01/20/2024, Kyoshin Wendy Lewis, dharma talk at City Center. Now our community is meeting only in the single room of the Zendo. What are some teachings on Sangha transformation in a Zendo? How can we see forms of the infinite, miraculous Dharma embedded through tradition and visualization in this shared space? This lecture explores such teachings in a verbal and visual presentation.

01/17/2024, Shosan Victoria Austin, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk, given at Beginner's Mind Temple, Shosan explores how we are practicing with the current physical changes to the temple space. This year, our urban temple is “residents out, contractors in.” Dogen Zenji once taught that Sangha Treasure appears equally in the vast openness of being or within a particle of dust; that to help people it can transform to an Ocean Storehouse or to sutras written on shells and leaves.

01/14/2024, Tenshin Reb Anderson, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. This talk by Tenshin Reb Anderson considers how to apply the Teaching of Thusness to the significant outbreak of infection and disruption in the midst of our January meditation intensive.

In this talk, given at Beginner's Mind Temple on the weekend before Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, Sozan Michael McCord unpacks many life events from this historic civil rights icon and looks at how he could have had a much more comfortable life at many turns, but instead chose the path that the times were calling for. In the Buddhist path, we are met every day with many small choices that no one will every know about—whether to say something, whether to do something, to move forward or withhold—and only our internal awareness usually is privy to this information. Are we concerned with status, reputation, ego, or simply avoiding personal bother and by this not actually meeting what the moment is asking of us?

01/10/2024, Anshi Zachary Smith, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk, from Beginner's Mind Temple, Zachary discusses an often-used koan (teaching story): Yúnmén’s “Every day is a good day.” Zen, a Mahayana Buddhist school that theoretically eschews lists, dualities, categories of experience and other conceptual forms on the grounds that they’re empty, is nonetheless swimming in them. We’ll examine Case 6 of the Blue Cliff Record, in which Yúnmén, unquestionably one of the great Chán masters of the Táng Dynasty, employs such a device, and try to divine what he could possibly have been doing.

01/07/2024, Tenshin Reb Anderson, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. This talk is a contemplation of the Flower Adornment Scripture saying “Clearly observe the Dharma of the king of Dharma. The Dharma of the king of Dharma is thus.” Tenshin Reb Anderson is further relating this teaching to the first case in the Book of Serenity and the "Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi."

In this talk, from Beginner's Mind Temple, Liên speaks about how Skillful View, in services of restoration, is about opening up to acknowledging harm and harming, (re)learning ways to be more skillful, and then enacting them. The talk also serves as an overview of the main points of Rev. Liên Shutt's new book, “Home is Here: Practicing Antiracism with the Engaged Eightfold Path,” and how they can be applied to these crucial issues of our contemporary lives.

01/03/2024, Jisan Tova Green, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk, from Beginner's Mind Temple, Tova speaks of the importance of sangha as we vow to be of benefit to all beings. This first talk of 2024 is also the first recorded in the City Center zendo, as renovations to our temple building are beginning.

In light of several major transitions unfolding for SFZC and the sangha at large, including the upcoming yearlong renovation of Beginner’s Mind Temple, Abbot David offers dharma pointers for how we might relate to and navigate changes and transitions in our lives ─ both big and small, individual and collective ─ with some measure of mindfulness, clarity, composure, and equanimity. Recorded on December 16th, 2023.

12/03/2023, Chosetsu Lauren Bouyea, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Suzuki Roshi said that beginner's mind - meeting the world and ourselves just-as-it-is - is the secret of Zen practice, but there are many powerful cultural and evolutionary forces that make remembering our beginner's minds the most difficult thing.

12/02/2023, Kyoshin Wendy Lewis, dharma talk at City Center. This talk from Beginner's Mind Temple addresses the aspect of philosophy in the practice and study of Buddhism, based on the fourth - contemplation of the dharmas - of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. One of the qualities of philosophy and practice not usually explicitly referred to is poignancy, which includes the pathos of human nature and a realization of the unresolvability of the human condition.

11/26/2023, Furyu Schroeder, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In times of trouble, may the gracious teachings of the gentle Buddhas aid us in healing ourselves and the world.

This talk, from Beginner's Mind Temple, was given by City Center tanto (head of practice) Tim Wicks. Virya Paramita is often translated as "joyful" or "enthusiastic" energy. Working with the shadow side of energy — depression and low self-esteem — can also be a fruitful practice. Recorded on Nov. 25, 2023.

