Kristin Diggs is a Soto Zen priest in the Suzuki Roshi lineage. She trained residentially for eight and a half years at Green Gulch, Tassajara, and the San Francisco City Center, beginning in 2014. She was lay ordained by Tenshin Reb Anderson in 2017 and priest ordained by Eijun Linda Cutts in 2021. She served […]
Kokai Shalamah Yahchove is a Soto Zen priest in the Suzuki Roshi lineage. She was lay-ordained in 2019 and became a priest in August 2025, with both ceremonies conducted by her Root Teacher, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, at the Berkeley Zen Center. Kokai has practiced with the Still Breathing Sangha and at the Tassajara Zen Mountain […]
Rev. Myō Lahey is Abbot at Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco and Valley Streams' guiding teacher. He previously served as the monastic Prior (Tantō) at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Rev. Lahey is a Dharma heir of Tenshin Reb Anderson. Raised in an observant Roman Catholic home, Myō was drawn to religion and spirituality at […]
Rev. 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, and was priest ordained by Rev. Myo Lahey […]
The Full Moon Ceremony acknowledges the karma created by our intentional actions, and reminds us to renew our commitment to the ethical conduct expressed as the 16 Bodhisattva Precepts. These are guiding principles for our daily conduct in the world. This ceremony is rooted in a ritual from pre-Buddhist India. To prepare for the ceremony […]
Rev. 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, and was priest ordained by Rev. Myo Lahey […]
Celebrate the winter solstice with sangha friends. After a 35-minute meditation and service, we will gather to entertain each other on this long winter night with instruments, song, favorite poetry new and old, stories and skits. Bring your creativity and share your hidden talents. Bring a treat to share after the entertainment. Zoom link to […]
We will sit two zazen periods accompanied by the ringing of 108 bells. Each hit represents one of the delusions/desires that anchor our lives in the world of birth and death. This is a sobering practice that reminds us of the importance of practicing for the welfare of suffering beings. Sangha members will be invited […]
Our practice of relinquishment is our practice of liberation. Our Way of liberation is to release all that is in the way of our full aliveness and our capacity to express the dharma in the situations that come to us. This Monday evening, we will reflect on letting go of patterns and ‘habits of being’ […]
This Monday's program will vary from our usual format. We will begin with a 15 minute sit and then move into a large circle and break-out groups. During the first half of the evening we will be discussing our guest teacher structure as it is now: what you value, what you find limiting, and what […]
To honor Martin Luther King's legacy, we will be listening to his "I Have a Dream" speech and reflecting on how this affects our life now. This will include small group discussions. *Zoom link to program We offer a Well-Being Ceremony on the third Monday of every month to remember friends, family, neighbors, pets and people of […]
Guest teacher Shōku Kathy Early came to zen practice in 1994 through classes with Tenshin Reb Anderson at the Yoga Room in Berkeley while working as a semiconductor engineer in Silicon Valley. She then practiced for several years with Keido Les Kaye at Kannon Do Zen Center in Mountain View, after which she trained at San […]