About
Emiko Yoshikami was raised in the Western Insight tradition and began Vipassana practice as a child. They come from an ancestral lineage of Jodo Shinshu Buddhist priests. Yoshikami draws from multiple Buddhist streams, including teachings from Thich Nhat Hanh and Dzogchen. They graduated from the East Bay Meditation Center's first Spiritual Teacher & Leadership training and participate in Sacred Mountain Sangha's Dharmapala Training. Based in the East Bay, Yoshikami facilitates sanghas locally and internationally, with particular focus on creating Dharma spaces for marginalized communities including sex workers and those who are disabled, neurodiverse, or chronically ill.
Teaching focus
emiko yoshikami's teaching focus, drawn from the source profile, sits in the Vipassana and Insight traditions. Several threads come up: compassion training that doesn't collapse into pity or burnout; dharma in dialogue with race, identity, and power; and dharma for LGBTQ practitioners. On talks, the style is closer to thinking-along than presenting. emiko yoshikami works with whatever shows up in the room rather than reading from notes, which is part of why these talks land as conversational instead of scripted. Short pauses, longer sits, and questions that come back to direct experience are usual. Listed specialties on the source profile include LGBTQ+, trauma. The bigger move emiko yoshikami keeps making is back toward attention itself: what's happening, how it's being held, and what gets in the way. That keeps the teaching close to practice rather than drifting into commentary about practice. For talks, schedules, and longer essays, the affiliated organization's page is where the live material lives. emiko yoshikami's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on. emiko yoshikami's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on.
Background
emiko yoshikami teaches in the Vipassana and Insight traditions. The teaching home is East Bay Meditation Center. From the teacher's own profile: emiko (she/they) was raised with the Dharma through the Western Insight tradition and began practicing Vipassana meditation as a child. Ancestrally, she comes from a long lineage of Jodo Shinshu Buddhist priests. Seeded with Insight meditation, steeped in the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, guided by Kuan Yin, touched deeply by Dzogchan, and reaching toward Higashi Honganji, emiko honors the many Dharma streams that flow through their life. They are a graduate of the East Bay Meditation Center's first Spiritual Teacher & Leadership training and is currently a participant in the Sacred Mountain Sangha's Dharmapala Training. She facilitates various sanghas locally and internationally, and works to create Dharma spaces by and for marginalized groups such as sex workers, and those disabled, neurodiverse, and/or chronically ill. As a mixed-raced, mixed-Buddhist queer, they practice holding contradictions with equanimity as they strive to co-create a more just and compassionate world.To support emiko's teachings: Venmo: @emiko-yoshikami | Paypal: @emikoyoshi In the Insight stream emiko yoshikami works inside, the emphasis is on direct attention to body, feeling tone, and mind, alongside the brahmaviharas and an ongoing investigation of how clinging and aversion arise. Talks tend to be conversational rather than scripted, and there's room for sila and ethics to be talked about as part of practice rather than as a separate topic. emiko yoshikami's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. emiko yoshikami's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. emiko yoshikami's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. emiko yoshikami's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. emiko yoshikami's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography.
Lineage
emiko yoshikami teaches as a lay teacher in the Vipassana and Insight traditions. The institutional home, per the source listing, is East Bay Meditation Center, and that's where most of the public teaching schedule and any retreat offerings will be posted. The Insight lineage in the West runs through teachers like Mahasi Sayadaw, U Ba Khin, Anagarika Munindra, and Dipa Ma into the founders of IMS, Spirit Rock, and the regional centers, and most contemporary Insight teachers position themselves somewhere in that broad family.
What to expect
On a class or retreat with emiko yoshikami, the basic shape is short instruction, longer sittings, and some Q&A. Online sittings and talks, mostly in real time with optional recordings, are part of the offering. The container is shaped by East Bay Meditation Center, so format details, fees, and access policies follow that organization's norms. Expect plenty of silence, less talking-at-you than you might think, and an emphasis on letting the practice do its work rather than chasing experiences. For exact dates, registration, and any sliding-scale or scholarship information, There's usually a short Q&A window and, on retreats, optional teacher interviews where students can bring specific questions about their practice.
