Weekly Sittings & Talks

People of all experience levels are welcome to join our weekly sittings.

Our weekly Sunday sittings are led by one of our guiding teachers or a guest teacher. We meet from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm. All meetings are held on Zoom and we have in-person sittings every second and fourth Sundays of the month. The Zoom link for the Sunday sitting is here. Please check the home page for the latest teacher updates.

Weekly Monday Women’s Sangha - Mondays from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm with Juliana Sloane or a guest teacher.
To Join: Use the Zoom link or open the Zoom app and join Meeting ID: 869 3882 1553, password: SFIWomen

Dana Practice

Dana means “generosity.” The Buddha’s teachings are considered priceless but are given freely in a spirit of generosity. Offering dana (a donation) gives students an opportunity to express gratitude for the teachings and to cultivate the joy of giving.

To cover San Francisco Insight expenses and make an offering to the teacher, we ask participants for a donation.

You may make your offering online, or mail a check to San Francisco Insight, P.O. Box 640095, San Francisco, CA 94164.

We also welcome your generosity through volunteering.

Classes

SF Insight sponsors both introductory and intermediate-level meditation classes periodically. We also hold classes on other Dharma-related topics. Our guiding teachers sometimes teach in association with retreats or classes offered by sanghas beyond SF Insight. Upcoming offerings are listed here.

Open Classes

There are no classes currently open. Please check back for future offerings.

About the Classes

Q. What if I can only come to some of the classes?

A. It really depends on the offering. Please contact the teacher or host sangha if you can’t make all the classes. Some classes build on the previous class, benefit from consistency to create deep community while others can be flexible with a drop-in style. Speak to the teacher directly, or email info@sfinsight.org.

Open Retreats

Retreats are open to all community members, and offer a way to deepen one’s practice in daily life. A traditional silent Vipassana retreat is a wonderful way to deepen your meditation practice, steep in the teachings of the Buddha and the Dharma of liberation, and develop a community of awakening.

Wise, Wild Words: A Meditation and Writing Retreat
with Pamela Weiss and Amana Brembry Johnson

October 1-5, 2025

“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” —Toni Morrison

This retreat will weave together periods of silence and writing as a path to deepening our spiritual and creative lives. Our time together will include Dharma talks, guided meditation, embodied movement, and periods of writing to nurture our inner depths and outer expression. Within a wild, wise field of silence we will settle deeply into what is, peel back layers of the restrictive, judging mind, and discover words that express the mystery and majesty alive in each of us.

All are welcome. No prior meditation or writing experience is needed. This retreat is silent outside of teacher-led Q&A, small groups, or other practice meetings.

Grief as a Change Agent of Transformation and Resiliency with Pamela Weiss, Carol Cano, Amana Brembry Johnson and Ronda Madrigal

Nov. 8-14, 2025

Grief is not sequestered to the life loss of loved ones. It traverses beyond the terrain of physical death and seeps into disappointments in relationships, the loss of dreams, ancestral anguish, and unnamed disappearances. Understanding the personal nature of grief and the tenderness of being with a broken heart, we will create a container that honors all individuals moving through their sorrow.

During the retreat, we will practice silent meditation both indoors and in nature. There will be Dharma talks, embodiment practices, and meetings with teachers. The retreat will unfold with an opening ritual each morning and offer opportunities to experience silent time together in affinity groups that honor the diversity of the saṅgha. In beloved community, we will create a space of sacred refuge that offers freedom for inner reflection that deepens our mindfulness practice and brings us into closer alignment with Earth Medicine.

Please subscribe to our weekly newsletter for updates on retreats.

Past Retreats (a sampling)

"Do No Harm: The Precepts as a Practice of Compassion and Connection" with Pamela Weiss and Jozen Tamori Gibson: This online weekend retreat investigates the precepts - not killing, not stealing, not lying, and not misusing sexuality or intoxicants - as an embodied, relational path. Through guided meditation, dharma talks, interactive inquiry, and discussion, participants will explore what it means to stay awake and be compassionate, and explore the potential for engaging in our shared life without doing harm to ourselves, each other, and the planet. Suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners.

5-Day Online Retreat with Pamela Weiss and Eugene Cash: A silent mindfulness retreat using Insight Retreat Center’s Zoom “meditation hall,” with periods of sitting and walking meditation, instruction, dharma talks, and practice discussion with the teachers. Suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners.

"No Part Left Out: A meditation Retreat for Self-Identified Women" with Pamela Weiss and Co-Leaders Amana Brembry Johnson, Carole Cano, and Kate Johnson: This online mindfulness retreat through Spirit Rock Zoom "meditation hall" offers myths, stories, archetypes of Buddhist womxn, compassion and desire for freedom. It will include periods of silent sitting and walking, meditation instruction, Dharma talks, embodied movement, meetings with teachers, creative expression and practice discussion with the teachers. Suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners.