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This event is online only and meets at a 

 has been teaching with SFDC for the past two years, and every weekday morning since March. She earned a PhD. in Religion and Philosopy, and over 6 years living and studying Buddhism., Hinduism, yoga, and philosophy before returning to the states as a teacher, scholar, and writer. She is also the founder of 

Dharma of Intimacy

Cultivating Emotional Balance 2-Day Workshop

Saturday and Sunday, January 27 & 28, 9 am – 4 pm - In Person ONLY.

Enhance Well-Being • Practice Self-Compassion • Discover Access to Greater Happiness

In this 12-hour workshop, we'll explore the emotions of fear, contempt, & sadness and provide an evidence-based approach to living a more balanced emotional life. 

Space is limited - advanced registration required:

This is a donation-based offering to the community, led by CEB Teachers in Training. Suggested donation is $30 - $60

believes that relating peacefully to our minds and hearts is part of healing the world. She is the Supervising Instructor at Zen Caregiving Project and a Certified Instructor of Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT).

, a biotech professional, is drawn to CEB as she believes there's a gentler way to live life when one is able to create space between emotions and how we respond to them.

As a Functional Health & Fitness Studio Owner/Practitioner,

has witnessed the profound impact emotions have on our ability to create what we want and need in our lives. She believes that individual/collective well-being is a product of the integration of mind, body, and spirit.

Cultivating Emotional Balance

Embodying Tara: Twenty-One Manifestations to Awaken Your Innate Wisdom

Talk and Book Signing with Lopön Chandra Easton

 by Chandra Easton. Many know of the female Buddha Tara, but few know of her twenty-one aspects. Come hear stories and anecdotes from the book, experience a guided meditation on the 21 Taras, and get your book signed!

or 301-715-8592 to join by phone. Meeting ID: 545 039 806

 which serves women, children, the underprivileged and dispossessed in Nepal by providing education, health care, food and shelter to those in need. Ani Choying Drolma is the real life second Tara, Vajra Sarasvati, in Chandra’s book. 

Books will be on sale at the event or you can pre-order your book today with a 30% discount using code ETARA30 at 

We’ll have time for tea and mingling with the community as well. All are welcome.

Realize the power of Tara, the Buddhist goddess of compassion, within yourself in this modern guide to her 21 forms.

Explore down-to-earth meditations and stories of real women who embody Tara's qualities.

Tara, the Buddhist goddess of compassion, can manifest within all of us. In this illustrated introduction to Tara's twenty-one forms, respected female Buddhist teacher and practitioner Dorje Lopön Chandra Easton shows you how to invite Tara’s awakened energy to come alive in yourself through:

The relatable stories from Buddhist history and the author’s personal reflections will give you the tools to live a more compassionate life, befriend your fears, and overcome everyday challenges.

Find out how important women and movements in modern history have achieved this through their own embodiment of Tara's enlightened activities. The stories of Jane Goodall, Nawal El Saadawi, Oprah Winfrey, Vandana Shiva, Black Lives Matter, Me Too, and others will inspire you to bring these aspects of Tara into the world in creative and socially conscious ways for the benefit of all.

Chandra Easton has not only opened awareness of the diverse aspects and activities of the twenty-one manifestations of the sacred feminine in her brilliant book but brought them into the contemporary context by connecting each with a related woman and her multiple aspects. Though many are aware of Tara as the embodiment of wisdom and compassion in a female form, few know about the twenty-one Taras. This book brings them all alive, making them an accessible and inspiring presence in our lives. 

, author of Wisdom Rising and founder of Tara Mandala

A treasure teaching, a vast and exquisite gift to our stressful lives out of balance. Chandra Easton challenges and encourages us to count our blessings and gives us a tried-and-true means to do so, awakening us to the freedom we enjoy through all our lives and deaths, and guiding us to recognize the countless ‘cool heroines,’ or ‘she-roes,’ the saving women everywhere that never give us up and help activate our own natural goodness no matter what! 

, professor emeritus, translator, and author

Connecting to Mother Tara is one of the most powerful ways to bring peace and harmony to individuals and the world. 

, coauthor of Tara’s Enlightened Activity

Lopön Chandra offers the most accessible, in-depth, inspiring, step-by-step guide to embodying the twenty-one emanations of the great goddess, Tara, for the benefit of compassion in action for countless generations. A treasure and a classic is born from her living lineage with Lama Tsultrim and Tara Mandala as a companion for all on the path. Emaho! 

