Young Urban Zen SF

Each moment, the mind takes on an attitude, perspective, or way of seeing. These perspectives will often color our vision such that reality is missed and we see everything through me-colored glasses. We'll talk about what Zazen has to do with taking off distorted lenses and seeing the world anew.

We will discuss what it can be to be "awake" in the midst of our busy lives. Practically speaking, what is it to be "awake" in places like work and bring practice to our daily struggles? How can the practice of awakening help with the daily stresses and anxieties that arise? We'll look at embodied rituals and zazen that can help alleviate suffering and help us get through our difficulties with grace and integrity. 

In Zen, words are tools to guide us, but they are not the destination. We will discuss how words can sometimes mislead us in practice, and how we can stay grounded in the direct, lived experience of our true nature rather than getting lost in concepts.

Zachary Smith: we’ll answer the age-old and often-asked question, “Why did Bodhidharma come from the West?”

Michael McCord: Do Zen monks have difficult conversations that they wrestle with whether to have or not? What space does difficulty with others play in the Buddhist path?  Tonight we will explore the subject of difficult conversations, and when it may or may not be best to engage.  And if so, what we do before, during and after - so that we and others may suffer a little less and set tomorrow up for a bit more thriving.

Eli Brown-Stevenson: We will be discussing a few flavors of fear and the role of zazen (Zen meditation) in overcoming everyday anxieties.

Michael McCord: what does Zen elucidate about who we are if there is "no self"? A machine is looked at as a soulless collection of fallible parts that are subject to decay and failure.  How is this different from the Zen concept of the self, an unfixed ever changing collection of matter with no permanent properties that eventually falls apart?   And why does it matter?

Kogetsu Mok: we’ll dive deep on ”Studying the Self” from Dogen Zenji’s Genjo Koan.

For our discussion, let's see if we can point to the heart of the matter regarding our practice of Zazen. 

The session will be inspired by Case 74 of the Book of Serenity, commonly known as “Fayan’s ‘Substance and Name,’” which, frankly, gives the best-ever accounting of the vicissitudes of the human condition. With this gift in hand we will puzzle together over the central question of what, in Buddha’s name, we should do about  it.