Bay Area Buddhist Meditation Centers -
These are some of the meditation and Buddhism classes in English -- for Chinese, please see the page in Chinese. Please visit each group's site for more updated information as this site may not reflect the latest changes.
Buddhist Groups with Regular Events in English: Chung Tai Zen Center of Sunnyvale | Berkeley Buddhist Monastery | Buddha Gate Monastery | Dharma Drum Mountain SF | Dharma Realm Buddhist University | DRBU Extension | Tzu Chi Foundation Bay Area | Buddhist Text Translation Society
Meditation Course at Chung Tai Zen Center of Sunnyvale (South Bay) and at Buddha Gate Monastery in Lafayette (East Bay)!
This 20-week long weekly class is great for beginners and experienced meditators alike, and are offered at no charge, both in English and in Chinese. Each class meets for two hours and consists of meditation (guided instruction and practice) in the first hour, and a lecture on Buddhist principles in the second hour.
Level 1: Beginning Chan Meditation and Fundamental Concepts of Buddhism: The meditation portion of the class teaches breath-counting, mindfulness of the breath, and middle way reality. The lecture topics include the introduction to Buddhism and Chan (Zen), Karma and causality, the Four Noble Truths, Three Refuges and Five Precepts.
Separate courses in Chinese, in English, and for children/youth!
Chung Tai Zen Center of Sunnyvale (Silicon Valley / South Bay) and Buddha Gate Monastery (Lafayette / East Bay)
All classes are free. Courses are weekly for 10 - 20 weeks and include guided meditation as well as in-depth lectures on Buddhism, great for beginners as well as those who are experienced. Level 1 class topics covered include karma, causality, Introduction to Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths, and the Noble Eightfold Path. Completion of level 1 allows progression to level 2 / intermediate (Mahayana concepts) and to sutra study.
Plus, share the news with friends across the country! Zen Meditation Classes are offered in both English and Chinese at Buddhist temples in San Francisco Bay Area & Silicon Valley, Los Angeles / Pomona, Denver / Boulder, Houston, Seattle, Atlanta, and Oklahoma City!
Link to the centers here:
https://atlantazen.org/zen-meditation-groups-and-buddhist-temples.html
Zen Meditation Course
Free 20-week course goes in depth and is a great introduction to Buddhism
Chung Tai Zen Center of Sunnyvale offers throughout the year a series of weekly classes at different levels. Anyone interested can enroll, progressing from the Beginning Zen meditation & fundamental principles to advanced Sutra studies. Separately in English or in Chinese. Free.
750 E. Arques Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94085
www.ctzen.org/sunnyvale
Zen Meditation Course
Weekly four month course similar to that at Chung Tai Zen Center of Sunnyvale.
Buddha Gate Monastery in Lafayette offers throughout the year a series of weekly classes at different levels. Anyone interested can enroll, progressing from the Beginning Zen meditation & fundamental principles to advanced Sutra studies. Separately in English or in Chinese. Free.
3254 Gloria Terrace, Lafayette, CA 94549
www.buddhagate.org
Various Meditation, Chanting, and Sutra Study Classes
Activities Daily
Schedule sorted by day on right/below.
Check BBM Website for Latest Updates
2304 McKinley Ave,
Berkeley, CA 94703
Berkeley Buddhist Monastery
Open Meditation Morning and Evening, all welcome
Thursdays & Fridays, 6:15 - 7:15 AM and 5:15 - 6:15 PM (Please arrive early as door will be locked when meditation starts)
Buddhism For the Modern Mind:
Explore Buddhism beyond the cutting edge of modern philosophy and back again to our daily lives. We guarantee your nights will never be the same again. For maximum fun, please bring along a quick wit and a wicked sense of humor.
Taichi Quan, Qigong and Yoga:
Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays at 7:15am
Tea and Dharma with Monks from Abhayagiri Monastery:
First Tuesday of the month: 5pm (Tea), 7:30pm (Dhamma Program) —> See website for updates
Casual Dharma Gathering with Rev. Heng Sure
TBD at Teance Tea Shop
Buddha Mind Meditation Class
Guided Vipassana Meditation
Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra Lecture with Rev. Heng Sure
Chan Meditation and Shastras Discussion
Avatamsaka (Flower Adornment) Sutra Lecture with Rev. Heng Sure
These classes are now mostly online, all free via Zoom or YouTube Live.
