On Retreat Night we offer an opportunity to settle into your meditation practice with two or three 25-minute periods of zazen, interspersed with walking meditation (called kinhin). Turning the light inward we explore the causes of suffering and what can end it. This invitation is extended to everyone. *Zoom link for thisprogram: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82008151977
Photo: Ralph Abernathy (L), James Forman, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Rev S. L. Douglas, and John Lewis during a protest march to the courthouse on March 17, 1965. Sarah O'Gara shares how she became a racist; learning these habits of mind from her family and the white supremacist culture into which she was born. […]
Shuji Cody Miller began practice in the Soto Zen lineage of Shunryu Suzuki at the San Francisco Zen Center in 2015. He was lay ordained in 2016 through Anshin Rosalie Curtis and began practicing with the Valley Streams Zen Sangha in 2020. When not working at the clinic as a Doctor of Chiropractic, he loves […]
Our guest, Rev. Taiga Ito, trained at Daihonzan Sojiji, one of the head monasteries of Soto Shu (Soto Zen in Japan). In 2016, Taiga Ito became Kokusaifukyoshi (international teacher of Soto Shu). He served as secretary of the Soto Zen Buddhism International Center between 2016 and 2018, and has served as its Assistant Director since 2019. Our Monday […]
"Hiding a heron in the moonlight" is a line from the Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi, a Zen poem written in 9th century China. The phrase (and the whole poem) describes the activity of a person practicing the Buddha Way, merging the particular and the universal. This is the everyday and consequential affair of […]
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. Valley Streams Zen Sangha is dedicated to the study of Buddha’s teaching and the practice of meditation. We invite newcomers and experienced […]
This monthly group, sponsored by Valley Streams, is a continuation of a White Supremacy, White Privilege and the Dharma study group. We meet monthly the 2nd Thursday of the month from 4:30-6:00pm. Download syllabus here: White Privilege and the Dharma We share the intention as bodhisattvas to learn how to live an anti-racist way 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 […]
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 […]
This evening we welcome guest teacher, Chris Fortin, a Soto Zen teacher who began practicing Buddhism in 1976 while living at the San Francisco Zen Center. After many years of practice she received Dharma Transmission from Zoketsu Norman Fischer of Everyday Zen, in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. Chris founded Dharma Heart Zen to share the path […]
"Communing with the Source, travel the pathways, embrace the territory, and treasure the road.” Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi Whether sitting, walk, sitting, standing, or lying down we open wholeheartedly to the Way and Buddha activity happens on its own. Come, sit, and walk together to support each other in continuous practice. The retreat […]
Dōan-ryo are the group of people who serve the sangha in temple roles including the dōan, the fukudo, the chiden, the jiko, and the kokyo. They meet bi-monthly after the Saturday half-day sit to rehearse for upcoming ceremonies.