In drawing, we have an opportunity to set aside our egos while becoming one with the object. The investigation takes us into the essence of the object, seeing it as it truly is. This is not an art class per se, and no prior drawing experience is required. What is asked for is our willingness to […]
A Day of Zen Meditation, Buddhist Teaching & Yoga, taught by Kyosho Valorie Beer and Barbara Baccei Immerse yourself in a day of traditional Buddhism and alignment Yoga. From Buddhism’s Four Foundations of Mindfulness, you will be guided in identifying long-held emotional patterns and the way they show up in your body. Meditation allows us to […]
We are sorry that Zenju has had to cancel this retreat with us due to illness.
Kokyo Henkel is the resident teacher at Santa Cruz Zen Center. Prior to assuming his current position, he practiced at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, No Abode Hermitage in Mill Valley, and Bukkokuji Monastery in Japan. He was ordained as a priest in 1994 by Tenshin Anderson Roshi and received Dharma Transmission […]
This one-day sitting is cancelled in order to focus on the 3-day Rohatsu Sesshin, scheduled for November 30 - December 2. Please consider giving yourself this special treat of setting aside the concerns of daily life for two and a half days in and giving your attention to your sitting practice and taking care of yourself as you […]
"I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting. Wait without thought, for you […]
Reverend Mary Mocine, Abbess of Vallejo Zen Center aka Clear Water Zendo, will lead this one-day sitting. She trained at San Francisco and Berkeley Zen Centers, and at Tassajara Zen Monastery. She received dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman in May 2005. The theme for this sitting is "Buddha's birthday, renewing our practice." The day […]
"Accomplishing the work of great peace is without sign" - Tiantong. Since this is so, we can find it everywhere. But some say, "It still eludes my heart/mind." If so, then we are invited to return to the meditation hall. Please join us for a day of stillness and peace, supported by the deeply practiced wisdom of […]
Upright sitting-Zen is a gesture of healing, a gesture of compassion, a gesture of self-respect. From the vista point of this practice we can see things clearly, as they are, stripped of emotional overlays and intellectual interpretations. Such seeing can be called Buddha's wisdom. Our Tanto (Practice Leader), So On Jim Hare, will lead this one-day […]
Tenshin Reb Anderson will lead this 2-day retreat. His theme is: "An old time buddha said, 'earth, grass, trees, all living beings are engaged in buddha activity.' Buddha activity is the unceasing process of freeing all beings so they may live in peace and harmony. The buddha ancestors called this buddha activity zazen. In this […]
The full title of this retreat is "The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path." Norman will lead us in sitting and walking meditation, and speak on themes from his new book, The World Could Be Otherwise, Through the Buddhist teaching of the six paramitas or "perfections", this book demonstrates an imaginative approach to spiritual […]
"I have discovered that it is necessary, absolutely necessary, to believe in nothing. That is, we have to believe in something which has no form and no color---something which exists before all forms and colors appear." ~ Shunryu Suzuki, roshi This theme will be explored in our practice and in the Dharma talk. The retreat will […]