This talk, from Beginner's Mind Temple, was given by senior dharma teacher Ryushin Paul Haller. This talk was based on a Thanksgiving message from Brother David Steindl-Rast and examines how to sustain gratitude and be uplifted in the face of the difficulties and “bad news” of our lives. In dyads, attendees of the talk discussed the question: “What does it take for you to meet and be uplifted while acknowledging the bad news of life?” Recorded on Nov. 22, 2023.

11/19/2023, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. The one practice for every moment of our life is just to welcome and care for whatever is right here - why do we forget that so easily, and how can we train in staying with that?

In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Greg Fain discusses how the new book “Home Is Here” by Rev. Keiryu Liên Shutt has influenced his practice, and the vital necessity of metta (loving kindness) practice. Recorded on Nov. 18, 2023.

This talk, from Beginner's Mind Temple, was given by senior dharma teacher Ryushin Paul Haller. Practicing with the Paramitas brings initially asks us to see the dualistic perspectives of the absence of the virtues of the Paramitas and to practice remedy that lacking. As we bring our lives into alignment with the Paramitas, we start to see how “perfection” and imperfection” are both merely aspects of discriminating mind. Recorded on Nov. 8, 2023.

11/05/2023, Eijun Linda Cutts, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. After finishing 11 days on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Linda brings up the koan, Case 20 in the Book of Serenity, "Not Knowing is Most Intimate," which brings up the practice of pilgrimage.

This talk, from Beginner's Mind Temple, was given by senior dharma teacher Ryushin Paul Haller. As we witness the war in the Middle East and the suffering it creates, it's challenging not to get caught in choosing which side has virtue and which is the aggressor. Practicing with the Paramitas of Mutual Benefit, Ethical Conduct and Patience can help us acknowledge the humanitarian tragedy of war that ravages everyone involved. Recorded on Nov. 4, 2023.

10/29/2023, Tenshin Reb Anderson, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. During this talk it was suggested that all Buddha ancestors who uphold the true Dharma have made it the true path of awakening to sit upright, practicing our individual samadhis in the midst of, in the presence of, the universal samadhi of all Buddha ancestors.

In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Shosan Victoria Austin discusses working skillfully with anger. Many ancient texts mention anger as an unwholesome emotion that undercuts or destroys our relationships and our true intention. However, we can practice using anger in wholesome ways, as an internal warning system for unmet needs, violated boundaries, and withheld respect. Developing skill with the energy of anger, we drop harmful habits of perception and action to cultivate appropriate response in ways that give life, embodying generosity, morality, tolerance and wise effort. Recorded on Oct. 28, 2023.

In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Ryushin Paul Haller discusses how the practice of fully engaging body and mind is expressed through attention to posture and awareness in sitting zazen and wholeheartedness in the activities of daily life. Dogen zenji points out in Genjo Koan that there is a potential for a one-sided approach. When we bring that sensibility to the paramita of Sila, we can see how expressing Sila as virtue and ethics calls for the inquiry of appropriate response. That is, to keep in mind Suzuki roshi’s phrase “maybe so". Recorded on Oct. 25, 2023.

10/22/2023, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. For those who have vowed to "do all good" and "avoid all evil," Zen offers a compassionate but counter-intuitive teaching, equally relevant to meditation and to the ethics of daily living: "do not think good or evil," but include absolutely everything.

In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Marc Lesser discusses the conundrum of clarity. If you seek for clarity, you cannot find it. Clarity itself is necessary before you can acquire or find clarity. Recorded on Oct. 21, 2023.

In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, given by Ryushin Paul Haller, two different circumstances are described to illustrate how the teachings of the Genjo Koan can guide how to practice with challenging events. The first event is working with persistent thoughts in zazen, and the second is working with interactions that arouse distress and frustration. Recorded on Oct. 18, 2023.

10/15/2023, Kokyo Henkel, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this talk, Kokyo discusses Case 16 in the Gateless Barrier koan collection: The world is so vast and wide - why do you always put on the robe at the sound of the bell?...When in the heard there is just the heard, there is no "you" in relation to that.

10/14/2023, Tenzen David Zimmerman, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, on the occasion of SFZC’s Members and Volunteers Appreciation Day, central abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman speaks to the value and place of Sangha in our practice, highlighting some of the benefits as well as the challenges. If we want to create a harmonious and vibrant community that supports our personal and collective liberation, then we need to make the time and effort to invest in Sangha. Sangha deepens practice and practice deepens sangha.

