Our new home, a place of refuge...

Crimson Gate is very excited to be moving into our new, spacious home in the heart of Oakland! Our dharma center will occupy the ground floor of this lovely old building in the Grand Lake district.  We will have a beautiful zendo, community gathering space, and places for learning, practicing, and simply taking refuge in the midst of our hectic lives.

We value community, diversity, social relevance, modernity as well as tradition, transparency, creativity, and individual empowerment. We hope to offer a place to refuel, transform, and awaken for therapists and allied healing professionals.

Our vision is to offer authentic Zen practice and training to mental health professionals in the Bay Area. In our new home, we will be able to offer more opportunities for meditation. In addition to our weekly Sunday night sangha, we will offer at least one morning meditation period per week, and perhaps another evening meditation group.

We will continue to offer Introduction to Meditation classes each spring and fall, followed by a 40-day practice period for those who are interested, all geared to mental health professionals who are interested in taking up the way of regular meditation practice in a supportive environment.

We also plan to offer more classes on the intersection of Buddhist practice and psychology. First up will be a free evening seminar on Koans 101. I'm also planning a class on Foundations of Buddhist Psychology for early fall; stay tuned for more information!

There will also be ways to take up more focused and intensive meditation practices from the Zen tradition, as well as some other Buddhist traditions.

We have a primary focus on building community. We welcome healing professionals of all ages, genders, sexualities, ethnicities, and backgrounds. No experience necessary, but engagement, willingness and curiosity are helpful.

Ah yes, the nitty gritty. There is usually plenty of street parking on Grand, as well as on nearby side streets. The building is wheelchair accessible. We will be moving over the course of the next few weeks, and hope to fling open our doors by the first week in August. We will be having a couple of work days in July, if you'd like to pitch in!

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