Clear Dharma Sangha is an online practice community devoted to deepening spiritual practice, integrating it into our lives, and embodying it in a rapidly changing world. The group offers an inclusive space to meditate together, explore contemplative practice, and grapple with the pressing questions of our times.

In 2026, we are exploring core themes of the path through a combination of structured teachings and ongoing practice. We began the year with an eight-week series, The Foundations of the Dharma, and are now entering a period of integration—revisiting and deepening these teachings through continued practice together.

Come listen deeply, steady your heart, and walk the path together.

• About Clear Dharma Sangha

• Membership Benefits

• Session Format & Schedule

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This eight-week series offers a grounded introduction to the foundations of the Dharma, drawing from early Buddhist teachings and Western Insight Meditation. It explores core elements of the path as living principles that shape how we meet life: how suffering arises, how freedom becomes possible, and how awareness, integrity, and compassion reveal liberation as ethical, relational, and embodied.

This series is designed for both new and experienced practitioners who want a clear, non-dogmatic, and practical orientation to Buddhism. It offers a strong basis for ongoing practice, and a shared language for walking the path together with honesty, care, and courage.

You are welcome to join CDS at any time. Membership includes access to recordings of the full 8-session Foundations curriculum to support your learning and practice.

The month of April will offer “breathing room”—a space to review and integrate these teachings. These sessions will follow the standard CDS format, with guided meditation, Dharma reflection, and interactive discussion.

In a world fraught with challenges, how can our spiritual practice provide strength and tenderness, guiding us through the noise and uncertainty? The most potent questions rarely have simple answers. Even as we each take responsibility for our spiritual development, we don’t have to walk the path alone.

Clear Dharma Sangha offers a different approach to the path—one that recognizes our shared needs for community, personal guidance, and honest inquiry.

Meditation practice is often taught in a “one-size-fits-all” way. Yet the path unfolds in unique and mysterious ways. What steadies the heart, heals us, and returns us to our true nature may look different for each of us. This group provides a supportive space to explore your practice in ways that resonate most deeply with your life.

I envision this community as a place where you can come as you are—to connect, reflect, and grow together. I hope this group offers strength, clarity, and inspiration, not only in your meditation practice but in how you live each day of your life.

Practice, explore, engage.

Clear Dharma Sangha sessions blend formal meditation instruction, personal reflection, and group discussion of how to apply spiritual principles to real-world challenges. Join us for a heartfelt conversation about walking the path during times of upheaval, uncertainty, and rapid change.

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Questions? Check out our FAQs. Drop in by donating for a session here.

Learn about our community supported sliding scale.

Oren Jay Sofer has practiced Buddhist meditation and Nonviolent Communication for over two decades and teaches internationally. He holds a degree in comparative religion from Columbia University and is a Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner for the healing of trauma.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Oren is the author of several books, including the best-seller Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication and Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices to Meet a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity and Love. His teaching has reached people around the world through his online courses and guided meditations. A husband and a father, Oren lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he enjoys cooking, time in nature, and home woodworking projects.

Lily Huang fell into in-depth Dharma practice in 2019. She has studied in early Buddhist traditions with teachers at Spirit Rock, Insight Meditation Society, Insight Meditation Center (IMC) Redwood City, and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Her primary teacher is Oren Jay Sofer, with whom she has also trained in Wise Speech and Nonviolent Communication. Lily is a participant in IMC’s Dharma Leader Training program with Gil Fronsdal and teaches regularly at Roaring Fork Insight. Lily has a background in primary care medicine for the underserved and is a wife and mother of two teenage daughters.

Questions? Please read our FAQs. If you have a question not listed here feel free to email us.

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