10/18/2023, Steve Weintraub, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this talk, Senior Dharma Teacher Steve Weintraub explains that our practice is a big help to us; but it may not be a help in the way we usually think. How our practice helps us and 'where' our practice helps us is the topic of this talk.

07/10/2023, Ryushin Paul Haller, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Ryushin Paul Haller discusses how taking refuge from the afflictions of desire, aversion and confusion, supports our commitment to take refuge in the wholesome qualities of the six Paramitas. Each of the Three Refuges — refuge in Buddha, refuge in Dharma and refuge in Sangha — has many expressions in practice, all of which can contribute to awakening.

04/10/2023, Ryushin Paul Haller, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Ryushin Paul Haller discusses the three Refuges, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, which are the first three Bodhisattva precepts. They express the shift from a life based on getting what is wanted, avoiding what is not wanted and the turmoil they create; to instead replacing those motives with a commitment to nurturing healing and awakening through the wholesome influence of the practice of awareness, commitment to skillfulness and connection to sangha.

10/01/2023, Sonja Gardenswartz, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this talk, Sonja Gardenswartz, a 30-year resident of SFZC illuminates the three pillars of her practice: zazen, impermanence, and awe.

09/30/2023, Zesho Susan O'Connell, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Susan O’Connell discusses how the joy of practice can support us when, as always seems to be the case, “there’s a lot going on.” Susan teaches that not resisting the present moment can open space for joy to arise spontaneously — the same joy that Suzuki Roshi described when he said: “Just being alive is enough.”

09/27/2023, Eli Brown-Stevenson, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Eli Brown-Stevenson discusses what happens when you apply the components of a practice period to a sabbatical. Whether sabbatical or practice period, when we take the backwards step to intentionally attune to our life, it can have a transformative shift in how we connect, experience and navigate "what's next” in life.

09/24/2023, Tenshin Reb Anderson, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this talk Senior Dharma Teacher Tenshin Reb Anderson invites us to notice that our ancestors' samadhi is the simple practice in which just sitting is offered to all living beings and all buddhas as a token of everything everywhere all at once.

09/23/2023, Kiku Christina Lehnherr, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Kiku Christina Lehnherr explores both the equinox and ordination ceremonies as invitations for EVERYONE to live our daily lives for the benefit of all beings; guided by intention, by cultivating internal equilibrium and a level playing field for all, and by letting go of identifications and fixed ideas which define and limit our perceptions and capacities.

09/17/2023, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this talk, Jiryu explores Yunmen’s statement “Everyone has a light” (from Blue Cliff Record Case 86) and expresses the how the simple practice of sitting still with eyes open can fulfill our deep longing to be fully alive - while we can, and so that we can be more fully available for the suffering of the world.

09/16/2023, Sozan Michael McCord, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Sozan Michael McCord explores how each of the precepts come with an intention of living so as to avoid ending up in a place to potentially break the precept. The vow to not kill has an intention to live life in a way that cultivates the appreciation and cherishing of life. We start with ourselves on our cushion getting accustomed to the acceptance of all that arises within us and we continue this practice as it spills out year after year to those that we naturally cherish and eventually to those whom we find most difficult.

09/13/2023, Roger Hillyard, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Roger Hillyard explores the Boddhisattva's Four Methods of Guidance - a fascicle from Dogen Zenji's Shobogenzo on how to help all beings move toward awakening. Roger brings this practice into our modern world and everyday experience, using concrete examples of practice.

09/10/2023, Zoketsu Norman Fischer, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. This talk is about the uncertainty of the effects of climate change, and how the practice of zazen can help us to be prepared for uncertainty.

09/06/2023, Dan Gudgel, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Dan Gudgel discusses practice lessons and methods of practice that emerged around the experiences of having COViD, and having a common head cold. Dan suggests close attention to our everyday suffering, to highlight the different experiences of unavoidable physical pain, and optional mental affliction.

09/03/2023, Eijun Linda Cutts, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. The practice of Upright Speech touches every aspect of our life. How do we cultivate it and include all beings and the Great Earth in this practice?

09/02/2023, Marcia Lieberman, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Marcia Lieberman explores the connection between books and practice. When reading the Dharma, listening to talks, or visiting websites, there is no guarantee that there will be any real benefit in understanding. It is good to accumulate knowledge, but it is better to let that knowledge transform you. The benefit comes in the meeting point when an outer teaching strikes a deep inner chord. Our library at SFZC allows us to dig deeply into the writing that has been created and saved for us to ponder. This weekend we carefully move these books so that in years to come their words can penetrate.

