San Francisco Zen Center Dharma Talks San Francisco Zen Center

06/16/2024, Ryuko Laura Burges, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm.
Laura talks about how we can practice with grief, loss, and ordinary everyday suffering, She weaves in stories from her recent book from Shambhala, The Zen Way of Recovery, and shares practices that can help us--no matter what we may be recovering from.

06/15/2024, Sozan Michael McCord, dharma talk at City Center.
This talk was given at Beginner's Mind Temple, by Sozan Michael McCord. The Zen Buddhist path can seem like one that is spare, determined and somewhat serious; addressing the primary root of suffering as its main purpose. Yet, the practice is full of examples and instructions about liberation, joy and the connection to the beating heart of NOW. How do these seemingly disparate views reconcile?

06/09/2024, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm.
In this talk, Jiryu reflects on the practice of shikantaza, just sitting, as a Way that is fundamentally different than technique-based meditation.

06/08/2024, Mushim Patricia Ikeda, dharma talk at City Center.
In this talk, given at Beginner's Mind Temple, San Francisco Zen Center, Muslim Ikeda examines the question, How can Zen practice be of benefit to more people during what many are calling "unprecedented times"? In mid-2024 the news is filled with political divisiveness, threats of fascism, ongoing genocides, and, as the polar ice caps continue to melt, Mexico City is facing a possible "Day Zero" when millions of people will have no running water. Weaving threads from Chinese Chan, Korean Seon, Japanese Zen, and Vietnamese Thien, Mushim Ikeda asked how possible it might be, on one hand, for her to live up to Korean Zen Master Naong's ‘Great Resolutions;’ and, on the other hand, to possibly chicken out and take back her Bodhisattva Vows. Mushim shared from her wide-ranging recent explorations into a Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhist modern version of Chöd and other experiences, suggesting that the vital inquiry for each of us might be to engage in heartfelt discernment each day, asking, "What is the most important thing for me to be doing, here, now, with all that I am?"

06/05/2024, Kim Kōgen Dai-Hō Hart, dharma talk at City Center.
In this talk, given at Beginner's Mind Temple, San Francisco Zen Center, Kim considers how we are often hindered by our habitual responses, conditioning and fundamental misunderstanding of the substantiality of the phenomenal world. Here, she reflects on how, through Zen practice, we can access freedom through exploring the two aspects of non-dual reality, which can broaden our understanding, but more importantly set us free to meet the moment and engage more fully with our own lives.

05/29/2024, Kazuaki Tanahashi, Mitsue Nagase, dharma talk at City Center.
In this discussion, held in the conference center at Beginner's Mind Temple, Mitsue Nagase and Kaz Tanahashi discuss their new book “Gardens of Awakening: A Guide to the Aesthetics, History, and Spirituality of Kyoto's Zen Landscapes.” Selected photographs were exhibited on site to share the experience of "meeting" a Zen garden in its fleeting moments.