Like a Snake in a Bamboo Tube - a half-day Zen sitting and Dharma talk "Putting a snake in a bamboo tube" is an old simile for zazen. Just as the snake naturally wants to wiggle and not be confined, so we often have a problem holding ourselves still. Even when we stop the body, the […]
Thursday morning Study Group is cancelled this week due to conflicting activities. Please join us next Thursday morning. Facilitated by Rev. So On Jim Hare. Current text: Living by Vow: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts by Shohaku Okamura. Heart of Great Perfect Wisdom Sutra Contact Rollin Ives (twl4148@gmail.com) for details.
Tassajara was established in 1967 as the first Soto Zen training monastery outside of Japan. It offers monastic training periods during the fall and winter months, and each year from May to September, Tassajara, or Zenshinji (Zen Heart-Mind Temple), opens its gates to students and guests alike for the summer guest season. This year, ten […]
Rev. Myō Lahey is Abbot at Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco and our guiding teacher. He has previously served as Practice Leader at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. He is a Dharma heir of Tenshin Reb Anderson. Rev. Myō is available for individual practice discussion by appointment prior to our evening program. NOTE: We would like to take some […]
Sangha member, Linda Dekker, will lead us in an evening of reading and writing poetry.
“Work as meditation” illustrates how work is just as important a time for mindfulness practice as sitting zazen or walking meditation. In work as meditation, there isn't too much need for thinking, planning or conceptualizing. While effort is made to do what we are doing efficiently and beautifully, we needn’t hurry or worry about how […]
We are sorry that Zenju has had to cancel this retreat with us due to illness.
Practice Circle led by So On Jim Hare The Three Treasures are the foundation of the Practice Circle: (1) the Oneness of Buddha, (2) the Diversity of Dharma, (3) the Harmony of Sangha. The circle itself is a container for being in the present, manifesting just as we are in the truth of the moment. Practice […]
Peggy McIntosh, in her article "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack", describes white privilege as "an invisible package of unearned assets.” These advantages in a very deep way remain invisible to white people because they are built in to our way of life, and we often mistake them for just how life is. White privilege […]
Rev. Myo Lahey is Abbot at Hartford Street Zen Center in San Francisco and our guiding teacher. He has previously served as Practice Leader at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. He is a Dharma heir of Tenshin Reb Anderson. Rev. Myo is available for individual practice discussion by appointment prior to our Monday evening program. Please email info@valleystreamszen.org
On Retreat Night we enjoy our traditional retreat night; a chance to settle into our meditation practice with three 25-minute periods of zazen, interspersed with walking meditation (kinhin). Turning the light inward we explore the causes of suffering and what ends it. This invitation is extended to everyone.