, yogini and author of Tending the Heart Fire

I shall work for the benefit of sentient beings in a woman’s body.’ And here she is, Tara the savioress, a bodhisattva or a buddha—to me the essence of the divine mother or goddess we invoke in my Indian tradition by calling her forth through visualization, meditation, and mantra. Chandra’s lyrical voice shares the history of Tibetan Buddhism and Tara, provides specific practice instructions, and illuminates Tara’s qualities in modern-day women and the enlightened activities of communities around the world. With the blessings of her teachers and her long-standing deep sadhana, Chandra’s book offers us a clear guide and inspiration to whirl in the mandala of Tara, so we may enter her mindstream ourselves. 

How wonderful that at this time in the world, the goddess Tara is revealing her ever-deepening presence in the form of this book. Now we have in the most accessible yet deeply moving way all we need to find our way home to our compassionate mother, Arya Tara.

, American chant leader and Grammy nominee

Embodying Tara

This monthly gathering is for all who identify as LGBTQIA+ and allies. We meet to explore the intersection of queerness, dharma, practice and community in a safe and inclusive container.

LGBTQQIA+ = Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, non-binary, and gender queer, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Same-Gender Loving, Two-Spirit, +

Q-Sangha meets on the 4th Saturday of every month from 5:30 - 7 pm PT.

Watch this space for announcements of visiting teachers and topics.

Q Sangha

This Peer-led Half Day Retreat will give you an opportunity to practice with others in silence.

Join us for all the sessions or any portion of the day. Please arrive during a break if possible.

Meditations are unguided. We ring bells to start and end.

7:30 - 8:15 - sitting meditation (our regular morning sit) 

9:10 - 9:30:- silent walking meditation / resting 

10:10 - 10:30 - silent walking meditation 

Peer Half-Day Retreat

As the year comes to a close, we have the opportunity to come together reflect back over the last year and set intentions for the coming year. This class is a combination of sitting meditation and guided meditation designed to help you understand the challenges of the past year in more depth and guide you in setting a course forward with purpose and intention.

PhD, holds degrees and certificates in transpersonal psychology, cultural and linguistic anthropology, comparative religion, hypnotherapy, and transformational healing. She has been a dedicated Buddhist practitioner for forty years and has spent over thirty years studying spiritual, therapeutic, and meditative techniques from around the world. Isa has worked with master teachers of Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and Sufism, as well as expert shamanic practitioners from a variety of traditions.

Isa is the creator of Depth Hypnosis, a groundbreaking therapeutic model that has won rave reviews from psychotherapeutic and spiritual counselors alike. Isa teaches and speaks nationally and internationally, and has published numerous articles, podcast episodes, videos, and the books 

She maintains a private practice with institutions and individuals in Depth Hypnosis and Coming to Peace processes. Isa speaks five languages and has lived in eleven countries. She is the mother of two children and lives with her partner in San Francisco.

Year End Meditation with Isa Gucciardi

Get to know yourself. Get to know each other. The power of Sangha can heal.

SF Sangha’s Mindful Mondays is an opportunity to begin each week by coming home to ourselves and coming home to the living Dharma, fresh and unfolding. It’s a time to check in with ourselves, to recognize 

 and to cultivate the ability to care for that. We’ll gather together weekly, creating community and receiving support to continue our practice, so that we might embody the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, Ajahn Chah and the Buddha. 

Melina Bondy is the guest teacher on October 30.

All are welcome, those new to practice and those deep in practice.

“When a tiger leaves the mountain and goes to the lowland, it will be caught by humans and killed. When practitioners leave their sangha, they will abandon their practice after a few months. In order to continue our practice of transformation and healing, we need a sangha. With a sangha it’s much easier to practice, and that is why I always take refuge in my sangha.”  ~ Thích Nhất Hạnh

 wisdom is described as, “Zen with an edge.” She draws from her own practice and training in the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism, Insight Meditation & Theravada Buddhism, as well as the Spiritual journey of healing through the Twelve Steps of Al-Anon.  

