Young Urban Zen SF

Anshi Zachary Smith: We’ll explore Dogen’s “Self-Receiving and Employing Samadhi”, which is an excerpt from a longer and much more pointed manifesto, his “Bendowa”, and which captures a number of key…

Eli Brown-Stevenson — Reflections inspired by our founder Suzuki Roshi’s teaching: the purpose of practice is to have a direct experience of your Buddha nature. 

Kodo Conlin: How do we practice compassion without being sunk? How do we love sustainably? Starting with one key distinction, we consider three aspects of sustainable compassion.

Anshi Zachary Smith: We’ll explore the boundaries and nether regions of everyday experience and how the creatures we meet there can be our allies and teachers.

Michael McCord: How the practices of the Zen temple support and address the needs of everyday life.

Following on Mei's talk on Form & Emptiness, the topic will be Preparing the Mind to Realize Emptiness. As an ancient Zen adept put it, "The clear circle of brightness is what exists from the very be…

Mei Elliott: Form & Emptiness are a foundational teachings in Soto Zen, and yet many find the subject perplexing and mysterious. My hope is to present the topic in a way that is both accessible and u…

Zachary Smith: We’ll discuss our impulse to know or understand and how that desire may not always serve us.

Michael McCord: We’ll contrast the pop culture phenomenon of mindfulness with the tradition of Zen.

Michael McCord: What is our relationship with the scary, ugly, mean, petty, undeveloped, seemingly unworthy parts or ourselves? And what about these parts of others?

Hiro Ikushima: We will reflect on the idea that spiritual breakthroughs often arise from our mistakes and failures. How can Zen practitioners cultivate a mindset that welcomes mistakes as valuable op…

Kodo Conlin: Founder Dōgen put it, "The path of all buddhas and ancestors arises before the first forms emerge; it cannot be spoken of using conventional views.” Our topic for tonight is getting unde…

Anshi Zachary Smith: “We’ll explore, among other things, the intellectual and philosophical environment in which Zen Buddhism developed in China, in particular the that fact that it contained both a …

Michael McCord: We'll explore the ritual garment practice of Buddhist monks who draped cloth such that one shoulder was bare with their daily garments, symbolizing they always had at least one arm re…

Anshi Zachary Smith raises Case 7 of the Blue Cliff Record,  “Hui Chao Asks About the Buddha,” to see what it can tell (or show) us about the exact nature of the much-debated term “Buddha Nature” in …

Maybe it's me, or what seems like perpetual election season, but little seems more relevant than reflecting on Social & Communal Harmony. What does the Buddha have to say about this, as one who lived…

Hiro Ikushima: “We will discuss the profound benefits of incorporating mindful practice in our daily lives, and how it can assist us in embracing our daily struggles as invaluable teachers that guide…

Eli Brown-Stevenson ponders the question, “Can you be too kind?”

Heather Shoren Iarusso: “What do unicorns, rainbows, and demi-girls have to do with the practice of Zen? Come to the talk and all will be revealed.”