Meditation with Bay Zen Center
Bay Zen Center is currently open for in-person meetings, and we also continue to meet for meditation over Zoom and welcome visitors to join us. Please email bayzencenter@gmail.com for the Zoom links and additional information about our online mediation. If you live close the Center, we encourage you to join us in our zendo at the center . The supportive presence of our sangha is a much richer experience in-person!
This is the current meditation schedule:
Monday Morning
Open sitting and walking 7 to 8 AM Over Zoom Only
Wednesday Evening
in-person at Bay Zen Center and also over Zoom
6:30-6:55 PM Zazen (Sitting Meditation)
6:55-7:05 Kinhin (Waking Meditation)
7:05-7:30 Zazen and Practice Principles
Saturday Morning
In-person and also over Zoom
8:30- 9:05 Zazen (Sitting Meditation)
9:05-9:15 Kinhin (Walking Meditation)
9:15-9:45 Zazen9:45-10:15 Work Practice
10:15-10:50 Zazen
10:50 Service
11:00 Dharma Talk and Discussion
How to join us on Zoom
Download the Zoom App to your device.
Email bayzencenter@gmail.com to get the Zoom registration Links or for any questions.
Log into the meeting 5 minutes before the start of a zazen period.
Please sit facing your camera.
The meeting will be open for 30 minutes before and after the scheduled time for zazen. Keep your microphone muted during zazen.
To Join In-Person
You must have received a Covid 19 vaccination
Wearing a mask at the center is optional. If you are feeling Ill, or if you have been exposed to someone who is positive for covid 19, we ask that you not attend in person for 1 week. If you have been traveling or have been in a crowd where there is a higher risk of covid exposure, please wear a mask at the center for the following week.
If you are new to the center please arrive 15 minutes before zazen begins.
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We are a lay Zen Buddhist sangha, or community, offering a Zen Mindfulness path that is down-to-earth, practical, and centered in the understanding that it is in the heart of our daily life—in the workplace, at home, through relationships, in the community—that we can learn to engage with clarity, intelligence, and love. The foundation of our practice rests in the Zen Mindfulness Buddhist tradition, but we are open to teachings from other wisdom traditions. We welcome beginners and experienced practitioners and people of all backgrounds.
Everyone is welcome. We are wheelchair accessible.
Our Offerings
New To The Center?
We love it when people come by and check us out, so please feel free to attend any of our scheduled sittings. You do not need to call ahead. Please wear appropriate clothing: loose, comfortable, subdued colors. No shorts, tank tops, or hats in meditation room.
There are chairs, sitting cushions and sitting benches for you to choose whichever you are most comfortable with. Just come in and sit in whatever position works for you.
Our meditations are usually no longer than 35 minutes and if you need to move during that time, please feel free to change your positions. When meditations are longer, you may get up at any time and do walking meditation or use the bathroom.
Our zendo, or meditation room, is cell phone free. Please do not bring cell phones into the room, even if they are in the “off” or “silent mode” position. They can be safely left on the shoe rack just outside the zendo.
Weekly Meditation Schedule
Currently we meet for meditation over Zoom on Monday mornings. We meet on Wednesdays and Saturdays in person at Bay Zen Center, and it is also possible to log into these meetings over Zoom. . Please Email bayzencenter@gmail.com to get the Zoom registration Links or for any questions.
To Attend Mediation In Person
Arrive to 15 minutes before the start of the session
You must have received vaccine and booster for Covid 19
Wearing a mask is optional while at the Center.
Monday Morning, 7:00 – 8:00 am This meeting is Over Zoom Only, no meeting at Center
Wednesday Evening, 6:30 - 7:30pm
Saturday Morning, 8:30 am – Noon
In person at Bay Zen Center and also on line over Zoom .
