Related Local Meditation Communities

The communities listed here are local to Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley and are closely-allied friends in the dharma.

Scroll down or click on a topic for more information:

• Spirit Rock Meditation Center
• Wednesday Vipassana Community
• Berkeley Buddhist Monastery
• East Bay Meditation Center
• Sanghas for Young Adults
• Saranaloka Foundation and Aloka Nun's Vihara
• Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery

Spirit Rock Meditation Center

Located in Marin County, Spirit Rock offers silent meditation retreats, classes, trainings, and other dharma study opportunities to help deepen your meditation and dharma practice. IMCB is one of many sitting groups led by a Spirit Rock teacher.

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Wednesday Vipassana Community in Berkeley

The Wednesday Vipassana Community is led by Richard Shankman. They meet Wednesday evenings from 7:15 to 9:15 pm at St. Clement's Episcopal Church, 2837 Claremont Blvd, Berkeley, CA. Please enter at the rear of the building facing Claremont Ave. For a map and directions: St. Clement's Church

See the Metta Dharma Foundation website for more information.

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Berkeley Buddhist Monastery

Besides hosting us each Thursday evening, Berkeley Buddhist Monastery maintains a full-schedule of classes and dharma activities, including daily open sitting meditation from 6:15 to 7:15 am and from 5:15 to 6:15 pm and daily evening chanting from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. The director of the monastery, Rev Heng Sure, has a Ph.D. from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, teaches on the staff at the Institute for World Religions, and is a musician exploring the relationship between music and the dharma. He has often shared his teachings and music with IMCB.

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East Bay Meditation Center

The East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC) is an independent center located in downtown Oakland, at 285 17th St @ Harrison, a 7 minute walk from 19th Street BART station. EBMC offers meditation training and spiritual teachings from Buddhist and other wisdom traditions, with attention to social action, multiculturalism, and the diverse populations of the East Bay and beyond. To learn more about this unique meditation center, view the 13-minute EBMC video featuring Alice Walker, Jack Kornfield, and EBMC teachers and community members.

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Sanghas for Young Adults

• Young Adult Dharma Council
  
  

The Young Adult Dharma Council is for young adults (ages 20-35) who want more connection in their practice. Our generation will soon be asked to carry on the dharma. We want this council to empower young adults in their Buddhist practice by creating a community of peers, share rich discussion about practice as young adults and explore how to bring our perspective and be a force in the larger dharma community, envisioning together how we can make a difference in the world around us.

We plan to meet once a month, at times including inspiration and support from senior dharma teachers.

People of all experience levels, races, ethnicities, sexual orientation, and gender identities are welcome. The event is offered on a dana (donation) basis. For more information visit the council's website, where you can also join an email discussion group, or email Kate Janke.

• Saturday Night Sangha

You are welcome to join the Saturday Night Sangha for any of our weekly gatherings. We are a peer-led community, mostly in our 20's and 30's, rooted in the Buddha-Dharma. However, we truly welcome all faiths, ages, and experiences—and our conversations tend to reflect this diversity.

At each gathering, we are led by an experienced practitioner from our Sangha. We typically begin with forty minutes of meditation, followed by a brief talk and an extended opportunity for group discussion. This allows us to share our paths and learn from each other.

Our ongoing vision is a simple one: to explore the intersection of the Dharma and our lives. If you share this vision, please know that you are warmly invited. We meet every Saturday from 6:00-7:30pm, and we often end up going out to eat afterward!

Saturdays, 6 - 7:30pm

East Bay Healing Collective
1840 Alcatraz, near Ashby BART
Berkeley, CA

For more information email Ellen.

• Bay Area Young Adult Sangha

Bay Area Young Adult Sangha is an informal gathering of young dharma practitioners (mostly in their 20s and 30s) who live in the greater Bay Area. Their intention is to celebrate the great diversity of our region and welcome people of all backgrounds and spiritual traditions.

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Saranaloka Foundation and Aloka Vihara

Saranaloka Foundation was established in 2004 to support nuns from Chithurst and Amaravati monasteries in England to come to the United States to teach. On the third Sunday of each month, the Saranaloka community invites the public to an evening of meditation, dharma reflection, and dialogue from 7 to 9 pm at Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, 2304 McKinley Avenue, Berkeley, CA. The evening is led by residents of Aloka Vihara. You are also welcome to join the community for tea in the monastery dining hall at 5:30 pm. See our Expanding Your Practice page for more information.

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Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery

On the first Tuesday of each month, monastics from Abhayagiri present a dharma talk and lead the group in chanting and meditation from 7:30 to 9:30 pm at the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, 2304 McKinley Avenue, Berkeley, CA.. The group is usually led by Ajahn Passano and other members of the Abhayagiri resident community. These meetings are an opportunity to directly experience the roots of our practice. Subscribe to their email list to receive notification of the meetings and other Abhayagiri events. See our Expanding Your Practice page for more information.

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