So-On Jim Hare serves as Tanto, or head of practice. He lived in the San Francisco Zen Center community from 1980 to 1984, and was lay ordained by Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1985. He served as Head Student at Green Gulch Farm during the spring 2002 practice period. He was priest ordained by Myo Lahey […]
Alan Block, Onzan Shinsho, is entrusted as a teacher of Zen Buddhism by Zoketsu Norman Fischer in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki of the San Francisco Zen Center. He worked in construction for 30 years and previously taught college level history. He leads an Everyday Zen Oakland sitting group called "meditation and a buddhist approach to life" on Tuesday […]
Study is one of the pillars of Zen practice. Please join us every Thursday morning for our ongoing study group to discuss ancient and contemporary texts. Facilitated by Rev. So-On Jim Hare. Readings from Mahayana Buddhism & Soto Zen texts and commentaries. Contact Rollin Ives (twl4148@gmail.com) for current readings.
Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (sitting meditation) followed by a devotional service and dharma talk, group discussion, practice circle or retreat night. There are no membership requirements to participate. We invite donations to support the room rental, visits by teachers, and other sangha activities. Valley Streams Zen Sangha is dedicated to the study […]
We will resume on December 5. Study is one of the pillars of Zen practice. Please join us every Thursday morning for our ongoing study group to discuss ancient and contemporary texts. Facilitated by Rev. So-On Jim Hare. Readings from Mahayana Buddhism & Soto Zen texts and commentaries. Contact Rollin Ives (twl4148@gmail.com) for current readings.
Discussion of a case from the Denkoroku: Record of the Transmission of the Light, led by Rev. So-On Jim Hare. Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (sitting meditation) followed by a devotional service and dharma talk, group discussion, practice circle or retreat night. There are no membership requirements to participate. We invite donations to support […]
“…when we practice zazen, it is not that big mind is actually controlling small mind, but simply that when small mind becomes calm, big mind starts its true activity.” ~Suzuki Roshi For the third year, Valley Streams Zen is offering a two-and-a half day non-residential sesshin. This is an opportunity to set aside daily concerns, […]
“…when we practice zazen, it is not that big mind is actually controlling small mind, but simply that when small mind becomes calm, big mind starts its true activity.” ~Suzuki Roshi For the third year, Valley Streams Zen is offering a two-and-a half day non-residential sesshin. This is an opportunity to set aside daily concerns, […]
“…when we practice zazen, it is not that big mind is actually controlling small mind, but simply that when small mind becomes calm, big mind starts its true activity.” ~Suzuki Roshi For the third year, Valley Streams Zen is offering a two-and-a half day non-residential sesshin. This is an opportunity to set aside daily concerns, […]
On the second Monday of each month, we offer a 40-minute introduction to Zen practice. We focus on the art of sitting meditation, with emphasis on posture, breath, and methods for, and problems encountered when we try to corral our attention. This is for new meditators and those wishing to refresh their practice of meditative […]
This ceremony is an affirmation of the vow to live for the benefit of all beings. In the Zen tradition we associate the full moon with the ideal of awakening. All are welcome. Our Monday night programs begin with zazen (sitting meditation) followed by a devotional service and dharma talk, group discussion, practice circle or […]
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 […]