Category: Death and Dying

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May 18th, 2026 – “Walking together in the charnel ground awakens the Bodhisattva Path” – Dharma Talk by Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah

Dharma Talk given on Monday, May 18th, 2026 by Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (20.6 MB, 62 min).

Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah

Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah

Practice Committee, Teachers

Serves as Ino,  or head of the meditation hall. She studies in the Soto Zen lineage with Sojun Diane Martin, founder and guiding teacher of Udumbara Zen Center in Illinois and Rev. Val Szymanski, Head Priest of Bamboo in the Wind Zen Sangha in California. She was lay ordained in 2008 and priest ordained in 2019. She served as head student for the spring practice period at Bamboo in the Wind Zen Sangha in May 2022. Doralee offers practice discussion upon request at ino@valleystreamszen.org.

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September 15th, 2025 – “Liberating the Truth of Impermanence” – Dharma Talk by Rev. Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah

Dharma Talk given on Monday, September 15th, 2025 by Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (9.2 MB, 54 min).

Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah

Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah

Practice Committee, Teachers

Serves as Ino,  or head of the meditation hall. She studies in the Soto Zen lineage with Sojun Diane Martin, founder and guiding teacher of Udumbara Zen Center in Illinois and Rev. Val Szymanski, Head Priest of Bamboo in the Wind Zen Sangha in California. She was lay ordained in 2008 and priest ordained in 2019. She served as head student for the spring practice period at Bamboo in the Wind Zen Sangha in May 2022. Doralee offers practice discussion upon request at ino@valleystreamszen.org.
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May 1st, 2023 – “Not Like a Hermit Crab” – Dharma Talk by Myo Lahey

Dharma Talk given on Monday, May 1st, 2023 –  Myo Lahey (12.9 MB, 54 min).

Myō Denis Lahey

Myō Denis Lahey

Teachers

Rev. Myō Lahey is the guiding teacher for our sangha.  Rev. Myō became interested in Zen as a teenager and started full-time residential practice at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1982. He received dharma transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1999 and served as head of practice at Tassajara Zen Mountain Monastery from 2000 – 2002. He is now Abbot of Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco. (http://www.hszc.org)
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April 24th, 2023 – “Grief and the Jizo Ceremony” – Dharma Talk by Rev. Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler

Dharma Talk given on Monday, April 24th, 2023 by Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah (3.4 MB, 15 min).

Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah

Parāvṛtti Doralee Grindler Katonah

Practice Committee, Teachers

Serves as Ino,  or head of the meditation hall. She studies in the Soto Zen lineage with Sojun Diane Martin, founder and guiding teacher of Udumbara Zen Center in Illinois and Rev. Val Szymanski, Head Priest of Bamboo in the Wind Zen Sangha in California. She was lay ordained in 2008 and priest ordained in 2019. She served as head student for the spring practice period at Bamboo in the Wind Zen Sangha in May 2022. Doralee offers practice discussion upon request at ino@valleystreamszen.org.
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April 17th, 2023 – “The Whole Works of Practice” – Dharma Talk by Rev. So’on Jim Hare

Dharma Talk given on Monday, April 17th, 2023 –  Rev. So’on Jim Hare (12.5 MB, 54 min).

So’on Jim Hare

So'on Jim Hare

Board of Directors, Practice Committee, Teachers

Serves as Tanto, or head of practice. He lived in the San Francisco Zen Center community from 1980 to 1984; was lay ordained by Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1985, and priest ordained by Myō Lahey in 2016. He served as Shuso (Head Student) at Green Gulch Farm during the spring 2002 practice period.  Jim offers practice discussion upon request at info@valleystreamszen.org.
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March 6th, 2023 – “We Die and We Do Not Die” – Dharma Talk by Myo Lahey

Dharma Talk given on Monday, March 6th, 2023 –  Myo Lahey (10.3 MB, 44 min).

Myō Denis Lahey

Myō Denis Lahey

Teachers

Rev. Myō Lahey is the guiding teacher for our sangha.  Rev. Myō became interested in Zen as a teenager and started full-time residential practice at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1982. He received dharma transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1999 and served as head of practice at Tassajara Zen Mountain Monastery from 2000 – 2002. He is now Abbot of Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco. (http://www.hszc.org)
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December 12th, 2022 – “Time” – Dharma Talk by Susan Moon

Dharma Talk given on Monday, December 12th, 2022 –  Susan Moon (14.1 MB, 1 hr 1min).

Susan Moon

Susan Moon

Visiting Teacher

Susan Moon is a writer, editor, and lay teacher in the Soto Zen tradition. She is the author of a number of books about Buddhism, including the humor book The Life and Letters of Tofu Roshi and This Is Getting Old: Zen Thoughts on Aging with Humor and Dignity. For many years she was the editor of Turning Wheel, the journal of socially engaged Buddhism. Her short stories and essays have been published widely. Sue has been a Zen student since 1976, practicing in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi at Berkeley Zen Center, Tassajara Zen Mountain Monastery, Green Gulch Farm, and now with Zoketsu Norman Fischer’s Everyday Zen sangha. She received “entrustment” as a lay teacher in 2005.