Meditation groups in the San Francisco Bay Area
Sitting regularly with a group and teacher is one of the strongest supports for deepening spiritual practice. This is not an exhaustive list.
Most are evening groups — always check the websites for times & updates. Most are on dāna (Pāli for “generosity”, in this case referring to the classes inviting donations instead of charging a fixed price).
The format in most cases is meditation period and then a dharma talk.
Monday
Heart of Light Meditation, Mike McGarry
6:30-8:15pm, East Bay Healing Collective, (1840 Alcatraz, Berkeley)
www.healingcollective.org
Tuesday
Insight Meditation Satsang, led by Sean Felt
7:30-9:15pm, onlne, link at his website
Mission Dharma, led by Howard Cohn
7:30-9pm, St. John’s Episcopal Church (1661 15th St, San Francisco)
http://www.missiondharma.org
Open Eye Meditation group
7-9pm 875 4th St. San Rafael
www.openeyemeditationgroup.org/index.html
Buddhist Temple of Marin
7:30pm 390 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941
http://www.buddhisttempleofmarin.org/
Monks from Abhayagiri monastery (Thai Forest tradition) [FIRST Tue of each month]
Berkeley Buddhist Monastery (2304 McKinley, Berkeley)
http://www.abhayagiri.org/calendar
Walnut Creek Sitting Group, led by Ernie Isaacs
[THIRD Tue of each month]
27:30-9:15pm, Unity Center, 1871 Geary Road, Walnut Creek
Wednesday
Oakland Against the Stream
7:00-8:30, 111 Fairmount Ave, Oakland, CA 94611
http://www.buddhistinsightnetwork.org/sangha/against-stream-oakland
Metta Dharma Foundation, led by Richard Shankman
7:15-9:15pm, St. Clement’s church, 2837 Claremont, Berkeley, enter at the rear of the building
Home
Soma Dharma
7:30-9pm 1436 Howard st, San Francisco
www.somadharma.com
SF Insight, led by Pamela Weiss, Trip Weil or guest
7-9pm, First Unitarian Universalist Church, 1187 Franklin at Geary, SF
http://www.sfinsight.org
Rick Hanson’s group
6:45pm-8:30pm please check website below for directions, Dominican University, San Rafael
http://www.rickhanson.net/teaching/meditation-group/
Thursday
Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley, led by James Baraz, Kate Munding and guests
7:30-9:30pm, Berkeley Buddhist Monastery (2304 McKinley, Berkeley)
http://www.insightberkeley.org/
Friday
Open Sitting Group, rotating teachers
6:30-8:30pm, East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th St Oakland
Home
Saturday
Hartford Street Zen Center
9:25am Zazen followed by dharma talk
57 Hartford Street
San Francisco, CA 94114-2013
Welcome
Sunday
9am Sacred Mountain Sanga (there is chanting, meditation and dharma talk)
sacredmountainsangha.org
Pacific Zen (work with koans), various roshis
http://www.oaklandzen.org/
Dharmata, led by Anam Thubten
[morning] 10am-12:15pm, Dhyana Hall (235 Washington Ave, Point Richmond) Anam is there every other week usually. Check the website before you go!
Home
Sunday Sangha, led by Will Kabat-Zinn
VERY popular, 7-9pm,
Crimson Gate Meditation Community
Zen for mental health professionals but open to the public
7:30-9pm be on time. Doors close
3824 Grand Ave, Oakland, CA 94610
http://www.crimsongatemeditation.org/
Aloha Vihara Nuns
[3rd Sun of each month]
7:30-9pm, Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, 2304 McKinley, Berkeley, CA 94703
saranaloka.org
Alameda Sangha, led by Pauletta Chanco, Rebecca Dixon, and Deb Kerr
7-8:30pm, 2311 Buena Vista Ave, Alameda
sites.google.com/site/alamedasangha/
SF Insight, led by Eugene Cash
7-9pm, First Unitarian Universalist, 1187 Franklin at Geary, SF
http://www.sfinsight.org
Marin Sangha, led by Phillip Moffitt or guests
6-8pm, St. Luke Presbyterian, 10 Bayview Dr, San Rafael
www.marinsangha.org
Daily
Dharma Hommies
8:45am http://dharmahomies.com/
Berkeley Zen Center, Sojun Mel Weitsman and others
1929 Russell St, Berkeley
BZC has practice every day, 5:40am, noon and 5:40pm and a larger practice period on Saturday mornings
berkeleyzencenter.org/weekly-schedule/
Berkeley Buddhist Priory (closed Mondays)
Sittings at 6:30am, 11:15am, 7:30pm
1358 Marin Avenue, Albany, CA 94706
Dharma Talk Wednesdays at 8pm
http://www.berkeleybuddhistpriory.org/pages/schedules/schedules.html
SF Dharma Collective
2701 Folsom st, San Francisco, CA 94110
https://sfdharmacollective.org/
San Francisco Zen Center
300 Page St, San Francisco, CA 94102
http://sfzc.org/city-center/about-us
Hartford Street Zen Center
57 Hartford Street, San Francisco, CA 94114-2013
Welcome
Also check
The Berkeley Alembic
berkeleyalembic.org
http://trikashala.com
Wisdom Sun
Noe Valley, SF. (Classes & retreats, no ongoing group)
wisdomsun.org
Buddhist Insight Network
BIN hosts the database for Insight Meditation groups worldwide.
http://www.buddhistinsightnetwork.org/sanghas
Amma’s Center
10200 Crow Canyon Rd, Castro Valley, CA 94552
Includes bhajans (chanting)
amma.org/groups/north-america/ma-center-san-ramon
Retreats
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
A beautiful and powerful place for retreat practice. Also hosts classes & workshops. They have a strong scholarship program, teen program, programs for committed practitioners, and more.
www.spiritrock.org
Insight Retreat Center (Scott’s Valley, Santa Cruz)
You have to apply a few months in advance but retreat is fully by donation. Very compatible to Spirit Rock. Not as big of a campus but everything else is fine.
www.insightretreatcenter.org
SF Zen Center, Green Gulch, Tassajara (CA):
http://sfzc.org/green-gulch
Deer Park Monastery (CA):
Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center in New Mexico
http://www.vallecitos.org/
Cloud Mountain in Washington State (well worth the beautiful drive. It’s 1.5 hours north or Portland)
http://www.cloudmountain.org