
Photo Credit: Mindful Magazine
by Tova Green
“You can be authentic, grow yourself, and claim your right to flourish,” says Jenée Johnson, who will be offering A Time to Heal: Insights on the Path to Healing Racialized Trauma, a four-week online class beginning May 6.
The class will introduce participants to an understanding of trauma, investigate the culture of white supremacy, explore practices to cultivate response-ability and resilience, and engage in the power of envisioning. It will include meditation, music, journaling, and racial affinity break-out groups.
Jenée draws from several spiritual traditions in her approach to healing trauma, including mindfulness, HeartMath practices, Christ-centered ministry, and the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Read more
by Tova Green
On March 21, a clear, cool Sunday morning, two residents of Green Dragon Temple (Green Gulch Farm) were ordained as priests by three preceptors: Abiding Abbess Fu Schroeder, Eijun Linda Cutts, the teacher for Kristin Diggs, and Tenshin Reb Anderson, the teacher for Valerian Hauffe. Read more

On most Saturday mornings, following morning zazen, a well-being service is offered at Beginner’s Mind Temple (and currently held online.) The purpose of the ceremony is to evoke compassion for people who are suffering in body or mind and includes the chanting the names of those who would benefit, such as someone who is ill, in pain, or experiencing a loss.
The names to be chanted are submitted by members of the sangha and the list is compiled by the Ino, the temple officer in charge of the meditation hall and ceremonies. A new protocol, which goes into effect on April 1, is that at the beginning of each month names will be removed unless the request for their inclusion is renewed.
Sangha News spoke with Kodo Conlin, the City Center Ino, about the well-being service. Read more

By Tova Green
For Paula Pietranera, a resident of San Francisco Zen Center, the pandemic began just as an exhibit of her paper folding art pieces and her sumi-e paintings was about to open at the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco. The exhibit was installed as the doors to the embassy were closing to the public. Paula wondered how to share her art work and connect with people.
“It was a moment when people were struggling so much all over the world,” explains Paula. She has family in Argentina and Spain and was in touch with friends in Japan and other countries. “We were all going through this pandemic together.” Read more

Since 1994 Green Gulch Farm has welcomed those with an interest in both Zen practice and organic farming to live and work there as farm and garden apprentices. Some of the participants have remained in the community (for example, City Center Tanto/Head of Practice Nancy Petrin first encountered Zen though her apprenticeship) and others have gone on to share their practice and agricultural skills in the wider world. Read more
by Tova Green
Sowing the Moon Teahouse at Green Gulch Farm has resumed monthly Sunday afternoon tea gatherings through Zoom. For two decades, prior to Covid-19, Meiya Wender and her tea students had hosted Sunday teas in this teahouse built in the traditional Japanese style, within the enclosed space of a tea garden. During the past year, Meiya has been learning that it is possible to host tea gatherings virtually. She is looking forward to the first online Sunday Tea Gathering, on 4/11 (sfzc.org)
I met with Meiya to learn about her path to becoming a tea teacher and to hear how it has been to practice tea during the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more

Statement from San Francisco Zen Center Leadership, in collaboration with the Central DEIA Committee and CAIC
With deep sorrow and grave concern, we acknowledge and bear witness to the alarming surge of hate crimes against Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities across the US and in the Bay Area since the start of the pandemic.
In 2020, Stop AAPI Hate recorded nearly 3,000 reports of incidents against Asian Americans nationwide, and there have been over 700 reported attacks on people of Asian descent in the Bay Area alone. We understand that these attacks are vastly underreported by the victims, often due to language and cultural barriers. These attacks of hateful speech and physical harassment include the deaths of two elderly men, as well as the vandalism and burning of a Buddhist temple in LA. Read more