Spring updates
April reminders and May to come
Monday Night Way Seeking Mind Talks and Bodhicitta Study
Monday evening sitting and Way Seeking Mind Talks have begun — please join us for these special offerings by sangha members about their path to practice and the spirit that sustains them, each with their own story. Zazen starts at 7, with a talk and discussion following.
A “Way Seeking Mind” talk is an expression of bodhicitta, our entry into the mind of awakening, the mind that awakens us to practice, the mind that practice awakens.
Be sure to use the sign-up sheets for any sittings you plan to attend, or cancel if you are signed up and won’t be coming.
We heard our first Way Seeking Mind talk of this year on March 22 from Trevett. Next we’ll hear from Will. Koji’s talk, with words from his recent month at Green Gulch Farm / Green Dragon Temple, was postponed until April 20, shortly before he leaves for Green Gulch again.
Nothing to Attain
After these beginnings, we’ll be reading Tenshin Reb Anderson’s new book, Nothing to Attain, as a frame for considering our own experience with entering and deepening practice, alternating with Way Seeking Mind Talks from fellow practitioners through the summer and into the fall.
April Full Moon Bodhisattva Ceremony
Wednesday April 1 we’ll have a morning full moon ceremony following a special sitting starting 7 am, with the Full Moon Ceremony at 8.
The Full Moon Bodhisattva Ceremony, or Ryaku Fusatsu, is the traditional Soto Zen ceremony for renewing practice of the bodhisattva precepts. A formal ceremony with extended chanting and full bows, it is an occasion when all practitioners can express the intention to practice together with all beings, whether or not they have formally received bodhisattva precepts or offered bodhisattva vows.
Everyone is welcome to join us. Please let Brent or Catherine know if you have questions or would like to participate.
All of our zendo events are in person only. If you would like to attend an online Full Moon Ceremony, please see San Francisco Zen Center.
Unusual April Schedule
With Catherine’s family arriving on Easter Eve and staying through the week (April 4 -11), sittings will be suspended through those dates until Sunday April 12. Shortly after this we’ll have our spring retreat (April 16-19), followed a few days later by spring interim (April 22-30), when the zendo will be closed.
In the meantime, both before and after, sittings and study groups continue.
Be sure to use the sign-up sheets for any sittings you plan to attend or to cancel if you are signed up and won’t be coming.
Spring Retreat April 16-19
Please join us for any or all of the Spring Retreat. The first two days, Thursday April 16 and Friday April 17, will primarily be “open zendo” hours when you can come and go and share the zendo on whatever schedule works for you, with timed formal sittings only in the early morning and evening hours. Saturday April 18 and Sunday April 19 will be fully scheduled days, with chanting services, dharma talks, organized meals, and on Sunday our Buddha’s Birthday ceremony.
The complete schedule and sign-up sheet can be found here.
Please sign up well in advance if you plan to participate, especially if you will join us for Saturday and/or Sunday, when full day participation is preferred.
Branching Streams
Branching Streams is the organization that brings together San Francisco Zen Center affiliate sanghas. See the work of our dharma sisters, brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, and so on—the whole extended family—on the new Branching Streams Substack:
Meeting the moment
Also for those interested, a small group of Buddhist friends in Pittsburgh has been meeting for reflection on how we bring practice to action in this difficult social and political moment. This will be an ongoing gathering, and participants come from various practice backgrounds and sanghas. Anyone interested in joining the conversation, please let me know.
Precept Discussion Group on Zoom
We continue to offer a sangha-led precept discussion group via Zoom on alternate Wednesday evenings. If you are interested in participating, please write to BRENT at neighborhoodzen at gmail.
This is our only online offering. We are not equipped to offer hybrid events or zendo events online.