building, please email your resume and a cover letter to  hr AT eastbaymeditation DOT org

 

Is EBMC Reopening Its Physical Site? FAQ

Is EBMC Reopening Our Physical Space? FAQ

EBMC closed our physical space at 285 17th Street in Oakland (zip code: 94612, at the corner of 17th Street and Harrison) at the start of the Covid pandemic in March 2020. It’s now 2023 and we’re getting quite a few questions about whether our physical space is reopening. If you don’t find an answer to your question below, please email admin at eastbaymeditation dot org. Thank you!

  1. Are any EBMC programs being held in the physical space?
    Yes, we’ve slowly begun to hold a few of our classes, using our new hybrid tech equipment, as concurrent or hybrid events, with people attending in person and on Zoom. The teachers may be present in person or on the Zoom only.
  2. How can I tell which programs/classes are hybrid?
    Check the calendar on our website, please. You may also wish to sign up for our weekly announcement email. [Note: Some hybrid classes may change to online/Zoom only if there are emergency storm warnings. If you are registered for a program – a class series or a half or full day retreat – and it needs to be held online only, you will receive an email from EBMC.
  3. Are any of the regular practice groups being held in the physical space? (For a list of practice groups, click HERE.)
    A few of the practice groups have begun to meet in person once a month. Please check with the practice group you’re interested in attending to learn the details.
  4. Do I have to be vaccinated for Covid and wear a mask to attend EBMC in person?
    Yes, we appreciate your supporting our community’s health and well-being. See full information about safety protocols HERE.
  5. I have some other questions about EBMC. How do I get answers?
    Click HERE to access our EBMC organizational directory.

 

 

 

 

EBMC inspires me to find ways to give back – Angel Nguyen

EBMC makes room for all of us to be heard – Ra Imhotep

EBMC is hiring a Programs Director!

“All of us have a natural brilliance that is yearning to come out and be expressed in the daily activities of our life, including our work. This spark longs to be seen by others not in a superficial, attention-getting way, but in the most authentic way possible. Buddhists call this “Buddha-nature,” our awakened self. It is luminous and radiant, and it is a gift we give to others.”
― Maia Duerr, Work That Matters

East Bay Meditation Center is currently hiring for an Programming Director. This is a full-time, salaried staff position with immediate availability. If you are interested in joining the staff team at East Bay Meditation Center and helping us uplift our mission of fostering liberation, personal and interpersonal healing, social action, and inclusive community building, please send your resume and cover letter to the staff contact below.

Click here to read full Job Description.

Please email your application to  hr AT eastbaymeditation DOT org