Augusta (she/her, white, cisgender) brings a depth of experience from teaching Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction to almost 1,000 students and mentoring 100 plus meditation teachers-to-be in Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield’s Meditation Teacher Training program.  Augusta welcomes all. She received lay ordination from Thich Nhat Hanh and the names True Ocean of Strength and Peaceful Fulfillment of the Heart which she embodies. She is authorized by Spirit Rock to share the Dharma and teach meditation. Augusta also holds an MBA in Sustainable Business and a third degree Black Belt in the Korean Martial Art of Tang Soo Do. When she isn’t meditating or teaching meditation she can be found swimming in the cold waters of the San Francisco Bay.

https://mindfulness4stressreduction.com/meditation-teacher-augusta-hopkins/

Mindful Mondays with Augusta Hopkins and Friends

Buddhists speak of 84,000 different Dharma Doors – entry points leading to enlightenment and liberation for all sentient beings – with access to them through 84,000 different sutras (Buddhist texts), each containing a distinct teaching to ease suffering. With so many sutras and so little time, it can be helpful to have a guide to explore all this preserved wisdom.

In weekly gatherings, sutras become a springboard to understanding the foundational, the obscure and the esoteric concepts that make Buddhism the unique and diverse tradition that it is.

Join MC Owens each Sunday night as he weaves humor and storytelling with modern scholarly research to open a new dharma door through a thought-provoking engagement with Buddhist texts and ideas.

 is a Buddhist teacher, translator, and author who uses a sutra-based curriculum that draws from a variety of traditions to teach the history, philosophy, and practice of Buddhism. He teaches regularly for the San Francisco Dharma Collective and he also runs Lotus Underground – a repository of his teaching activities, audio recordings, and writings.

The Dharma Doors with MC Owens

Recovery Dharma is a peer-led movement using Buddhist practices and principles to overcome addiction through meditation, self-inquiry, and community. 

The intention and purpose of this group is to support people’s recovery and to discuss ideas and questions directly related to using the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and the Five Precepts to recover from addictions of all kinds.

Recovery Dharma also meets on Friday from 6 - 7 pm Pacific

Recovery Dharma Sunday Group

Hindustani Classical Music with Madhurranjan Mohaan

Saturday, December 9th, 7:00 – 9:00 pm 

Join us for an evening of Hindustani Classical music!

Hindustani classical music , with its various ragas and melodies, brings in a lot of calm and relaxation, along with plenty of thrills along the way. Along with various bhajans and thumris, the emotions that are experienced during a Hindustani concert are not easily matched by any other forms of music.

Madhurranjan will be performing Raag Yaman which is a "shringar ras" Raag and a very popular melody since many compositions have been created in this Raag. He will also perform a few compositions related to the festive season of Navratri and Diwali.

Presented ONLY at 2929 24th Street, not online!

This concert is open to all at no cost. We are supported by your generosity (dana). Donations are accepted and no one is ever turned away for lack of funds.

Madhurranjan was initiated into Hindustani classical music at the age of 6 by his uncle, late Flute master B.N Suresh ji. He trained for about 7 years before taking a break. He has continued to learn Hindustani music for the last 8 years under the tutelage of Mewati Gharana guru Smt Lalita Sharma, a renowned disciple of Pt Jasraj ji. 

Hindustani Classical Music

Qigong, “The Six Healing Sounds”  and the Alexander Technique with Mitch Durell

In this workshop, Mitch will skillfully weave together the Six Healing Sounds practice with elements of the Alexander Technique. These practices can support your day-to-day well being and are useful preparatory techniques for seated meditation.

Open to all - no prior experience is required.

 is a moving meditation that is particularly known and noted for the development of calm, energy, healing and emotional balance.

The “Six Healing Sounds” cultivates these qualities through specific movements, the use of healing sounds and colors, and the embodiment of wholesome emotional qualities. In this workshop we will learn different forms of Qigong but primarily focus on “The Six Healing Sounds.”

 is a body/mind awareness practice that is a great complement to standing, moving, or sitting meditation. During one's movement, standing, or sitting, a teacher gives gentle verbal and “hands on” “directions” that  gives a student good principles of  postural integration that aids in the prevention of injury, and supports more fluid and effortless movement. Dancers, musicians, actors, and anyone who’s physical “well being” is essential for their profession, have all benefited greatly from the technique.

 in China in 1988 and has been teaching for the past thirty years. He has been training in 

 since 1986 and became a certified teacher in 1993.

Qigong Workshop

Are you curious about the other people who come to the collective?

Join us for this peer-led sitting and discussion group.

We will sit for 20 minutes, introduce ourselves, and have a discussion about points of practice, and how practice works off the cushion. 

All are welcome, regardless of meditation experience.

