Sit with others! Friends on the path, called kalyana mitta, and regular contact with a teacher you trust are the best supports you can have for consistent practice.
Here’s the meditation groups/classes I know of and recommend in the SF Bay Area. The list is mostly Theravāda Buddhist, with some Zen and Tibetan I know and value. It’s not exhaustive, but curated. If a group is on this list, I either know the teachers or their lineage, and feel comfortable recommending them.
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). My group is on Tuesday nights in Berkeley.
7:15-9:15pm, Spirit Rock Meditation Center (Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Woodacre)
spiritrock.org/monday-night-class
7:30-9pm, Ojas Yoga, El Cerrito (El Cerrito Plaza, 2nd floor)
ojasyogacenter.com
7-8:45pm, CIIS, SF (1453 Mission, San Francisco, Rm. 216)
anushkaf.org
7:30-9pm, IMC, Redwood City (108 Birch St, Redwood City)
insightmeditationcenter.org
7:30-9:30pm, currently online only, Ashtanga Yoga Berkeley (933 Parker Street, Studio 38, Berkeley)
seanfeitoakes.com/insight-meditation-satsang
7-8:30pm, East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC), Oakland (285 17th St, Oakland) eastbaymeditation.org
Berkeley Buddhist Monastery (2304 McKinley, Berkeley)
abhayagiri.org/calendar
7:30-9pm, St. John’s Episcopal Church (1661 15th St, San Francisco)
missiondharma.org
[morning] 9:30-11am, IMC, Redwood City (108 Birch St, Redwood City)
insightmeditationcenter.org
7:30-9:15pm, Unity Center (1871 Geary Road, Walnut Creek)
unityofwalnutcreek.com/insight-meditation or
buddhistinsightnetwork.org/sangha/walnut-creek-sitting-group
7:30-9pm, IMC, Redwood City (108 Birch St, Redwood City)
insightmeditationcenter.org
[morning] 9-10:30am, Aquatic Park Senior Center (890 Beach Street, San Francisco)
facebook.com/events/1041063512624595/
6:30-8pm, Open Door United Methodist Church (6226 Arlington Blvd, Richmond)
insightrichmond.com
7:30-9pm, Yoga Kula, Berkeley (1700 Shattuck) [class price: not on dāna]
http://yogakula.com/mindfulness-meditation/
7:15-9:15pm, St. Clement’s, Berkeley (2837 Claremont, Berkeley, enter at the rear of the building)
mettadharma.org
7-9pm, First Unitarian Universalist, SF (1187 Franklin at Geary, SF)
sfinsight.org
[morning] 9:30-12:15pm, IMC, Redwood City (108 Birch St, Redwood City)
insightmeditationcenter.org
12-1:35pm, East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC), Oakland (285 17th St, Oakland) eastbaymeditation.org
7-8:30pm, East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC), Oakland (285 17th St, Oakland) eastbaymeditation.org
7:30-9:30pm, Berkeley Buddhist Monastery (2304 McKinley, Berkeley)
insightberkeley.org
7-9pm, East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC), Oakland (285 17th St, Oakland)
eastbaymeditation.org
7:30-9pm, IMC, Redwood City (108 Birch St, Redwood City)
insightmeditationcenter.org
6:30-8:30pm, East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC), Oakland (285 17th St, Oakland)
eastbaymeditation.org
[After 14 years, the Friday noon meditation vigil for peace at Oxford/Addison, on the UC Berkeley grass, with Daniel Doane, has ended (fall 2015). Bows to Daniel and the community for their persistence in pursuit of peace. Sit with Daniel at Ojas Yoga in El Cerrito on Monday nights.]
6-7:30pm, East Bay Healing Collective, Berkeley (1840 Alcatraz, Berkeley)
healingcollective.org
[morning] 6-11:15am, Berkeley Zen Center (1929 Russell, Berkeley)
BZC has practice every day, and a larger practice period on Saturday mornings
berkeleyzencenter.org/weekly-schedule/
7-9pm, First Unitarian Universalist, SF (1187 Franklin at Geary, SF)
sfinsight.org
[morning] 10am-12:15pm, Dhyana Hall (235 Washington Ave, Point Richmond)
dharmata.org
[morning] 8:30-10:45am, IMC, Redwood City (108 Birch St, Redwood City)
insightmeditationcenter.org
7:30-9pm, Berkeley Buddhist Monastery (2304 McKinley, Berkeley)
saranaloka.org
7-9pm, United Methodist, Alameda (2311 Buena Vista Ave, Alameda)
sites.google.com/site/alamedasangha
For people living with disabilities, limitations, differences and chronic illnesses.
6-7:30pm, East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC), Oakland (285 17th St, Oakland)
eastbaymeditation.org
7-9pm, Ashtanga Yoga Berkeley (933 Parker Street, #38, BAY 5, Berkeley)
ashtangayogaberkeley.com/meditation-2/insight-meditation-with-will-kabat-zinn
7-8:30pm, IMC, Redwood City (108 Birch St, Redwood City)
insightmeditationcenter.org
6-8pm, St. Luke Presbyterian (10 Bayview Dr, San Rafael)
marinsangha.org
Noe Valley, SF. (Classes & retreats, no ongoing group)
wisdomsun.org/index.php/events-and-classes
BIN hosts the database for Insight Meditation groups worldwide.
buddhistinsightnetwork.org/sanghas
If you find the resources on this site of service in your own practice and study, and you are inspired to support Dr. Oakes as an independent teacher and scholar, please consider making a donation.
So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in the land of the Sakyans, where they have a town named Nagaraka. Then Venerable Ānanda went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Sir, good friends, companions, and associates are half the spiritual life.”
“Not so, Ānanda! Not so, Ānanda! Good friends, companions, and associates are the whole of the spiritual life. A mendicant with good friends, companions, and associates can expect to develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path.
And how does a mendicant with good friends develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path? It’s when a mendicant develops right view, which relies on seclusion, fading away, and cessation, and ripens as letting go. They develop right thought … right speech … right action … right livelihood … right effort … right mindfulness … right immersion, which relies on seclusion, fading away, and cessation, and ripens as letting go. That’s how a mendicant with good friends develops and cultivates the noble eightfold path.
And here’s another way to understand how good friends are the whole of the spiritual life. For, by relying on me as a good friend, sentient beings who are liable to rebirth, old age, and death, to sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress are freed from all these things. This is another way to understand how good friends are the whole of the spiritual life.”
May the forces of delusion
not take hold, nor
weaken my resolve.
(Sharing of Merit)