08/30/2023, Dawn Neal, dharma talk at City Center. In this dharma talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, San Francisco Zen Center, Dawn Neal discusses the Mahayana Buddhist ethical precepts, with a particular focus on how to bring these precepts to life in our daily practice.

08/27/2023, angel Kyodo williams, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Rev. angel Kyodo williams concludes a three-day retreat with this Dharma talk remiding us that past and future are contained in Now. We must Just Return.

08/26/2023, Gendo Lucy Xiao 玄道, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Gendo Lucy Xiao 玄道 explores the meaning of community with stories of her experiences living within San Francisco Zen Center, and in China.

08/23/2023, Anshi Zachary Smith, dharma talk at City Center. The most striking feature of the famous Koan recorded as Case 1 of the Blue Cliff Record and entitled, in Cleary’s translation, as “The Highest Meaning of the Holy Truths” is what a philosophical set piece it is. The Emperor and the Wandering Monk act flawlessly as the voices of two philosophical and experiential qualities that are at the foundation of Mahayana Buddhism. Hmmm… how did that happen? Is this mythology or history? In either case, it’s a great story.

08/20/2023, Fu Schroeder, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this talk, Senior Dharma Teacher Fu Schroeder concludes a 3-day sesshin with a review of the ten ox-herding frames and how they relate to our life.

08/19/2023, Jisan Tova Green, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, given as part of a one-day sitting, acting tanto Jisan Tova Green discusses what we can learn from a fictional elephant about slowing down and practicing with patience.

08/13/2023, Tenshin Reb Anderson, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Senior Dharma Teacher Tenshin Reb Anderson illuminates Zen and why we sit. We are conversation; we are always in conversation.

08/06/2023, Zenki Mary Mocine, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. I confess my hatred and ask about the fears underlying it. How do I work with this fear so as to respond from a generous place?

08/05/2023, Ryushin Paul Haller, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Senior Dharma Teacher Ryushin Paul Haller explores how we can live and continue to be upright, while being fully involved in the messy business of being a part of our world, nation, governments and social world. From the legacy of the two atomic bombs that the United States dropped on Japan in 1945, to simply being part of a human community, there are opportunities to recognize the complexity of our lives and turn toward kindness for all beings.

07/30/2023, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this talk, Jiryu encourages the practice of “Silent Illumination” from the Song Dynasty Chinese Chan teachings that the SFZC Soto Zen style of practice emerges from.

07/29/2023, Doshin Mako Voelkel, dharma talk at City Center. Abiding Abbot Doshin Mako Voelkel, in this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, discusses everyday Zen practices and teachings for finding a fundamental belonging to oneself beyond the confusion of causes and conditions.

07/23/2023, Ango Sara Tashker, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. An exploration of gratitude and the precept of not killing life - what does it mean?

07/16/2023, Furyu Schroeder, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. A discussion of Dogen Zenji’s instructions to the Head Cook with examples from our own kitchen practice here at San Francisco Zen Center.

In this dharma talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Shosan Victoria Austin asks: How do we approach barriers and obstacles to meditation, to invite steadiness and comfort in these times? How do we serve our varied abilities and needs to establish a life of peaceful, harmonious practice?

07/12/2023, Tenzen David Zimmerman, dharma talk at City Center. In this dharma talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, Central Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman shares the heartbreaking yet ultimately inspiring story of Patacara, one of Buddhism's first female ancestors, to illustrate how we might maintain our compassion, resilience, and presence of mind as we navigate times of great loss and suffering.

07/09/2023, Dojin Sarah Emerson, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Ritual is a way to heal ourselves, each other, and the earth.

07/08/2023, Hozan Alan Senauke, dharma talk at City Center. Hozan Alan Senauke, abbot of Berkeley Zen Center, in this dharma talk from Beginner’s Mind Temple, discusses the teacher-student relationship, using stories of Sojun Mel Weitsman and Suzuki Roshi. This rememberance and celebration of Sojun Weitsman also features a musical performance by Hozan.

07/02/2023, Kokyo Henkel, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Three barriers to pass through, from Case 47 in the Gateless Barrier koan collection: where is your buddha-nature right now, how can you be free of birth and death when dying, and where do you go after death?

Shundo David Haye, in this dharma talk from Beginner’s Mind Temple, discusses a story between the Third and Fourth Ancestors in China, and offers ways to be free to meet the present moment without being caught up in our karmic conditioning.

