In this talk, given at Beginner's Mind Temple, Kiku Christina Lehnherr discusses the dharma implications and importance of rest. By being with and clearly seeing the true nature of our bodies and experience, we can allow the fundamental calm of the world to show us what true rest is. Modern culture in the United States has no pause button, but true rest is necessary for healing and growth. As Christina says, “Rest is not a luxury. Rest is an absolute necessity if we want to stay and be and deepen our connection to our own being, to the intrinsic Buddha nature that lives in us - which is, by its nature, completely connected to everything in this universe - to the full humanness that we have been born into as a possibility.”

Resting: A Spiritual Practice

08/11/2024, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm.
In this talk Jiryu discusses four fundamental, inter-related aspects of the Zen posture of body and mind which we can care for in sitting and in daily life: 1) grounded in the belly, 2) upright and strong in our spine, 3) clear and empty in our mind, and 4) warmly welcoming of the whole wide, bright, constantly changing, utterly unknowable field of experience.

Belly, Spine, Clear, Welcome

08/21/2024, Dan Gudgel, dharma talk at City Center.
In this dharma talk, given at Beginner’s Mind Temple, Dan uses the Soto Zen standard “Confession” verse to explore the connections between personal and collective karma. The verse is: “All my ancient twisted karma, from beginningless greed, hate and delusion, born through body speech and mind, I now fully avow.” Avowing karma — acknowledging and accepting the reality of the situation a person is in — is a crucial first step in stopping further harm and beginning to repair harms already done. In the talk, Dan looks at examples of his own karma, inherited in his youth and still reverberating today, even though it’s not beneficial.

Avowing Karma, Admitting My Faults

08/25/2024, Onryu Mary Stares, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm.
In this talk Onryu Mary Stares discusses reality: how our attachments and karma lead us to obscure reality; how practice guides us to seek what is real in each moment.

Thoughts Regarding Reality

08/28/2024, Shundo David Haye, dharma talk at City Center.
In this talk, given at Beginner's Mind Temple, Shundo reflects on a recent visit to Tassajara, which included the monthly Full Moon Ceremony and the Obon Ceremony. He encourages us to remember our place in the ongoing lineage of Buddhas and Ancestors.

It Is Always Our Own Effort, And We Are Always Supported By Others

07/03/2024, Gendo Lucy Xiao, dharma talk at Tassajara.

A Journey Along The Path

08/21/2024, Shundo David Haye, dharma talk at Tassajara. In this talk, Shundo explains the elements and significance of the Full Moon Ceremony to those who had participated in it on their arrival day at Tassajara, and encourages everyone to understand their role in creating and sustaining the monastery and the community.

Sustaining The Buddha Field That Is Tassajara

08/27/2024, Jan Willis, dharma talk at Tassajara. In this talk, Jan Willis discusses the conditions around the time of Buddha's lifetime, and how the Buddhist community was created.

Aryan Society and Culture in 6th century BCE India

08/28/2024, Pamela Weiss, dharma talk at Tassajara.

Mountains Are Mountains

08/30/2024, Chikudo Catherine Spaeth, dharma talk at Tassajara.

Prajna Paramita - A History Of The Feminine In Our Liturgy

The purpose of San Francisco Zen Center is to make accessible and embody the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha as expressed in the Soto Zen tradition established by Dogen Zenji in 13th-century Japan and conveyed to us by Suzuki Roshi and other Buddhist teachers. Our practice flows from the insight that all beings are Buddha, and that sitting in meditation is itself the realization of Buddha nature, or enlightenment.

Avowing Karma, Admitting My Faults

San Francisco Zen Center

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