January 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th: A Lineage of Liberation - Intro to the History of Buddhism with Dr. Sean Feit Oakes

A Lineage of Liberation: Intro to the History of Buddhism

with Dr. Sean Feit Oakes

East Bay Meditation Center 

285 17th Street, Oakland, CA 94612

The moment the Buddha’s first student heard his teaching and was liberated, it’s said that the “Wheel of Dharma” began to turn. Since that moment, generations of devoted practitioners have spread the Dharma of liberation around the world. In this series, we’ll explore a range of Buddhist cultures, and trace the development of important ideas across Asia and beyond to Buddhism’s current prominence as a many-faceted global religion. We’ll learn simple meditations, chants, and prayers from different traditions, exploring the vast diversity of Buddhist practice. The class is for beginners and those wanting more historical grounding in their practice.

EBMC TEACHERS ARE NOT PAID BY THE CENTER. You are invited to offer a voluntary financial gift to them at the class. The East Bay Meditation Center operates using a generosity-based, gift economics model. This means we charge no set registration fees to attend our events and instead rely on the generous giving of our community. All classes at the Center do come with a financial cost. Class participants are offered an opportunity to make a voluntary gift to EBMC during the registration process or at an event itself. Please note that no one will be turned away for lack of funds. If you would like to explore any EBMC volunteer positions, please send an email expressing your interest to admin@eastbaymeditation.org. 

In order to protect the health of community members with environmental illness, please do not wear fragranced products (including natural fragrances) or clothes laundered in fragranced products to EBMC.

East Bay Meditation Center strives to be as accessible as possible.  For the safety of our teachers, staff, volunteers and participants, we cannot provide assistance for personal needs such as transferring into and out of chairs, walking, eating, or using the restroom.  If you require such assistance, you must bring a personal care assistant with you when you come to any event at EBMC.

About the Teacher: 

Sean Feit Oakes, PhD, teaches Buddhism and Haṭha Yoga with a focus on the integration of embodiment, study, trauma resolution, and social justice. He has studied in Theravāda, Zen, and Vajrāyāna Buddhist lineages since 1993, including training as a monk in Burma, and was mentored to teach Insight Meditation by Jack Kornfield. He trained in Yoga with David Moreno and Alice Joanou. Dr. Oakes received his PhD in Performance Studies from UC Davis in 2016, writing on states of consciousness in Buddhist meditation and experimental dance, and teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, EBMC, and Ashtanga Yoga Berkeley.