06/28/2023, Ryushin Paul Haller, dharma talk at City Center. Senior Dharma Teacher Ryushin Paul Haller, in this dharma talk from Beginner’s Mind Temple, discusses shikantaza (just sitting) and how this practice of awareness can be expressed in everyday activity. To keep returning to awareness of the present moment is a foundational part of our path to awakening.

06/25/2023, Furyu Schroeder, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. This talk is about radical kindness and warm hearted candor, freed from malice of any kind. Inspired by the conjoining of Zen and Quaker values.

Rev. Dr. Wakoh Shannon Hickey, BCC, in this dharma talk from Beginner’s Mind Temple, describes a 1984 encounter with Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority that provoked a crisis leading her to come out as lesbian, to enter the path of Zen, and to study the question of how to assert one’s dignity and value without demonizing those who would deny it. She addresses the current backlash against advances in LGBTQIA+ civil rights and describes her own growing understanding of Trans people’s struggles. In her current work as an interfaith hospice chaplain, she illustrates how Zen teaching and practice help her navigate encounters with dying people, and to love and serve even those who express bigoted beliefs.

06/18/2023, Wendy Johnson, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this time of climate challenge and unrest, the engaged practice of Dharma and Ecology offers a grounded response.

06/17/2024, Keiryu Liên Shutt and Jisan Tova Green, dharma talk at City Center. Keiryu Liên Shutt and Jisan Tova Green, in this shared dharma talk from Beginner’s Mind Temple, investigate what jukai (also known as lay ordination, Bodhisattva initiation, or receiving the precepts) is about.

06/14/2023, Sozan Michael McCord, dharma talk at City Center. Sozan Michael McCord, in this dharma talk from Beginner’s Mind Temple, explores what freedom means, and asks whether we really know that we are free.

06/11/2023, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Jiryu shares teachings on continuously welcoming our problems as our practice, by exploring Suzuki Roshi’s comment that “if your everyday life is not based on this kind of spirit of repeating it forever, you cannot cope with the problems you will have day after day.”

06/10/2023, Kyoshin Wendy Lewis, dharma talk at City Center. Kyoshin Wendy Lewis, in this dharma talk from Beginner’s Mind Temple, considers liberation from the humanist perspective as a poignant, balanced understanding and perception of the world and the human condition. Freedom is characterized by sacrifice in a sense of purpose, dedication, and joy, and grounded in morality, understanding, and communication.

06/07/2023, Chikudo Catherine Spaeth, dharma talk at City Center. Chikudo Catherine Spaeth, in this talk from Beginner's mind temple, investigates how communal relationships are affected by and can perpetuate or interrupt shame, envy and disappointment. Featuring excerpts from Shunryu Suzuki's own translation of the Sandokai (Harmony of Difference and Equality).

06/04/2023, Eijun Linda Cutts, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. The Avatamsaka Sutra says that everyone without exception is endowed with the wisdom and virtue of the Buddhas, however because of of delusion and attachments they do not realize it. The practice of bowing where self and other are not two embodies this teaching.

05/28/2023, Thiemo Blank, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Exploring our habitual concepts of time in relation to science and Dogen's fascicle "Time being."

05/27/2023, Chimyo Atkinson, dharma talk at City Center. Chimyo Atkinson, in this dharma talk from Beginner’s Mind Temple, explores the nature of our delusions, and how to apply Buddhist teachings and work skillfully with delusion, using stories from her own life and stories of the Zen ancestors.

05/24/2023, Chimyo Atkinson, dharma talk at City Center. Chimyo Atkinson, in this dharma talk from Beginner’s Mind Temple, discusses impermanence, interbeing, interdependence and finding joy, using stories from her time in Japan. Featuring a poem by Zen ancestor Keizan Jokin.

05/20/2023, Chimyo Atkinson, dharma talk at City Center. Chimyo Atkinson, in this dharma talk from Beginner’s Mind Temple, uses Dogen’s “Instructions to the Cook” (Tenzo Kyokun) and her own work experience to frame a discussion of work, compassion and the path of practice in our modern world.

05/17/2023, Chimyo Atkinson, dharma talk at City Center. Chimyo Atkinson, in this dharma talk from Beginner’s Mind Temple, explores renunciation and the intersection of monastic practice and everyday life, using a selection from Dogen's Shobogenzo Zuimonki and the story of her own ordination and path of practice.

05/14/2023, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this Dharma talk, Jiryu uses the seventh century Chinese Buddhist ancestor Fazang’s analogy of “the golden lion” to encourage our practice of finding and fully expressing our true nature, through the Zen forms and in every moment of our life just as it is.

