San Francisco Zen Center Dharma Talks

01/25/2023, Ryushin Paul Haller, dharma talk at City Center. Ceremony calls forth sacredness. In the opening ceremony we enliven the sacredness of each of the centers of activity in our lives.

01/21/2023, Horin Nancy Petrin, dharma talk at City Center. A talk, given in the day of a Lay Ordination ceremony, exploring the Mahayana Bodhisattva Vow.

01/18/2023, Sozan Michael McCord, dharma talk at City Center. Living life like we have infinite social capital, like a generous benefactor to all those around us, allows a great freedom of spirit. When we realize that promoting and worrying about the self is a small minded path that leads to suffering, we start to see our interconnectedness - that none of us win until we all win. The precept of "not praising self at the expense of others", goes to the heart of the bodhisattva vow - to be invested in the lives of others and taking great care with how we speak, act and promote ourselves and others. And ultimately, the life choices that it leads us to make. A reputation is a result, not a goal, in life. The goal is to live for the benefit of all beings and through the honesty of that lens, learning how to live a fearless life with generosity of spirit for others.

1/15/2023, Tenshin Reb Anderson, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Afflictions are inexhaustible, we vow to cut through without ending them; the bodhisattva's mind is afflictions entangled with afflictions.

01/14/2023, Rhonda Magee, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk, Hoshi Rhonda Myozen Magee reflects on the concept of Beloved Community through the lens of those who have breathed life and meaning into the concept over the past century. In the spirit of contemplative reflection and deep listening to our inner voice, she invites us all to discern what Beloved Community means to each of us, and commit to bringing it more fully alive in our own ways in the world today.

01/11/2023, Gengyoko Tim Wicks, dharma talk at City Center. Focusing on the first words of the day for Zen temples: the Robe Chant. Tim talks about our relationship with time, those who came before us bringing this deep paractice, and how we enliven our ancestors by practicing in the present. There is a living thread that passes through them to us today.

01/08/2023, Tenshin Reb Anderson, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Intimate transmission, the one who is not busy, and taking care of brooms and other tools.

01/07/2023, Caverly Morgan, dharma talk at City Center. This dharma talk is based off Caverly’s new book, The Heart of Who We Are: Realizing Freedom Together, published by Sounds True. Have you ever found yourself identified with a self who is on a mission to annihilate the self? Have you found yourself believing you have to get rid of in order to experience truth? Believing that the conditioned mind can take charge and try to control and omit thoughts, experiences, people is a distortion of a negating, or Neti Neti, approach. And we do it in the name of spiritual practice. In this talk we explore this topic conceptually as well as through our own direct experience.

01/04/2023, Sozan Miglioli, dharma talk at City Center. We wish, we dream, and sometimes our wishes and dreams become preferences and expectations. How do we practice with what we want?

12/31/2022, Henzan Roger Hillyard, dharma talk at City Center. Don’t work harder, resist less.

12/21/2022, Jisan Tova Green, dharma talk at City Center. How can an awareness of our interconnectedness ease the sense of separation many of us experience during the winter holidays?

12/18/2022, Kiku Christina Lehnherr, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Exploring practices that can support us in meeting the manifold challenges of this time in history, in life-affirming and supporting ways.

12/17/2022, Kyoshin Wendy Lewis, dharma talk at City Center. Many of our teachings and talks address both freedom or liberation and the agony of existence or suffering.

12/14/2022, Kodo Conlin, dharma talk at City Center. Reflections on our mortality as our common humanity. As a basis for Dharma practice, fit for regular contemplation, the truth of our death, approached wisely and with a bright mind, can inspire care, energy for practice, and a compassionate connection with all beings.

12/14/2022, Furyu Schroeder, dharma talk at Tassajara. December sesshin series at the Tassajara fall practice period on cause and effect.