Dharma Friend Groups forming throughout the San Francisco Bay Area - contact DharmaFriends@spiritrock.org
Available Dharma Friends/Kalyana Mitta Groups
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA:
East Bay (North Oakland/Berkeley) – We meet first and third Mondays from 7-9 pm: 30 minute meditation, short check-in, discussion of the reading and how it applies to our lives and practice, brief closing meditation. Contact Kevin for more information: k.barney@sbcglobal.net.
East Bay – Community of Buddhist Helping Professionals
First Sunday of the month, 10am - 3:30pm. Balancing care for others and care for ourselves, bringing the dharma to our work. Contact: Richard Bush at (510) 236-4440. Wendy McVey at mailwen_2000@yahoo.com.
East Bay – El Sobrante, El Cerrito, Montclair. Group meets 4th Sunday of the month from 3-5 PM. Meditation and discussion of dharma books chosen by members and read across several months. Open to experienced meditators who have a daily practice or the intention to develop one, and who have attended two or more retreats. Contact: Giedra at (510) 508-2680 or giedra12@aol.com.
East Bay (Berkeley/Oakland) – Women’s group for experienced practitioners who have been on at least one 5-7 day retreat. Meet the second and fourth Monday of the month from 7 to 9 pm. Meditate for 30 minutes, check-in briefly, read aloud and discuss a book, and set intentions for coming two weeks. Rotate meeting place among our homes and rotate facilitation. Our focus is applying the Dharma in our daily lives. Contact Anne Fitzmaurice, (510) 845 8133 or buckley@lmi.net.
East Bay, North Bay & San Francisco – Green Sangha - A spiritual community committed to environmental action. We meet to meditate, educate and support each other, and to plan direct environmental actions. Meetings held on Sundays, in San Francisco, Marin, Sebastopol and the East Bay. If you'd like to host a retreat in your town, please call.
Contact Elizabeth Little at sacredgrdn@aol.com or (510) 532-6574 for more information as retreat hosts will vary from time to time.
East Bay (Berkeley) – New peer-led group for those 55 and older coming together to create community and support. The group meets from 5-7 pm the last Sunday of every month. The focus will be on how we embody love in daily life, in ourselves, life situations, and others. How do we see the cup as half-full rather than half-empty, especially as we age. Preferred: Sitting practice of five years or more and some retreat experience.
For more information call Michael at (510) 525-1250.
Pacifica – Every Tuesday, 7:30-9 pm
Contact: Philippa Bornstein (650) 355-2758 philippabornstein@yahoo.com or Delia McGrath (650) 359-0339 deliaforpeace@yahoo.com
San Francisco (Women's Group) All levels of practice. Meets twice monthly on Tuesdays (dates may vary), 7 - 9 pm in Richmond District. Includes study of works of Buddhist teachers, and setting practice intentions for the off weeks. Monthly 1/2 day silent retreats are available for those interested on one Saturday a month. Schedule is updated with monthly to bi-monthly e-mails to participants.
Catherine Eisenberger at (415) 387-5629 or catteisenberger@gmail.com
San Francisco – meets third Friday 6:30-10 pm.
Requires desire for daily vipassana practice. Contact: Linda K. Deaton at (415) 467-6325.
San Francisco –
a new group forming in the outer Richmond.
Every other Wednesday evening from 7-9 pm. Contact Genevieve Buehler, (415) 668-1709, email
geneviva@sbcglobal.net. The meeting will include dharma study, such as the Paramitas, the Four Noble Truths, and specific readings.
San Francisco – Adventurous Elders Group - this new group is for anyone 55 or older interested in exploring mindfulness, the dharma and issues related to aging. We meet the 3rd Thursday of the month from 4 to 6 pm. We are still brainstorming about directions and activities for the group, so new ideas are welcome. We are currently studying the Eightfold Path. Rather than choosing a single book for everyone to read, each person is responsible for bringing in some material to share (could be a reading, an excerpt from a recorded dharma talk, personal insights, etc.).
Contact: Frank, (415) 626-9254; Marcia, (415) 334-1209; Ellie Ely, (415) 334-2284.
San Francisco – Peer-led group meets weekly to help support sangha members develop a daily meditation practice. Thursdays 7:30 – 9 pm at 308 Page Street, next door to the San Francisco Zen Center. Contact: Nancy Willoughby at (415) 314-0921 or Tony Carroll at (415) 533-8632
.
San Francisco – We meet on the second Tuesday of the month from 7-9 pm in the Sunset District in San Francisco. We're looking forward to having new members join us who are compatible and would like to make an ongoing commitment to our group. In our group, we read “popular and accessible” Buddhist books together, discuss them, meditate and have snacks and tea. It’s a lovely group of people. Contact: Michael at (415) 820-3943 or
michaelgquirke@hotmail.com.
OTHER CALIFORNIA:
Chico – Thursdays, 7-9 pm. 40 minute sitting, tea, personal check-in, and discussion of an agreed upon non-scholarly dharma book. Reading and discussion is on integration of daily life with one's practice and Buddhist principles. One's Intention is more important than length of one's personal meditation practice.