Great Compassion Ceremony and Recitation
Saturdays 9am - 2pm
Walking Recitation Sessions
First Sunday of the month, 7:30am - 6pm
Nuns Lead a Dharma Session
Third Sunday of the month, 6pm - 9pm
Sutra Study Classes
Sixth Patriarch Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra; Flower Adornment Avatamsaka Sutra; The One Hundred Dharmas: Shastra on the Door to Understanding; and other Mahayana Buddhist texts -- watch live online at Youtube: DharmaRealmLive
Catalog of English translations and some free e-book/PDF downloads can be found at:
Buddhist Text Translation Society - www.buddhisttexts.org
Chan Meditation
DDMBA in Fremont / Alameda County / East Bay Zen group
Dharma Drum Mountain San Francisco Bay Area Center
Group Meditation (open to explorers/beginners & experienced meditators): See calendar for upcoming dates
Foundational Workshop - Bringing Meditation into Everyday Life: Monthly on Sunday
Meditation Introductory Workshop - For the busy and stressed: Once a month
Youth Mindfulness Programs; One-Day and Weekend Chan Retreats, and more
255 H Street, Fremont, CA 94536
Prajna Dharma
般若法航
Online meditation group with offline retreats
Founded by Ven. Jian Hu, an esteemed Zen monk (did you know he was a computer scientist and has a Ph.D. in artificial neural networks?), Prajna Dharma hosts in-depth and simple learning resources to help you understand more about life. Through the life-oriented Dharma, everyone has the opportunity to see clearly the root of afflictions. Activities include weekly guided meditation, as well as hybrid virtual / in -person meditation retreats.
Meditation and Other Buddhist Retreats
Open to the general public
Residential Practice Retreats: DRBU Extension and the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas host several practice retreats every year on the beautiful 700 acre campus in Ukiah, CA. Special beginner tracks are offered for participants with no prior experience. A High School Summer Program is new for 2024!
Summer Meditation Retreat
- Topic: Irigaray meets Nagarjuna: Compassion, Generosity and Possibility.
- Seven-day retreat, participants will follow a traditional Buddhist monastic lifestyle of meditation, study, and work designed to calm the mind and open the heart.
Living the Practice: 2-Month Immersion Program -- The program will emphasize the application of Buddhist teachings and principles in everyday life. Students will learn various approaches to Buddhism, namely, Chan meditation, Canonical Study, Vinaya, Esoteric Practice, and Pure Land.
Dharma Realm Buddhist University Extension: extension.drbu.edu
Dharma Realm Buddhist University: www.drbu.org
City of Ten Thousand Buddhas: www.cttbusa.org
“To make peace on earth we must want it. To stop harm and fear in the world we must change our ways. To change our ways we must change our minds.”⠀
⠀
- Rev. Heng Sure, After Mindfulness Speaker⠀
UC Berkeley After Mindfulness Conference
More Retreats at DRBU Extension:
https://extension.drbu.edu/
Woodenfish Humanistic Buddhism Monastic Life Program: summer program for any young adult (age 18 - 40) in Asia-- full scholarships for all participants include tuition, room, and board! www.woodenfish.org
DRBU and Berkeley Buddhist Monastery now live-stream, podcast, and archive video recordings of many lectures. Watch online on Youtube: DharmaRealmLive
Online Sutra Study Classes
Buddhist Charitable Organizations
Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation USA
Several branches throughout the SF Bay Area, with missions including humanitarian care, disaster relief, preschool & children's education, medical outreach, free dental care, mobile dental & optometry services, medical services for the low-income, and more.
Buddhist Global Relief
American charity dedicated to providing food and agricultural aid as well as to the education of children and women. Hosts "Walk to Feed the Hungry" usually twice a year in San Francisco and San Jose
Other Buddhism Links and Group Resources beyond the Chinese Buddhist tradition:
Stanford University’s The Ho Center for Buddhist Studies has an excellent resource guide:
https://buddhiststudies.stanford.edu/resource-guide-public
More Silicon Valley area meditation groups:
Theravada tradition: Buddhi Vihara in Santa Clara (http://www.buddhivihara.org/) and Karuna Buddhist Vihara in Mountain View (http://www.karunabv.org/)
Abhayagiri Monastery - Theravada Buddhist temple and meditation retreat center in the Thai Forest tradition in rural Northern California ( http://www.abhayagiri.org )
密宗(藏傳)佛教: 德噶明觉凤凰城中心 Tibetan tradition: Tergar Bay Area with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (http://tergar.org/communities-and-practice-groups/find-a-center-or-group/san-francisco-bay-area/)
Online sites:
Ven. Thubten Chodron - American Tibetan Buddhism in Washington (https://thubtenchodron.org/)
Theravada Buddhist texts at Access to Insight (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/)
Eminent Vajrayana Buddhist leaders: His Holiness the Dalai Lama ( https://www.dalailama.com/ ) 中文 ( http://www.dalailamaworld.com/ ) and His Holiness the Karmapa ( http://www.kagyuoffice.org/ )