Mindfulness in Sangha

Recovery Dharma also meets on Sunday from 5 - 6 pm Pacific

Recovery Dharma Friday Group

This class is a fusion of insight meditation, somatic movement and dharma teachings for everyday living, suitable for those new to meditation or yoga as well as more experienced students.

Through these contemplative practices we can develop greater awareness, deeper connectivity and emotional resiliency through the power of our own body and the breath. We can actually grow our capacity to embody the life in front of us more fully and connect with what matters most in a more healthful and meaningful way. We will focus on cultivating greater balance, flexibility and wellbeing in a safe, inclusive environment while developing a sustainable practice.

This class includes movement, guided and silent periods of meditation, and opportunity for brief dialog. No experience necessary. All our welcome! 

On weeks when Mareni is teaching, she will offer Spanish support to students.

En las semanas en que Mareni está enseñando, ofrecerá apoyo en español a los estudiantes.

  𐩕 𐩕 𐩕 𐩕 𐩕 𐩕 𐩕 𐩕 𐩕 𐩕

, born and raised in Mexico, is passionate about nature, herbalism, flamenco, yoga, mindfulness, and traveling. She learned how to meditate at a young age at her father’s martial arts school. As a young adult, she migrated to the San Francisco Bay Area to pursue a bachelor’s degree in world music and cultures and has lived and traveled worldwide from New Orleans to Israel. 

Mareni has completed the 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program and the 500-hour trauma-informed Yoga Therapy Certification with Niroga Institute, and has taught Yoga and Dynamic Mindfulness throughout the past decade to youth and adults in the Bay Area. She recently completed the Power of Awareness Mindfulness training and is currently studying a two-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP) with world-class mindfulness meditation teachers Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. 

In her free time, Mareni enjoys hiking, performing flamenco, cooking, and making her own skincare products. She also practices ancestral healing traditions from the Mesoamerican cosmovisions.

A lifelong meditator and SF Bay Area native, 

 began her personal meditation practice as a teen in 1988 and has been practicing in the Theravada Buddhist tradition since 2009. She graduated East Bay Meditation Center’s Commit to Dharma program in 2011 and became a Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader in 2017. 

Syra teaches Insight Meditation and mindfulness throughout the SF Bay Area and beyond. She proudly serves as Core Teacher with the San Francisco LGBT Sangha and is a teacher and Board Member with San Francisco Insight. For more visit 

Movement & Meditation: Beginning and Sustaining Your Practice 

, join us at the “Well of Being” where Chandra and Eve offer contemporary translations of ancient Tibetan Buddhist tools coupled with modern psychology for cultivating concentration, emotion awareness, insight, and compassion. As guides, Chandra and Eve respectively draw from their expertise as lead instructors in experiential and evidenced-based trainings for emotion transformation, Feeding Your Demons® and Cultivating Emotional Balance. Reveal the healing source of your inner well-being through meditation, contemplation, and discussion.

This class is open to everyone. No prior meditation experience is required.

Feeding Your Demons ® : Ancient Wisdom for Resolving Inner Conflict

Inspired by the ancient practice of Chöd, Feeding Your Demons ® (FYD) is a five-step process created by Lama Tsultrim Allione that allows one to offer nurturing and understanding to one’s own inner demons, our disowned shadow parts, rather than engaging them in battle and struggle. We all have our demons. Paradoxically offering compassion to the parts of ourselves we wish would go away, develops the potential for transformation from demon to ally. This allows the psyche to move from polarization to integration, and the energy that has been trapped in the demon becomes accessible as the ally. FYD is of great benefit when working with a wide variety of both personal and collective issues, including depression, anxiety, addictions, physical issues, fear, anger, relationship challenges, and other dilemmas of modern life.

, MSW, PhD, is the director of training at the Greater Good Science Center. She is also a UC Berkeley- and UCSF-trained social scientist and teacher in the field of emotional awareness and burnout prevention. Eve is a second-generation emotion researcher and has had meaningful collaborations with her father, renowned emotion researcher Dr. Paul Ekman. Their most recent project, The Atlas of Emotions, is an online visual tool to teach a language for improving our emotional awareness that was commissioned and supported by the Dalai Lama. Eve is the co-lead instructor for Cultivating Emotional Balance, an evidence-based meditation and emotion regulation training developed by Dr. Paul Ekman and Buddhist scholar Alan Wallace.