8:30 – 9:05: Sitting Meditation
9:05 – 9:15: Walking Meditation
9:15 – 9:45: Sitting Meditation
9:45 – 10:10: In House Community Work Practice
10:15 – 10:50: Sitting Meditation
10:50 – 11:00: Service
11:00 – noon: Dharma Talk
Join us for all or just part of the morning! To attend part of our Saturday program, a good time to arrive is about 10 AM. You can join us for 35 minutes of sitting meditation and a short service followed by a dharma talk and practice discussion. You are welcome to sit on a chair, a meditation bench, or a Zafu in our Zendo.
Sesshins
Gathering Heart and Mind in Silent Stillness
Sesshin is a time for us to take pause from the usual engagements, responsibilities and busyness of our daily lives and to touch and gather heart and mind through extended periods of silent meditation. It is an opportunity for us to reflect more deeply and to renew our capacity to be completely present and awake with ourselves and the world. The days are structured in silence to include sitting and walking meditation, dharma talks, meetings with the teacher (Dokusan), body awareness practice, eating and rest. Although there will be a schedule, everyone will be encouraged to engage in it according to their personal physical requirements.
All sesshins are held at our dharma center in Oakland. To attend Sesshin in person you most provide documentation that you have been fully vaccinated to the Sesshin director. Zazenkai is a 1 day period practice from 9 AM to 4 PM on Saturday. The two day sesshins begin on Friday at 6:30 pm and end Sunday afternoon at 4:00 pm thus offering an opportunity for people to attend without having to take time off from work. The four day sesshins begin on Wednesday at 6:00 pm and end Sunday at noon. Those who live close by will go home to sleep in the evening and those traveling from a distance can either stay with local members in their home or make their own outside sleeping arrangements. There is also space at the zen center for sleeping, but people provide their own bedding.
2024 Schedule
Saturday, February 10 9 AM to 4 PM Zazenkai (1 day Meditation Retreat)
Friday ,May 3 to Monday, May 6 Sesshin with Sacramento and Santa Rosa Ordinary Mind School Sanghas
Wednesday, July 24 to Sunday, July 28 Sesshin
Saturday, October 5 9 AM to 4 PM Zazenkai
Friday, December 6 to Sunday, December 8 Weekend Sesshin
Registration
To register for sesshins or zazenkai, complete our Sesshin Application. Make your payment through PayPal or mail a a check separately. If paying by check, mail your application to 3824 Grand Ave., Oakland, CA 94610
Call 510-596-3087 or write the center if you want a hardcopy application mailed to you.
Applicants from out of town will receive a letter or email informing them of their acceptance within a few days after their application is received. All others can assume that they have been accepted unless they don’t hear from us within two days after the deadline date.
If you have any questions regarding sesshin please contact the Sesshin Director listed above or send an email to: bayzencenter@gmail.com.
Classes
An Introduction to Zen Practice
This is a one-hour class that provides an introduction to meditation and to Zen Practice at Bay Zen Center. The class is offered on Saturdays from 10 to 11. After the class you are welcome to stay for a Dharma talk and discussion.
Topics covered in this class include:
Sitting Posture for Meditaton
Practices for sitting meditation including mindfulness of breathing, body sensations, thoughts and emotoins
A guided meditation to get started
How to continue a regular mediation practice
Basic forms and procedures at our center.
How arrange meetings with the teacher for ongoing instruction
If you are interested in attending this class please send an email to bayzencenter@gmail.com. Everyone who attends our in-person events should have received Covid -19 vaccination. Masks are optional at Bay Zen Center
There is no fee for the class. We greatly appreciate donations to the center.
If you have questions please leave a message with your name and phone number at 510-596-3087 or send email to bayzencenter@gmail.com .
Dokusan
Private meetings with the teacher
Our teacher meets regularly with members and is available to have a short meeting with non members who are interested in discussing their practice with a teacher. Dokusan is offered mostly on Saturdays and we ask that you arrive at 8:30 and plan to stay for the full session until after the lecture, or dharma talk. If you would like dokusan, please speak to the person who welcomes you when you arrive.
