
Book Event with Shinshu Roberts: Being-Time
Dharma Talk and Book Signing – Being-Time: A Practitioner’s Guide to Dogen’s Shobogenzo Uji
Saturday, July 7, 10 am – noon
City Center, 300 Page Street, SF

Sea of Suffering – The Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar (Burma)
Sunday, May 6, 5 – 7 pm
Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, 2304 McKinley Avenue
This is a rare opportunity to hear many concerned and deeply informed people speak to the suffering in this Buddhist country. There is no charge for this event, but donations are welcome for Rohingya Muslim relief and interfaith dialog in Myanmar.

Tassajara Sitting
In Soto Zen, we emphasize sitting zazen (meditation) daily. When we sit, we see what arises without expectations, and through this practice we become intimate with the world around us. In this slideshow, we take a look at other ways that we sit at Tassajara. Read more

Featured Photo April 12
On Saturday, March 31, Julian Hickman and Diego Miglioli received priest ordination in a ceremony at Beginner’s Mind Temple. Photos by Elliot Charney.
A Message from the Shuso and A Video of Snow at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
Heather Iarusso is the shuso (head monk) of the Winter 2018 Practice Period at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Serving as shuso is strenuous. From the moment she rises before 3:50 am to wake everyone up to the intimate shuso teas she hosts and dharma talks she delivers, she must give herself entirely to the role of shuso, serving beside the practice period teacher, Ryushin Paul Haller. It is a rite of passage, six months after which Heather can begin leading practice discussions. Read more

The Still Point by Mary Mocine
The title of my retreat at Tassajara is “Finding Stillness Amid the Storm of Legal Practice.” This notion of stillness is central to a useful law practice, I believe. It is not a static or sort of dead stillness. It is instead alert and willing and ready, yet balanced and grounded. Implicit here is a great freedom that arises from nonattachment. Read more
Like a Fish in a Puddle
by Zenshin Greg Fain, Tanto (head of practice) at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
During practice period at Tassajara, on the day before a personal day, we celebrate the ceremony of Nenju, renewing our commitment to practice and anticipating a little extra time to go for a hike, do laundry, what have you. The kokyo or chant leader solemnly intones an invocation for us all, one of which begins:
Carefully listen everyone.
Twenty-five centuries, three years ago, the great Tathagata entered nirvana.
When this day is gone, your life also decreases.
Like a fish in a puddle, what pleasure is there here?
After the events of January 27, I will forever hear those words in a very particular and personal way. Read more

Wisdom 2.0 Conference in San Francisco
San Francisco Zen Center is a Community Partner at this year’s Wisdom 2.0 Conference in San Francisco, Thursday, February 22 – Saturday, February 24.

The Flourishing of Suzuki Roshi’s Way – Branching Streams Affiliate Sanghas
Suzuki Roshi’s Way is flourishing.
San Francisco Zen Center’s “Branching Streams” Network of Affiliate Sanghas is now comprised of 75 Dharma centers, ranging in size from meeting-once-a-week small sitting groups to established centers with their own Abbesses/Abbots, Boards of Directors, dedicated property, and numerous weekly Dharma offerings.

Introducing Open Zen Community
A Branching Streams sangha profile, introducing one of the many sanghas affiliated with San Francisco Zen Center in the Branching Streams network.
Open Zen Community is a small and dedicated Sangha of lay practitioners in the San Francisco Bay Area. All of us work full-time as part of our practice.