Young Urban Zen SF
Young Urban Zen is a group under the auspices of the San Francisco Zen Center, with a particular focus on those between 20 and 40. It meets on Tuesday evenings for meditation and discussion about Zen practice. People of all experience levels are welcome.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Episodes
- 112
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2025
Letting Go of Resistance
Hiro offers a short talk on Letting Go of Resistance. Often what weighs on us most is not the situation itself, but our resistance to it. Resistance is not something we need to fight, but something w…
Liberative Constraints
The theme for the talk is Liberative Constraints.
This is a topic Eli brought up at the recent Young Urban Zen retreat at Tassajara. In a world shaped by constant choice and digital customization, Ze…
Taking the Monastery Home
The theme for this talk is Taking the Monastery Home.
First, what brings us to the temple and to practice? What kind of experiences can we have at the temple that can help us in our lives? If we get …
Taking What Is Not Given
Michael McCord discusses ‘taking what is not given’, essentially, the precept around stealing. However, just like all the precepts, this one goes quite deep in regards to relationships and our expect…
On Becoming Yourself
Hiro Ikushima explores Becoming Yourself, a newly published book of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi’s talks. He reads and reflects on a few selections that center on themes such as zazen, self and no-self, and …
No More Words
Zach discusses the long-standing debate about the utility of the written and spoken Dharma in the context of a practice that claims to go beyond words and concepts. People have literally been arguing…
Virya
It sometimes seems like the world is falling apart and we can feel overwhelmed and isolated and sapped of energy. In this talk, Tim discusses strategies for building energy, Virya in Sanskrit, and ho…
No One to Be, Nowhere to Go
What if there’s nothing to fix, improve, or figure out? What if this moment, just as it is, is enough? In the preceeding session, Hiro explored the conceptual foundation of self and no-self—how our s…
Awakening from the Dream of Self
Hiro speaks about the notion of awakening from the dream of self.
Much of our suffering arises from clinging to a fixed sense of self—a mental construct shaped by memory, identity, and striving. When…
Self, One Self, Not-Self
It sure seems like I have a self—an agent of action, one who makes choices, does work, gives gifts, harms others, apologizes... So what do we make of this teaching of No Self of not-self? If Zen says…
How The Somatics of Meditation Practice Can Help Us
Rev. Shosan Victor Austin, a senior priest at City Center, speaks about how the somatics of meditation practice can help us in our stressful busy lives.
Note to Self
On an anniversary of when he first came to practice, Eli Brown-Stevenson shares some of the choices he made—and a few things he wishes he had paid closer attention to—in a reflection for his younger …
Mistakes
Kōgetsu Mok talks about the koan of our lives as we meet impossible situations, difficult conversations, the mountains of uncertainty, and challenging times.
How can Zen practice help train us to mee…
Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional
Michael McCord references a quote by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami: Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.
This is very much in alignment with the basic noble truths of Zen and yet can be so elu…
Way Seeking Mind Talk
Tim Wicks, the City Center Head of Practice, gives a brief way seeking mind talk telling the story of how he came to practice Zen. He also speaks about three basic tenets of Buddhism and how they are…
Kindness
Kōgetsu Mok discusses Suzuki Roshi's "Not Always So"—Be Kind with Yourself.
Our practice has an emphasis on warm heart and warm zazen. This kind of practice shows us how to take care of ourselves, our…
Pausing
Hiro Ikushima speaks on the theme of pausing.
In a world that moves swiftly and often without mercy, the simple act of pausing can feel revolutionary. A single breath, a quiet moment of stopping, can …
Case 5 of the Blue Cliff Record
Zachary Smith addresses Earth Day in the form of Case 5 of the Blue Cliff Record, in which Xuěfēng seems to be claiming that the Great Earth is no bigger than a millet seed.
Painting
Eli Brown-Stevenson offers a talk titled The Art of Just This.
Inspired by art and this quote from Suzuki Roshi, Eli talks about the importance of being with the process and not just focused on outco…
Stopping Burnout
Michael McCord discusses how one might stop the momentum of burn out.
The Buddha lived a life of extreme luxury and then dove head-long into asceticism for many years, only to come to the realization …