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Sunday Sangha – 8th November 2026

JD Doyle

This session is led by JD Doyle.

Start Time: 11 am PST (LA) / 2 pm EST (NY) / 7 pm GMT (London) / 8 pm CET (Paris). 90-minute live session.

This week’s theme: The Dharma of Trees

Dharma of Trees
In this talk we will explore the Dharma of Trees. The Buddha encourages us to meditate at the base of a tree and frequently uses trees to emphasize teachings, especially regarding the three characteristics: anatta(not-self), dukkha(stress), and anicca (impermanence). We will learn how the Buddha’s teachings on trees and forests supports us in orienting towards freedom for ourselves and all beings.

This session is freely-offered, but dana/donations are invited to help us meet our substantial running costs and to support our teachers. To donate, please click here. We appreciate your generosity 🙏

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JD Doyle

JD Doyle

JD Doyle (they/them) co-founded the East Bay Meditation Center’s LGBTQIA+ (Alphabet) Sangha over 15 years ago and co-lead the first Buddhist meditation residential retreats for transgender, nonbinary and gender expansive people. While JD is based in Oakland, CA they offer meditation retreats and classes for many Buddhist Centers. Their training includes: Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s retreat teacher training, Community Dharma Leader training and the Dedicated Practitioner program. They’ve practiced Buddhism since 1995 in the U.S., Thailand, and Burma. For over twenty years, they worked as a public school teacher. JD identifies as genderqueer. They are committed to celebrating the diversity of our human sangha, addressing the impact of racism on our communities, expanding concepts of gender, and living in ways that honor the sacredness of the Earth. Click here to learn more about JD Doyle.

View Recordings of Past Sunday Sangha Sessions

I think I am…Understanding self and non-self, through the five aggregates

With Dave Smith Recorded : November 4, 2018

One of the most puzzling and profound aspects of Dharma is the teaching of anatta; translated as non-self. For us living in the modern world, with the emergence of social media and the over...

From Mindfulness to Dharma: The Fourth Foundation

With Stephen Fulder Recorded : October 28, 2018

The huge popularity of mindfulness is accompanied by a lot of confusion in relation to mindfulness in and of itself and how much it embodies the wider teachings of the Buddha. What is dharma?...

Kaira Jewel Lingo

Other People Are the Path: Relationships as Practice

With Kaira Jewel Lingo Recorded : October 21, 2018

In this session, we explore how our relationships are the very path of awakening and how we can show up fully in our interactions with others, especially those we find challenging. People we find...

Receptivity: Deep Listening as an Antidote to Reactivity and Violence

With Deborah Eden Tull Recorded : October 14, 2018

In these hyped up divisive times, there is an ever-greater need for tools to de-condition ourselves from reactivity. The practice of listening – within ourselves and with others – is much more significant than...

The Relative is the Absolute: Touching Race, Injustice, and Love

With Caverly Morgan Recorded : October 7, 2018

When we engage in the distortion that the relative plane is separate from the absolute – that it is something to transcend or ‘just an illusion’ – we ignore the reality of the illusion....

Communication, Clarity and Consequences

With Christopher Titmuss Recorded : September 30, 2018

Everything that we write matters. Everything that comes out of our mouth matters. Important communications require calm and insightful reflection afterwards. Wisdom and Liberation of the voice support each other. Clear communication with another...

The Gratification, The Danger and The Escape

With Dave Smith Recorded : September 23, 2018

The triad of gratification, danger, and escape is one of the Buddha’s most concise and simple teachings for investigating everyday lived experience. This formula can be applied to every single aspect of our experience....

Mindfulness Approaches to Working with Anxiety

With Diana Winston Recorded : September 16, 2018

Who is not anxious these days? Whether faced with the daily stresses of finances, jobs, responsibilities, parenting, family, or the ongoing anxiety of political events and ecological crisis, most of us are anxious. In...

The Power of Relational Awareness

With Oren Jay Sofer Recorded : September 9, 2018

In this session, Oren Jay Sofer shares reflections on the basics of Mindful Communication, with particular focus on the internal foundations of successful communication. The talk explores some of the ways our silent contemplative...

Christelle Bonneau

From conditioned perception to true and free seeing

With Christelle Bonneau Recorded : September 2, 2018

What do we call reality? How can we free ourselves from conditioned vision and taste life more fully and truly? Acknowledging that our perception of what we call reality is completely subjective, Christine explores...

Brian Dean Williams

Running the Middle Way

With Brian Dean Williams Recorded : July 29, 2018

What do sitting on the meditation cushion and running have in common? How might this form of movement be included in our mindfulness practice? Brian Dean Williams, both an insight meditation teacher and an...

A Practical Approach to Understanding Right Effort

With Dave Smith Recorded : July 22, 2018

All schools of Buddhism acknowledge that if we are to “awaken” in this lifetime, our aim is to cultivate and develop the eight-fold path. This path consists of behavioral (sila), meditative (samadhi) and philosophical...