 is a teacher and translator of Tibetan Buddhism. She is the Assistant Spiritual Director and Lead Authorized Teacher for Tara Mandala Retreat Center, founded by Lama Tsultrim Allione. She has taught Buddhism and Yoga since 2001 and co-translated Sublime Dharma: A Compilation of Two Texts on the Great Perfection, published in 2012. She is currently writing a book on the 21 Taras in Buddhism. Visit 

Classes are archived on the SFDC YouTube Channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/sfdharmacollective

Well of Being Wednesdays, with Eve and Chandra

This one-hour Hatha-style yoga class explores the body and breath while helping gently build flexibility. The focus is on thoughtful alignment, emphasizing moving into and holding poses with awareness and cultivating mindful attention.

This class is suitable for yoga practitioners of all levels including beginners, seniors and those with limited mobility.

 is a RYTT-200registered yoga teacher. He was educated as a composer and currently works with his brother as a General Contractor.

Joe began studying yoga at the turn of the century. His practice has been primarily in the Iyengar tradition, though it is also informed by his many years sitting zazen at the San Francisco Zen Center and studying Sanskrit at the San Francisco Yoga Society. 

Joe’s classes are quiet, mindful explorations of the body and the spirit it houses.

Gentle Yoga for Mindfulness with Joe Metzler

Every morning, come together for a peer-led sit at 2929 24th Street in San Francisco or on the collective zoom. Arriving late and leaving early is okay!

Daily Morning Peer-Led Sit (SF Dharma Collective)

(Re) Finding Spaciousness, (Re) Forging the Heart 

Join us from 11 am to 3 pm for a day of practice with Eve Ekman

In this day long we will give our selves the powerful opportunity to sit in community and move towards deep inner presence.

When we have an opportunity for sustained practice we will connect with the spaciousness of our clear minds, and natural gold of our own hearts ,beneath the dust of the daily muck and bustle. Settling our mind isn’t easy, but when we practice in community we get to feel the lift of the collective. We will do brief and longer sessions to help settle the mind and find the glimpses of spaciousness which can give way to greater and greater stillness, openness, and silence – showing us the true nature of change, impermanence, and interdependence. We will pair the practices of finding of space with connection to our hearts’ natural inclinations towards kindness, compassion and joy, a revelation of our boundless capacity to be loving towards ourselves and others. 

All are welcome. Bring a journal, food for snacks, something for a shared altar, and comfy clothing.

Day of Practice

The teachings on compassion rest in the wisdom that our most essential nature is not separate. We are each a unique manifestation of that essential nature….but not separate from it. No more than waves are separate from the ocean.

 is an internationally respected Buddhist teacher and visionary cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project, and founder of the Metta Institute. He teaches at major spiritual centers around the globe

He has accompanied over 1000 people through the dying process and trained thousands of healthcare clinicians and family caregivers around the world. His groundbreaking work has been featured on the Bill Moyers PBS series On Our Own Terms, highlighted on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and honored by H.H. the Dalai Lama. He is the author of The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully.

Being Compassion with Frank Ostaseski

Introducing the Integrated Meditation Program

If you are ready to transform patterns that meditation hasn’t shifted, embrace a life filled with love, joy, and peace, and unlock the true benefits that meditation is meant to bring, join Amma Thanasanti for this exploration. She will describe the life-changing impacts she has experienced and some of her student's experiences from attachment repair work, the principles of the Integrated Mediation program, and the hypotheses behind it.

Amma has been meditating for over four decades. As a former Buddhist nun of 26 years and a Dharma teacher for over 25, she had extensive meditation training in the Ajahn Chah tradition. Despite the transformative experiences, a persistent core belief of unworthiness and an underlying sadness and basic fear remained. She will outline the 3-pillars that shifted these core beliefs positively impacting her health, close relationships, and resiliency. With her own experience of profound relief, she is passionate about sharing a program that would make these changes available to you. 

supports you in growing up through developmental stages, cleaning up trauma and attachment wounding, waking up to your essential nature, and showing up fully to have authentic connections with others. She has been meditating for over 40 years. She was a Theravada Buddhist Nun for 26 years including 20 years in the Ajahn Chah Forest Tradition. She has been teaching meditation retreats internationally since 1996.

Decades of living in monastic communities showed her several ways that ending suffering required more than what was available from Insight meditation practices and ethical guidelines; particularly true when individuals were dealing with developmental trauma. She returned to civilian life in 2017.

