https://www.bayzen.org/ https://www.bayzen.org/ is in Oakland and is in the tradition of Maezumi, which is what most of my training has been from. https://berk

https://www.bayzen.org/ https://www.bayzen.org/ is in Oakland and is in the tradition of Maezumi, which is what most of my training has been from. https://berkeleyzencenter.org/ https://berkeleyzencenter.org/ is in Berkley and is in the tradition of Soto Zen; I have sat with sister groups in San Jose and they seem pretty solid if a little more laid back than the Maezumi schools. There is a retreat center up in the Santa Cruz mountains, https://www.jikoji.org/ https://www.jikoji.org/ I have gone to retreats there and it is indeed very nice, peaceful and beautiful and nothing extrinsic to decide or worry about. I went with the Floating Zendo: https://floatingzendo.org/about-sesshin/ https://floatingzendo.org/about-sesshin/ In Bay area, we have many opportunities to practice/train with other people. I'd say that the long retreats make daily meditation a lot easier and doing regular daily meditation make the long retreats a lot easier. And sitting with other people strengthens the practice in a way it's hard to recreate on your own. I haven't sat with a group in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition, but from what I've seen online, the Japanese-derived Zen groups are pretty similar in the essence of the teachings.