San Francisco Zen Center

05/22/2022, Zoketsu Norman Fischer, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this dharma talk, Senior Dharma Teacher Norman Fischer tells stories about his time living at Green Gulch in the mid-1980's, and reflects about the past and present moments, and how real or unreal they are.

04/27/2022, Chikudo Catherine Spaeth, dharma talk at City Center. This talk explores how in the tradition of Soto Zen awakening, equanimity and vow relate to each other in practice-realization.

05/18/2022, Pamela Weiss, dharma talk at City Center. Here we consider the judging mind—whose aim is to keep us tight, small, bound—and share teachings and myths that point us toward how to engage with this persistent, psychic force with steadiness and skill.

05/15/2022, Horin Nancy Petrin, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. A consideration of the importance of kindness, care and a tender heart in taking up our Bodhisattva Vows, inspired by a talk given by Suzuki Roshi to the students at Tassajara in 1971.

05/14/2022, Pamela Weiss, dharma talk at City Center. This talk shares stories of our ancestors—Bodhidharma, Huike and Sengcan—and shows how the freedom we discover in practice is beyond what we seek or expect.

05/11/2022, Pamela Weiss, dharma talk at City Center. Breathing in inspiration, breathing out aspiration, this talk explores how living by vow reveals the true mind and body of faith.

05/08/2022, Eijun Linda Cutts, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. A tribute— with origin stories— to Green Dragon Temple - Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary.

04/24/2022, Steve Weintraub, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Commenting on teachings from Suzuki Roshi and Dogen Zenji, Steve Weintraub presents the Zen understanding of "everyday mind is the way" or "full spectrum practice" - the way that our practice, and realization, arise in the context of our actual everyday life.

05/04/2022, Ryushin Paul Haller, dharma talk at City Center. A personal and intimate reflection from Sr. Dharma Teacher Paul Haller, upon his return from caretaking for his daughter, on sickness, old age and death and the tenderness and heartbreak of being human when facing the mortality of a loved one.

05/01/2022, Furyu Nancy Schroeder, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Finding peace in this suffering world for the sake of all beings.

04/30/2022, Kanshin Ruth Ozeki, dharma talk at City Center. Rev. Kanshin Ruth Ozeki, novelist and Zen priest ordained by Zoketsu Norman Fischer, talks about the Buddhist foundations of her new novel The Book of Form and Emptiness, and the interplay between spiritual and creative practice.

04/23/2022, Keiryu Liên Shutt, dharma talk at City Center. An examination of the precepts as a container for self-study, as an awareness practice, and as an enactment of Buddha Nature.

04/20/2022, Kyoshin Wendy Lewis, dharma talk at City Center. The Heart Sutra teaches emptiness as a context for understanding Buddhist teaching as not static or rigid, but ever-evolving. The connection between the teachings and changing circumstances includes a necessary emotional adjustment.

04/16/2022, Ryuko Laura Burges, dharma talk at City Center. "Rather than taking on the enormity of the suffering world, Suzuki Roshi suggested that we choose something and give ourselves to it wholeheartedly."

04/13/2022, Marcia Lieberman, dharma talk at City Center. Using the examples of Dogen, Suzuki Roshi, Hakuin, and Nun Abutsu, Marcia describes how koans, sutras, letters, and the notion of “only a Buddha together with a Buddha” permeates and informs everyday practice.

04/17/2022, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Suzuki Roshi had an unusual perspective on the practice of the Bodhisattva's ethical precepts. He emphasized zazen mind over rule-following, and saw precepts not as a mental moral code but as encouragements to touch and act from our innate loving and connected heart.

The Fourteen Precepts of the Order of Interbeing were first written and transmitted by Vietnamese Zen Master and poet, Thich Nhat Hanh, in 1964; this Dharma talk celebrates the ongoing engaged Buddhist tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh who died this January, 2022, after living in vow as a zen monk for more than 80 years. 04/10/2022, Wendy Johnson, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm.

And exploration of the thread that runs though Buddha's life and all those trying to live like the Buddha. 04/09/2022, Sozan Michael McCord, dharma talk at City Center.

A talk focusing on how the Wheel of Nourishment supports the turning of the Wheel of Dharma. 04/06/2022, Sozan Miglioli, dharma talk at City Center.

What does it mean to practice in a time of war and pandemic? Using a couple of traditional texts, Shundo suggests ways that we can ground our practice in whatever conditions we find ourselves in. 04/02/2022, Shundo David Haye, dharma talk at City Center.

Senior Dharma Teacher Eijun Cutts shares and reflects on teachings from Shakyamuni Buddha, Bodhidharma, Dōgen Zenji, and Suzuki Roshi that the key to practice is "no gaining idea." 03/20/2022, Eijun Linda Cutts, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm.

The fundamental teaching of taking refuge. Repeatedly taking reguge, through the day with formal practice in zazen, in liturgy, in chanting, through stitching robes, daily refuges, in pali and through the effort of opening our hearts to those who we see as "other." 03/19/2022, Myogan Djinn Gallagher, dharma talk at City Center.

Abbot Ed Sattizahn uses Suzuki Roshi teachings to reflect on "to study the buddha way is to study the self." 03/13/2022, Rinso Ed Sattizahn, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm.

On the 49th day of Thich Nhat Hanh's passing, Peggy Ward, senior Dharma teacher in his Buddhist Plum Village tradition, reflects on vow and the refuges. 03/12/2022, Peggy Rowe Ward, dharma talk at City Center.

An exploration of living in an impermanent world, focusing on the situation in Ukraine. How do we take refuge in an imperfect world? 03/09/2022, Ryushin Paul Haller, dharma talk at City Center.