Amma’s North Star is the truth where love, pervasive awareness, and the power of the land teach and support her every day. 

Integrated Meditation

Saturday, October 15th, 7:30am - 11:30pm PDT

8:15 - 8:30 - silent walking meditation  resting 

10:10 - 10:30 - silent walking meditation  resting 

Peer Led Half-Day Retreat

The Satipatthana Sutta or the Four Foundations of Mindfulness is regarded as one of the most significant of all of the Buddha’s Theravada discourses. It contains a complete set of teachings designed to integrate meditation into all parts of daily life, promote balance, and realize the end of suffering. Yet for many, even after decades of practice, we are not able to realize the potential that the Buddha promises these teachings can bring. Join us this evening as we look at different kinds of trauma, how they limit our ability to practice, and an overview of trauma-informed approaches to the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

A Trauma-Informed Approach to the Satipatthana Sutta (Online Only)

Inspired by the ancient practice of Chöd, Feeding Your Demons ® (FYD) is a five-step process created by Lama Tsultrim Allione that allows one to offer nurturing and understanding to one’s own inner demons, our disowned shadow parts, rather than engaging them in battle and struggle. We all have our demons. Paradoxically offering compassion to the parts of ourselves we wish would go away, develops the potential for transformation from demon to ally. This allows the psyche to move from polarization to integration, and the energy that has been trapped in the demon becomes accessible as the ally. FYD is of great benefit when working with a wide variety of both personal and collective issues,including depression, anxiety, addictions, physical issues, fear, anger, relationship challenges, and other dilemmas of modern life.

 has studied Tibetan Buddhism for the last 20 years, was authorized to teach by Lama Tsultrim Allione in 2006, and received the title of Magyu Lopön, lead teacher of Magyu: The Mother Lineage at Tara Mandala from Lama Tsultrim in 2016. Lopön Charlotte teaches in the US and abroad, often in partnership with her husband Pieter Oosthuizen, and co-leads the Boulder Tara Mandala Sangha. Lopön Charlotte received a Masters in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School where she studied comparative religion. She served as executive co-director of Tara Mandala for four years, and thereafter as Trustee and Board President. She is the co-developer of the FYD Online Certification Program. Currently she is an Instructor and Director of the Center for the Advancement of Contemplative Education at Naropa University. The mother of two boys, she has published essays in 

. Pieter’s and her blog offers reflections on the intersection of Dharma and modern daily life: 

, join us at the “Well of Being” where Chandra and Eve offer contemporary translations of ancient Tibetan Buddhist tools coupled with modern psychology for cultivating concentration, emotion awareness, insight, and compassion. As guides, Chandra and Eve respectively draw from their expertise as lead instructors in experiential and evidenced based trainings for emotion transformation, Feeding Your Demons® and Cultivating Emotional Balance. Reveal the healing source of your inner well-being through meditation, contemplation, and discussion.

Classes are archived on the SFDC YouTube Channel: 

Feeding Your Demons with Magyu Lopön Charlotte Rotterdam

Join us for an evening of Indian Classical music!

Amit Gud & Nitish Limaye will be presenting Fall Melodies on Sarod and Tabla.

 got initiated to Indian classical music at an early age. He learned Tabla from various gurus in Pune and most recently with Arshad Syed ji (disciple of Ustad Alla Rakha) in California. Amit also studied nylon string guitar from Stanford professor Charles Fergusson.

In 2014, Amit embarked on a new musical journey by studying the Sarod under the tutelage of two great masters - Shri Bruce Hamm, a disciple of the revered Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, and Shri Abhisek Lahiri, a disciple of the renowned Shri Alok Lahiri. The Sarod's unique tone and versatility captivated Amit, and he has been passionately exploring the instrument's intricacies ever since.

Amit's performances are characterized by his masterful command of rhythm, his deep emotional connection to the music, and his ability to evoke the essence of traditional ragas. He has been showcasing his talent at various venues around the bay area, leaving his audience captivated and mesmerized by his musical prowess.

is an upcoming Tabla player in the bay area. He has learnt for the past 12 years from Shri Rashmin Bhagwat and from Shri Abhinay Padhye for about 6 years. Nitish has been performing at various venues in the bay area.

Fall Melodies on Sarod & Tabla - Indian Music Concert

Saturday, September 17th, 7:30am - 11:30pm PDT

We invite you to explore the Buddha’s teachings on Diversity and Inclusion on this weekend non-residential hybrid Insight Dialogue retreat.

