
Photo by Rebecca Hiralez Gallagher
Christopher Gallagher, SFZC’s program registrar, is still in love after all these years. What first began as a Monday night affair 17 years ago has blossomed into a Bodhisattva way of being.
“I first came to City Center in 2009 to attend a Meditation in Recovery meeting and I just fell in love with being in the community, the building, the courtyard—sitting there just seeing a hummingbird and listening to the fountain,” he recalled. “It was just one of the most beautiful experiences. It just changed my life.”
He soon found himself attending meetings regularly and volunteering in the bookstore, which is how he eventually became an employee at SFZC. Christopher showed up late one afternoon for his volunteer shift because he had been interviewing for a job in hopes of leaving the restaurant business which had been his bread-and-butter for 24 years. The bookstore manager mentioned that SFZC was looking to hire an event coordinator.
“I was a vegan Zen Buddhist serving animals and fish and lots of alcohol, that’s how I made my living,” Christopher said. “When Zen Center hired me, I was saved. I was finally able to practice right livelihood, which is amazing.”
For the past 10.5 years Christopher has been the program registrar, which includes being the senior reservationist for Tassajara and Green Gulch Farm. His work spans the gamut of tasks and departments. He creates registration pages for every event, including those held online. He processes refunds and teacher payments and monitors the waitlists. He also works with his supervisor to assist people who might need support funds to attend workshops, classes, and sesshin.
“All of this can happen within the span of an hour, so I have to stay immersed in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha while I’m working to stay connected with the meditation practice and the teachings,” he said. “I’m also like an ambassador for the organization because I speak with the entire sangha around the world. It brings me a lot of joy to help people get what they need. I’m paid to be a merchant of Zen.”
Christopher is also a spoken word artist who has performed across the United States and Mexico for 30 years. And on Friday, April 17th, he and Kevin Starbard, the City Center bookstore manager, are hosting their first monthly poetry open mic night. Christopher has written hundreds of poems about hundreds of topics.
“The one that I’ll quote real quick is, my heart breaks like porcelain over the beauty of it all. I’m not sure where to begin winter, spring, summer, or fall. In the past, I wrote a lot of poetry that brought the room down,” he recalled. “Now, I try to write uplifting things because I want to use my gift to make a difference, to leave a positive legacy.”
Reading is also another passion of his to “explore the nooks and crannies of existence.” Most especially, he enjoys reading about ancient civilizations such as: Sumeria, Babylon, the Incas, Mayans, Greeks, and Egyptians; and faith traditions such as Sufism, Taoism, and Buddhism. He loved reading Crooked Cucumber, David Chadwick’s biography of Suzuki Roshi, whom he considers a hero.
“I’ve been sitting for 16 years, and most days I sit in the morning and after work,” he said. “There’s a picture of Suzuki Roshi right above my eye line when I sit zazen. So when I’m sitting down, I can’t see him, but when I look up, I see him. He had such resilience and compassion. He was able to shine forth amid the endless craziness in life. His life had such a profound impact on so many people. I’m eternally grateful for his teachings.”