05/10/2023, Chimyo Atkinson, dharma talk at City Center. Chimyo Atkinson, in this dharma talk from Beginner’s Mind Temple, explores her personal experience of emptiness, the theme of the May practice intensive.

05/06/2023, Grace Dammann, dharma talk at City Center. Grace Damman, in this dharma talk from Beginner’s Mind Temple, discusses how the Noble Eightfold Path and Buddhist practice have supported her through grave injury, the healing process and living with profound disability.

04/30/2023, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this talk, Jiryu explores the fundamental Zen practice of "total exertion" or "burning completely up" in every activity, a practice of living fully in each moment, marshaling the whole body, mind, breath, and heart to fully engage in the universal activity of life.

04/29/2023, Ben Connelly, dharma talk at City Center. Ben Connelly, in this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, teaches about the three natures that were expounded by Vasubandu. The three natures provide a framework to explore the reality, unreality and non-dual nature of our existence.

04/26/2023, Heather Shoren Iarusso, dharma talk at City Center. Heather Shoren Iarusso, in this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, examines aversion, one of the mental afflictions the Buddha calls The Five Hindrances, which hinder our ability to experience calm and insight on and off the meditation cushion. By turning toward these uncomfortable feelings, we slowly become less reactive and more spacious. This frees the heart to be compassionate and receptive.

04/23/2023, Hozan Alan Senauke, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Hozan's reflections on his experience of Sojun Roshi's presence and teachings over nearly forty years.

04/22/2023, Doshin Mako Voelkel, dharma talk at City Center. Abiding Abbot Doshin Mako Voelkel, in this Earth Day talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, examines how Zen practice encourages and supports continuous care for our natural environment.

04/19/2023, Kodo Conlin, dharma talk at City Center. Kodo Conlin, in this dharma talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, explores images, tales, and inspiration to celebrate our Zen practice as a path that reshapes our lives and opens our hearts. Appearances by Basho and Ram Dass.

04/16/2023, Furyu Nancy Schroeder, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Using the koan called Rhinoceros Fan, this talk focuses on fear and how powerfully it keeps us from leaving the nests of our habitual views.

04/15/2023, Anshi Zachary Smith, dharma talk at City Center. Anshi Zachary Smith, in this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, explores Buddhism's program of introspective self-study framed by avowal and vow as an antidote to the Human Condition. Over time, this program has clearly demonstrated its efficacy and transformative power as well as a number of ways that it can go astray.

04/12/2023, Henzan Roger Hillyard, dharma talk at City Center. Roger Hillyard explores accepting and practicing with darkness, in this dharma talk from Beginner's Mind Temple.

04/08/2023, Dōshin Mako Voelkel, dharma talk at City Center. Abiding Abbot Dōshin Mako Voelkel, in this talk from Beginner's Mind Temple, asks: Who or what is the 'I' in baby Buddha's first words, 'I alone am the world-honored one'?

04/05/2023, Chikudo Catherine Spaeth, dharma talk at City Center. Catherine Spaeth asks 'What is the difference between having someone's attention and holding someone's attention?' This dharma talk, from Beginner's Mind Temple, explores how, from the early Buddhist teachings to Zen, appropriate attention cultivates our beholdenness.

02/04/2023, Grace Dammann, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Covid and the Eightfold Path; what can they teach each other?

03/26/2023, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. This talk explores "Yusan Gansui," a Zen term for an easeful, open way of "strolling through the mountains" of life, indicating a way of being that is not stuck to any feeling but that is open to any feeling, and a way that does not just express joy and freedom for oneself, but also serves as a gateway to real compassion and presence with great suffering inside or outside.

03/25/2023, Kyoshin Wendy Lewis, dharma talk at City Center. The theme of this practice period is Dogen's "To study the Buddha Way is to study the self." This is followed in Genjokoan by "When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away." ... In one sense, women's history is a history of gender definitions.

03/19/2023, Fu Schroeder, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Dogen Zenji’s great awakening took place on hearing his teacher Rujing scold a student for sleeping during zazen saying, “Zen study is the dropping of body and mind.”

03/18/2023, Shosan Victoria Austin, dharma talk at City Center. Shosan Victoria Austin explores the life and liveliness of Zen forms. How do the traditional forms of Soto Zen help us understand the teachings of the Buddha? How can we as Westerners practice them in accessible, life-giving ways that truly help us and those whose lives we touch?