During this Insight Dialogue retreat, we will explore the importance of diversity and inclusion in our lives and in our practice and find ways to cultivate greater awareness, understanding, and compassion for the unique experiences and perspectives of all individuals. We will examine our own biases and blind spots, and learn how to create safe and inclusive spaces for dialogue and growth. 

Attendance at all sessions is highly encouraged but not required.

This is a Hybrid retreat. Join us in person at 2929 24th street

The retreat will begin on Friday evening with an introduction to retreat and the Insight Dialogue guidelines. On Saturday and Sunday there will be a mix of silent and relational practice, as we explore each guideline using contemplations on Diversity and Inclusion as they are offered in the Buddha’s teachings. We will end late Sunday afternoon.

Insight Dialogue experience is useful, but not required, as the retreat will provide an introduction to the practice. A regular meditation practice will support your experience.

Meals will not be provided. Participants are encouraged to bring their own lunch to maintain the flow of practice; alternatively, there are many restaurants in the neighborhood.

The SF Dharma Collective offers in person and online practice in a hybrid mode that allows people to participate in events from their homes ori n the dharma hall. Please indicate your preference on registration. Seating in the dharma hall is limited, when capacity is reached, registrants will be offered online spaces.

This retreat is offered on a dana basis. 

All classes and sits at the San Francisco Dharma Collective are open to all. No one is ever turned away for lack of funds. Dana (generosity) supports our teachers to offer the dharma and maintains our center infrastructure. Suggested donation for the weekend: $60-$120.

practiced in the Vipassana tradition for many years.He was introduced to Insight Dialogue in 2011 and joined the Insight Dialogue facilitator program in 2016. Since then, Dave has been facilitating and teaching in-person workshops, retreats and online offerings. Aware of the importance of spiritual friendship and the power of Insight Dialogue practiced in daily life, he enjoys expanding the boundaries of practice for himself and others. He founded the annual Kalyanamittata retreat and offers 

practice in the global Insight Dialogue community

.He is active on a number of community teams. Dave lives in Toronto, Canada.

Diversity and Inclusion in the Buddha’s Teachings - An Insight Dialogue Retreat with Dave Leggatt

Bodhisattva Training for Daily Life with Stephan Pende

Saturday, August 26 and Sunday, August 27, 10-11:30 am

Find deeper peace in challenging times, discover meaning in uncertainty, and address anxiety by relying on kindness. These teachings are suitable for beginners and experienced students, offering practical tools to awaken bodhichitta in daily life and meditations to deepen our experience of emptiness.

. Relating to traditional Buddhist practices and texts authentically can be challenging for us in the West. The texts are incredibly powerful, but come from a different cultural context, making it difficult to move beyond intellectual understanding and perfunctory repetition. In this course, we will challenge ourselves to bring the wisdom of this text into our own lives and relationships.

one of the most revered texts in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, was written by the tenth century Tibetan master Tokme Zongpo. Its inspiring verses convey the entire Mahayana path of compassion. It describes the practices and attitudes of the awakening rebel who wants to heal, grow up, and wake up for the benefit of all. We will work towards allowing this wisdom to touch our hearts and transform our lives.

, MA in clinical psychology, is trained in Gestalt therapy. He has studied and practiced meditation in multiple Buddhist traditions for over 30 years and spent 5 years in meditation retreats. Stephan was a monk in the Tibetan tradition for 11 years and teaches meditation in Buddhist centers in Europe.

“The Thirty-SevenPractices of All the Bodhisattvas” by Gyalse Tokme Zangpo

37 Practices of a Bodhisattva by Ken McLeod 

Relating to a Spiritual Teacher: Building a Healthy Relationship

The Dynamics of a Healthy Student-Teacher Relationship by Dr. Alexander Berzin

images/photos by: Patricia Frazão Pereira @zenproduction_copenhagen

Saturday, August 19th, 7:30am - 12:30pm PDT

9:30 - 10:00 - silent walking meditation / resting 

10:45 - 11:15 - silent walking meditation 

As mothers, aunties, grandmothers, caretakers and meditators, we are the core of our families and communities. This workshop is designed to offer a place of rest and transformation within the embrace of our practice and community. By taking time to care for ourselves and witness the gifts we are offering, we will fortify our connection to ourselves, our families and our communities.  