Big Heart City Meditation SF

01/28/2026

Anthony “T” Maes leads the group this week with a talk titled “Inspired by Sila.”

Join us Friday, January 30
7:30pm-9pm Pacific

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89102592350

Meeting ID: 891 0259 2350

Anthony “T” Maes was born and raised in the East Bay. He has practiced Buddhist meditation since 2003, primarily as a student of the Thai Forest lineage. He is a teacher at UC Berkeley, Inward Bound Mindfulness, EBMC, and is a founding teacher of Dharma Homies Teacher Collective where he specializes in trauma-informed relational mindfulness. “T” graduated from UC Berkeley in 2004, completed the yearlong Commit2Dharma program at EBMC in 2011, the Facilitator-1 training with JoAnna Hardy and Vinny Ferraro in 2017, and the 3-year Organic Intelligence trauma resilience practitioner training. He is currently in the 4-year Teacher Training program at Spirit Rock & IMS. For more information about “T”, visit https://www.anthonymaes.com/

01/27/2026

Join us on Saturday, February 21 for a daylong retreat: Letting Go without Losing Heart

What does it mean to release without becoming numb, hardened, or detached? Many of us have learned to let go by pulling away, bracing ourselves, or telling the story that we “should be over it by now.” This daylong offers a different orientation—one that understands letting go as a tender, embodied process rather than an act of withdrawal. Together, we’ll explore how to ease the grip on what hurts or clings, without losing contact with what we care about.

We’ll do this not as an idea, but as a practice. Through guided meditation, reflection, and shared inquiry, we’ll look at how letting go shows up in the body, in relationships, and in the ordinary moments of daily life. This is not about getting rid of feelings or bypassing difficulty, but about cultivating the steadiness that allows the heart to remain open in the midst of change. Whether you’re carrying loss, navigating transition, or simply feeling the cost of holding too tightly, you are welcome—come for the whole day or whatever part you’re able.

This is a day rooted in belonging, where we practice meeting what’s here together rather than carrying it alone.

$40 Registration fee + dana to Vinny

If the registration fee is prohibitive for you, email info@bigheartcity.org and we will get you registered.

Learn more at bigheartcity.org/daylong-retreat

Online daylong retreat with VINNY FERRAROletting go without losing heartSaturday, February 21, 202610am-4pm Pacific on Zoom Register Here What does it mean to release without becoming numb, hardened, or detached? Many of us have learned to let go by pulling away, bracing ourselves, or telling the st...

01/21/2026

Vinny Ferraro leads the group this week on Zoom!

Join us Friday, January 23
7:30pm - 9pm Pacific

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83815172625

Meeting ID: 838 1517 2625

01/14/2026

Vinny Ferraro leads the group this week!

Join us on Zoom
Friday, January 16
7:30pm - 9pm Pacific

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81698845913

Meeting ID: 816 9884 5913

01/07/2026

Caverly Morgan leads the group this week with a talk titled “Acting from Being.”

We all hear “just be,” but what does it mean to act from being?

Come join Caverly as we explore the act of being. It’s a phrase that’s been used to describe many different knowings—from the ideas of philosophers like St. Thomas Aquinas to those of Islamic mystic, philosopher, and theologian Mullā Ṣadrā. Basically, it’s about knowing a happiness that you can’t explain because you don’t have a reason to point to. It’s the joy of just being, knowing who you are, resting in the present moment, and acting in the world based on this deep knowing. Everyone is welcome to join us!


Friday, January 9
7:30p - 9pm Pacific

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84531480974

Meeting ID: 845 3148 0974

Caverly Morgan is a spiritual teacher, non-profit founder, speaker and writer who blends the original spirit of Zen with a modern nondual approach. She is the author of The Heart of Who We Are: Realizing Freedom Together as well as A Kids Book About Mindfulness. Caverly’s practice began in 1995 and has included eight years of training in a silent Zen monastery. She is the founder of Peace in Schools, a nonprofit that created the nation’s first for-credit mindfulness class in public high schools. Caverly has been teaching contemplative practice since 2001. She leads meditation retreats, workshops and online classes internationally. Learn more at caverlymorgan.org.

12/31/2025

We’re taking Friday, January 2 off. We look forward to being with you next week on Zoom — Friday, January 9 at 7:30pm Pacific.

12/24/2025

Vinny Ferraro leads the group this week!

Join Us! Friday, December 26
7:30pm Pacific

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85726371293

Meeting ID: 857 2637 1293

12/17/2025

Vinny Ferraro leads the group this week!

Join Us Friday, December 19 • 7:30pm - 9pm Pacific

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84859388207

Meeting ID: 848 5938 8207

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Our Annual BHC Apparel Fundraiser ends next Thursday Dec 25! Check out the store here: https://www.customink.com/s/bigheartcity 🙏

12/16/2025

Our Annual apparel sale is here for another week! We have a brand new batch of things including sweatpants, sweatshirts, t-shirts including a new design with Vinny’s take on the First Noble Truth — “It’s always something.”

All orders must be placed by December 25th, which means they unfortunately will not ship in time for holiday gift giving. But feel free to share this link with friends and loved ones, so you can be be the best dressed Bodhisattva in the New Year.

The most important thing: 100% of the funds raised help keep Big Heart City going strong. We appreciate your support.

Check out the store at www.customink.com/s/bigheartcity

Big heart CityAnnual Fundraiser Once a year we offer some BHC swag, so folks can represent and support our beloved Sangha. The items are available to purchase for ONE MONTH. The online store closes on December 25 and items will ship out in the New Year. We hope you check it out -- 100% of proceeds s...

12/10/2025

Vinny Ferraro leads the group this week!

Join Us Friday, December 12
7:30pm - 9pm Pacific

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86712009538

Meeting ID: 867 1200 9538

12/03/2025

Matthew Brensilver leads the group this week with a talk titled “Four Types of Grief and their Relationship to Love.”

Join Us Friday, December 5
7:30pm - 9:00pm Pacific
St. Gregory of Nyssa
500 De Haro Street at Mariposa
Potrero Hill, San Francisco

There is plenty of street parking and MUNI bus lines 10, 19, 22 and 55 stop within one block. (Please double check MUNI schedules.)

Not in San Francisco? Tune into the live stream on our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSTwQ1vM2h5gMmrdjEtCqNg)

11/26/2025

We are thrilled to welcome Rhonda V. Magee back to Big Heart City this week! She’ll lead a sit and give a talk titled “Mindfulness for Good in a Time of Disillusionment, Despair and Destruction.”

Join Us Friday, November 28
7:30pm - 9pm Pacific

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84805089284

Meeting ID: 848 0508 9284

Rhonda V. Magee, M.A., J.D., is Professor of Law, Emerita, and Founding Director of the Center for Contemplative Law and Ethics at the University of San Francisco School of Law. Professor Magee is an internationally-recognized mindfulness teacher and prolific author who has spent more than twenty years exploring the intersections of anti-racist education, social justice, and contemplative practices, garnering international acclaim for her work. She is the author of the award-winning The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness, which broke new ground in bringing mindfulness together with diversity and inclusion theory and practice. Her current writing and teaching integrates contemplative ways of knowing, teaching, skill-building and leading as the foundation for wiser, more meaningful and ethically-grounded action for creatively growing together through the greatest challenges of our times in an approach to practice she calls Soulful Engaged Mindfulness.