Dharma Center of Trikaya Buddhism — San Diego, United States

A volunteer-run Trikaya Buddhist temple above the pier in Ocean Beach, San Diego

Dharma Center of Trikaya Buddhism was established in 1998 and is based in the Rama Lineage. Rama taught meditation to thousands of Americans in the latter part of the twentieth century and initiated an unusually diverse group of students into American Buddhist practice. Drawing on what they received from Rama and other masters, the Center's teachers built a new lineage, Trikaya Buddhism. Each teacher, the pages say, has earned their wisdom through their own experience on the Path and teaches in their own style. The meditation hall sits in Ocean Beach, in the first building east of the Pier Parking Lot. It is upstairs in the back left corner of a gray building with white trim, reached through a courtyard, a flight of stairs with an ocean view, and a few more steps. The Center shares the building with Bud's Ice Cream Shop and South Beach Bar & Grill. There is no elevator, so students with mobility issues are directed to the online classes. Shoes come off in the front room, and the door closes before class begins. The Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit temple run by volunteers, supported by class donations and Members rather than any outside organization. Classes are pay what you wish, include seated meditation instruction and a dharma talk, and welcome adults at every level of experience. Saturdays and select Sundays are held in person and online; weeknight classes are online only. Beyond classes there are monthly Sangha Socials, a Random OM open meditation announced on social media, and the 108 Lights meditation held every Solstice and Equinox. Retreats are part of the practice. Past offerings include the four-day Begin Again Meditation Intensive in San Diego in 2019, for 14 participants, and a 2021 Arches/Canyonlands trip. A Writing Dharma Retreat is scheduled for August 26 to 30, 2026 at a three-acre retreat house in Big Bear Lake, limited to eight participants in silence, and supported in part by a grant from the Frederick P Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism.

Traditions: Trikaya Buddhism, Rama Lineage, Meditation, Mindfulness, Dharma talks, Writing commentary

Programs: Saturday Cultivating Personal Power Series & Meditation, Basics of Meditation (4th Sunday), 108 Lights Equinox Meditation, Random OM Open Meditation, Sangha Day Socials, Begin Again Meditation Intensive, Writing Dharma Retreat, ETL - 108 Lights Study Group