Contact Nancie Brown, (530) 898-9139, or nancie.brown@digitalpath.net
Davis – Meets monthly. Requires daily practice and three 1-day retreats per year.
Contact: Tony & Toni Bernhard at (530) 758-2904 or tony@dcn.org
Fairfield – Tuesdays 6:45 - 8:30pm. Group focus on cultivating and supporting our daily practice. Meditation for 30-40 minutes, we share about our practice as a group, and then listen to tapes of teachings at Spirit Rock. This is a peer led and co-facilitated group. Call Linda at (707) 291-8977 or Eydee at (707) 246-8691.
Placerville, CA (foothills) for the beginner as well as those with more experience. The group meets every Thursday at 7pm.
Contact Will Lister at (530) 626-6579 or mettaphoto@mac.com.
Sacramento – Two groups, one meeting in the evening on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month, and the other meeting on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month. After a 20-minute sit, we check in, then have an open discussion on the topic of choice, then check out. The groups are co-facilitated. They choose a theme to focus on for a 6-session commitment. Both are exploring the dharma as it manifests in the nitty gritty of daily life.
Contact susan@artasa2d.com
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA:
Aliso Viejo, CA (Orange County) – Dharma Study, Sundays from 8-10am.
Contact Wayne Champa at (949) 581-3459 or wchampa@cox.net
Los Angeles, Santa Monica – All One Dharma
When: Tuesdays from 7:30 - 8:30pm
Where: Quaker House - 1440 Harvard St. Santa Monica, CA 90404
Website: www.allonedharma.org
Contact: info@allonedharma.org
All One Dharma is a Buddhist sangha that formed in 1997 when a group of friends decided to meditate together and invite any one else who was interested to join them. While most of us practice some form of Vispassana meditation, no particular Buddhist philosophy or teacher guides the group. Instead, we draw upon the wisdom and experience of the group as well as a variety of Buddhist teachers ranging from Thich Nhat Hanh to Jack Kornfield to Shinzin Young. Our purpose is to support each other's practice and explore the dharma.
Los Angeles, Santa Monica – changing Dharma topics, every other Wednesday, 7:30-9pm
Contact: Ben Brown at (310) 392-6235
Website: http://ladharma.org/MainPages/SittingGroupsMain.asp
Los Angeles, West LA – changing Dharma topics , Mondays, 7:30-9pm.
Contact: Michael Shiffman at (310) 226-6113
Website: http://ladharma.org/MainPages/SittingGroupsMain.asp
Los Angeles – People of Color Group – Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society (ATSBMS)
When: Sundays, 7:30 - 9 pm
Where: 4300 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles CA 90029
Website: www.againstthestream.org/people-of-color-night
Co-facilitators: Eileen Ybarra & Erica Shehane
Contact: ericashehane@gmail.com or (323) 665-4300
The structure of the group includes silent sitting and/or walking meditation, check-ins, discussion and closing metta meditation. The aim of this group is to support and address the issues that people of color may be struggling with in the American Buddhist traditions. The intention is not to divide, but rather to explore feelings of separateness and disconnectedness, cultivate connections independent of external conditions, and find true freedom in a way that does not ignore difficult social realities.
OUTSIDE CALIFORNIA:
Albuquerque, New Mexico – Our Dharma Friends groups are fluid and open to change. New groups form, and current groups change or dissolve at the end of a program. Contact us for general information, and we can give current information at the time of inquiry.
Contact: Valerie Roth at (505) 345-3312, valeroth@q.com or Debra Serrino (505) 792-1101, debra2@serrino.com.
Ashland, Oregon – Every Monday evening, 7-9pm, requires a meditation. This is a peer led sangha.
Contact: Kim Shelton, tel (541) 482-7090, email shelton@ccountry.net
Chelmsford, Massachusetts –- Tuesday evenings, 7:30-9:30pm
First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church
Contact: Timothy Little (grommit_2000@yahoo.com or (978) 937-5652)
Other facilitators: Carrie Little (c_a_little2003@yahoo.com) and Brenda Rogers (brogers1926@hotmail.com)
Website: http://kalyanamittasangha.wordpress.com
Easton, Maryland – 1st and 3rd Wednesday, 7-8:00pm
Contact: Larissa Kitenko at lkitenko@yahoo.com
Edmond/OKC, Oklahoma – Study of Buddhism & Vipassana Meditation
Tuesdays, 7:15pm
Contact Arpita Brown at (405) 478-8407
Las Vegas, New Mexico – Twice monthly.
Contact Yvonne Bond at (505) 454-8831or ybond@newmexico.com
Portland, Oregon – Daily Practice, meets twice monthly. Sitting group meets every Monday from 7:30- 9pm. Contact Nan LeRoy at (503) 230-0665 or forriej@gmail.com
Washington, DC / Virginia – meets alternate Thursdays.
Contact, Bill Mies or Joanne Marshall Mies - FAX (410) 757-7818 or email IMCWKMCC@comcast.net
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