Young Urban Zen SF

We have so many different types of work and yet, they are all governed by the same Zen principles:  what does this moment ask for? What is my body sensation and mental formation around what is happen…

Each moment, the mind takes on an attitude, perspective, or way of seeing. These perspectives will often color our vision such that reality is missed and we see everything through me-colored glasses.…

We will discuss what it can be to be "awake" in the midst of our busy lives. Practically speaking, what is it to be "awake" in places like work and bring practice to our daily struggles? How can the …

In Zen, words are tools to guide us, but they are not the destination. We will discuss how words can sometimes mislead us in practice, and how we can stay grounded in the direct, lived experience of …

Zachary Smith: we’ll answer the age-old and often-asked question, “Why did Bodhidharma come from the West?”

Michael McCord: Do Zen monks have difficult conversations that they wrestle with whether to have or not? What space does difficulty with others play in the Buddhist path?  Tonight we will explore the…

Eli Brown-Stevenson: We will be discussing a few flavors of fear and the role of zazen (Zen meditation) in overcoming everyday anxieties.

Michael McCord: what does Zen elucidate about who we are if there is "no self"? A machine is looked at as a soulless collection of fallible parts that are subject to decay and failure.  How is this d…

Kogetsu Mok: we’ll dive deep on ”Studying the Self” from Dogen Zenji’s Genjo Koan.

For our discussion, let's see if we can point to the heart of the matter regarding our practice of Zazen. 

The session will be inspired by Case 74 of the Book of Serenity, commonly known as “Fayan’s ‘Substance and Name,’” which, frankly, gives the best-ever accounting of the vicissitudes of the human cond…

Mei Elliott: The theme for the evening was the Buddha's Five Daily Recollections, with an emphasis on the third reflection, which focuses on death and dying. Recollections on death are common in the …

Michael McCord: Compassion and Empathy, the difference between these two (compassion involves empathy but also brings in the element of action/no action as a decision) and how do concepts like “tough…

Kogetsu Mok: The topic will be about Shikantaza and Emptiness. What is shikantaza practice? What is "emptiness"? How can that help us in our daily lives as we navigate the difficulties that come our …

Kogetsu Mok: How can we use Zen practice to navigate the persistent mountains in our lives with poise and balance?

Kodo Conlin: We'll look directly into some of the basics and subtleties of Zazen.

Eli Brown-Stevenson: in this week's gathering we will talk about the heart/mind that brings us to practice and we will also do a welcoming exercise to help inspire our zazen practice.  

Zachary Smith: Lately I’ve been thinking about all the cases where some teacher, for some reason, has been required to boil their knowledge and experience down to a single, simple compelling expressi…

Mei Elliott: Mindfulness has the extraordinary capacity to cultivate wholesome states and diminish unwholesome ones, illuminating the path to happiness. In this meeting we'll explore the Buddhist roo…