IN PERSON HALF-DAY: The Dharma of Disaster: Cultivating Interdependence

IN PERSON HALF-DAY: The Dharma of Disaster: Cultivating Interdependence in These Times

Saturday April 26th 2025

1PM to 5PM PT ()

With Jessy Zapanta, Lisa Fujie Parks, Sarwang Parikh, and Tania Triana

Open to all

The center is fragrance-free and wheelchair accessible

N95/KN95 masks required

As the frequency and intensity of climate change exacerbated floods, wildfires, and other disasters continue to rise in this era of polycrisis, many practitioners seek deeper refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Through Buddhist practice, we expand our capacity to be with what is, face our fears with compassion, heal what has been harmed, and build what can be. 

This half-day, in-person gathering offers a practice community to explore how Buddhist teachings can support disaster preparedness through the cultivation of interdependence. Our time will include the exploration of Buddhist teachings, meditation, small-group discussion, a mindful fire drill, and snacks. By the end of our time, we will envision joyfully belonging to the SF Bay-Delta bioregion as an awakened community living in interdependence and working to restore people, land, and water. 

We aspire to gather with local Bay area sangha members over the age of 18 who represent the diversity of the EBMC community, with majority BIPOC and LGBTQ+ participation. Participants are welcome to come alone or with family members, housemates, and/or pod-mates*. (*We attribute the term “pod” to Mia Mingus and the Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective: “Your pod is made up of the people that you would call on if violence, harm or abuse happened to you…” The term also refers to formations engaged in mutual aid and community organizing, e.g., Bay Resistance’s Action Pods.)

Cost

The teachings are regarded as priceless. So they are offered without a fee. You are invited to support the teachings and our efforts by contributing voluntary donations (the practice of “Dana”) for the expenses of the meditation center and the support of the teachers.

The ticket prices are listed as different tiers with suggested donations based on income ranges. For those who wish to give more, you may choose an "add-on" to your ticket. For those unable to give, there is an option for that.

Other ways to give:

To make a gift to sustain the work of East Bay Meditation Center, you may do so via Paypal: paypal.me/eastbaymeditation or our website: eastbaymeditation.org/dana 100% of our programming is sliding scale and no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds.

Please also consider giving a financial gift to our teachers as well, who do not receive a salary for their work, and give their teachings freely to all.

Sarwang Parikh

Venmo @sarwangp

PayPal @sarwang ([email protected]) 

Note: Dana given to Sarwang will be distributed equitably among the teaching team.

Thank you for the gifts of your generosity and for supporting the work of East Bay Meditation Center and our beloved teachers who have volunteered their time.

For in-person participation:

For those wishing to practice in person, space will be limited to 60 people to allow ample space for social distancing. Participants will be asked to wear N95 or KN95 face masks. (N95 face masks will be available at EBMC.) Please note: The teacher may be unmasked while teaching.

To attend in person, you need to be completely free of fragranced body and clothing products -- more information and a list of fragrance free products, including those that are especially good for people of color, appears on our website:

https://eastbaymeditation.org/resources/fragrance-free-at-ebmc/

East Bay Meditation Center is a scent free / fragrance free space and is wheelchair accessible.

Founder of Healing Without Hierarchy & Kapwa Flow Somatic Meditation, Jessy Zapanta (he, she, siya) is a community builder, educator, and survivor-centered mindful movement and meditation facilitator born and raised in the working-class, BIPOC-majority parts of the lands known as the Bay Area (Ohlone territory). Jessy is a graduate of EBMC’s Practice in Transformative Action Program and inaugural two-year Spiritual Teacher and Leadership Program, and is a co-founder of Dharma in Motion Sangha. Experienced in western and Asian bodywork, counseling, Raja Yoga, qigong, somatics, and improv, he has held space for queer, trans, gender-diverse, disabled, and neurodivergent folks of all ages. Siya is passionate about radical inclusion and access, inviting the collective needs of participants into the room. With roots spanning across Pangasinan and Pampanga, Nagasaki, and Fujian, Jessy’s path includes reclaiming diverse ancestral teachings, trusting intuition, and building intersectional, intergenerational communities of care.

Lisa Fujie Parks is a multiracial Japanese and white queer woman who grew up part of her childhood in Japan and makes a home in Oakland, California, the lands of the Ohlone people. Lisa practices the dharma in the Plum Village tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and in other traditions, in service to wholeness and solidarity. Lisa graduated from East Bay Meditation Center's (EBMC) inaugural Spiritual Teacher and Leadership (STL) training, and also completed the Commit2Dharma program and Practice in Transformative Action program. Lisa is a parent to a young adult in a two-home blended family and works in public health as a facilitator, coach, and advocate. Lisa also serves as the Board Co-Chair of Our Family Coalition, a community organization advancing equity for the full and expanding spectrum of LGBTQ+ families and children. Lisa's favorite ritual is to go outside to give gratitude to our human and more-than-human relatives and ancestors and listen for guidance.

Sarwang Parikh (he/they) is a decolonial psychotherapist and meditation teacher based on unceded Ohlone land in the SF Bay Area. Born into a devotional Indian lineage with an immigrant, working-class background, Sarwang has been practicing and studying the Dharma for over 25 years through their ancestral traditions of Vedic yoga, Theravāda, and Indian Vajrayāna.

They have completed various multi-year teaching and study programs, including East Bay Meditation Center’s (EBMC) 2-year Spiritual Teacher Leader program, and are currently in Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leader cohort. Sarwang teaches with Dharma Homies, East Bay Meditation Center, Inward Bound Mindfulness, Braided Wisdom, Spirit Rock, and SF Insight. They also serve on the board of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.

Rooted in a liberatory and decolonial approach to mindfulness and healing, Sarwang integrates deep ancestral wisdom with contemporary healing practices. They find joy in playing the handpan, immersing in nature, and getting free on the dance floor.

Tania Triana [pronouns: she/they/ella/elle] is an educator, activist, and translator raised in Rochester, NY. She joined EBMC in 2014 soon after relocating to Oakland, and accepted the Bodhisattva vows and precepts at a ceremony at EBMC in 2017, and renewed them in 2020. Tania is grateful to have found a spiritual home and social justice community here, and currently serves on the L-Sangha as Board Secretary. When she’s not teaching at the College Preparatory School, Tania enjoys yoga, traveling, cooking, reading, and being tía to the best sobrinitos ever, Javier and Nicolás.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

East Bay Meditation Center, 285 17th St, Oakland, United States