Public lectures given at San Francisco Zen Center
Listeners of San Francisco Zen Center Dharma Talks that love the show mention: buddha, zen, dharma, thank, suzuki roshi.
The San Francisco Zen Center Dharma Talks podcast is a valuable resource for those interested in deepening their understanding and practice of Zen Buddhism. This podcast offers a collection of Dharma talks from various Buddhist teachers, providing listeners with different perspectives and insights into the Zen tradition. The talks serve as a reminder of why one practices Zen and how it can help them be more connected to their humanity. They offer guidance on mindfulness, meditation, and living a compassionate life.
One of the best aspects of this podcast is the diverse range of teachings that are presented. Each talk brings something unique, allowing listeners to explore different aspects of Zen philosophy and practice. The speakers are knowledgeable and experienced in their field, offering valuable wisdom and guidance to those on the spiritual path. The talks also provide practical advice for incorporating Zen principles into everyday life, helping listeners find peace and clarity amidst the challenges they may face.
Another positive aspect of this podcast is its accessibility. For those who prefer listening over reading, this podcast provides a convenient way to engage with Zen teachings. With limited resources available in audio format on the topic of Zen, this podcast fills a gap by offering talks that can be enjoyed on-the-go or during moments when reading may not be feasible.
However, one potential downside of this podcast is that it may not cater to everyone's specific interests or needs. While the diverse range of teachings is a strength, it also means that certain episodes may resonate more strongly with some listeners than others. Additionally, as with any spiritual teachings, personal preferences and beliefs may vary, so not all episodes may align perfectly with an individual's worldview or understanding.
In conclusion, The San Francisco Zen Center Dharma Talks podcast is a valuable resource for anyone interested in deepening their understanding and practice of Zen Buddhism. With its diverse range of teachings and accessible format, this podcast provides valuable insights into Zen philosophy and offers practical guidance for incorporating its principles into daily life. Despite some episodes potentially not resonating with all listeners, the overall quality and richness of the talks make this podcast a worthwhile listen for those interested in Zen Buddhism.
06/21/2025, Chikudo Catherine Spaeth, dharma talk at Tassajara.
06/07/2025, Monitsu Pamela Weiss, dharma talk at City Center. Monitsu Pamela Weiss explores the stories of our early women ancestors, Mahapajapati and Yasodhara.
06/04/2025, Monitsu Pamela Weiss, dharma talk at City Center. Monitsu Pamela Weiss explores the life of Huineng and living a life of vow, in this talk from the summer 2025 practice intensive at Beginner's Mind Temple.
05/31/2025, Teah Strozer, dharma talk at City Center. Teah Strozer explores the ways that our assumptions and fixed ideas about people or situations can blind us to change and to what's actually in front of us.
05/24/2025, Monitsu Pamela Weiss, dharma talk at City Center. Monitsu Pamela Weiss explores the twin themes of refuge and compassion in Cases 4 and 54 of the Book of Serenity.
05/21/2025, Monitsu Pamela Weiss, dharma talk at City Center. Monitsu Pamela Weiss explores the theme of True Refuge as reorientation and wholehearted dedication to awakening, truth and love.
05/14/2025, Tatsudo Nicole Baden, dharma talk at City Center. Tatsudo Nicole Baden explores two foundational Buddhist perspectives: that everything changes (impermanence) and that everything is interconnected (interdependence).
Tenzen David Zimmerman, dharma talk at City Center. Central Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman takes up Case 12 from the Book of Serenity, titled ‘Dizang Planting the Fields', which touches upon a number of key practice questions that can be beneficial to consider as we encounter and navigate the distressing state of the world.
05/07/2025, Kim Kōgen Daihō Hart, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk Kim explores where we find the sacred. She considers the foundational Buddhist teaching of the Three Marks of Existence and considers how they might influence what we hold as sacred.
04/16/2025, Shundo David Haye, dharma talk at City Center. Shundo David Haye reflects on the upcoming lay ordination ceremony at Beginner's Mind Temple, and talks about how a teacher sees a student: both how they are right now, and the potential of who they will become through practice.
04/13/2025, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Abbot Jiryu Rutschman-Byler reflects on comments from Suzuki Roshi's talks on Case #36 of the Blue Cliff Record, exploring lines like “Buddhists resign from the world of suffering in order to live in the world of perpetual joy” and “human beings prefer the unreal to the real.”
04/02/2025, So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson, dharma talk at City Center. So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson examines the rich intersection between Zen practice and artistic expression—not as a pursuit of perfection, but as a way to return to our true nature.
03/29/2025, Abbot Dōshin Mako Voelkel, dharma talk at City Center. Abiding Abbot Dōshin Mako Voelkel explores how the spirit of Dogen's “Tenzo Kyokun” extends beyond sesshin, inviting us to discover how zazen mind manifests in our homes and workplaces.
03/28/2025, Doshin Dan Gudgel, dharma talk at City Center. Doshin Dan Gudgel explores the idea of a ‘caretaker' as it relates to the Parental Mind that Dogen encourages in his Tenzo Kyokun text.
03/22/2025, Onryu Mary Stares, dharma talk at City Center. Onryu Mary Stares speaks about Eihei Dogen Zenji's text “Tenzo Kyokun (Instruction to the Cook)” as part of the March 2025 intensive focus on kitchen practice.
03/19/2025, Judith Keenan, dharma talk at City Center. Judith Keenan explores the relationship between temple kitchen work and other types of work practice, and presents a short video interview with Sojun Mel Weitsman.
03/16/2025, Kokyo Henkel, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Stories of our Chinese Zen Ancestor Dongshan, and his poem about nonduality: our life is like facing a jewel mirror - form and reflection behold each other. Both our sense of subjectivity and sense of objectivity are merely changing reflections on the unchanging mirror of buddha-nature.
03/15/2025, Sozan Michael McCord, dharma talk at City Center. Sozan Michael McCord looks at Zen kitchen practice and work practice generally, connecting to the joy of activity, learning to care and venerate all things, and how to have a broad vast mind for holding what arises.
03/09/2025, Abbot Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Abbot Jiryu Rutschman-Byler explores the practice of seeing the present moment, just as it is, as “the mystic peak” of spiritual fulfillment, with reference to Suzuki Roshi's comments on case #23 of the Blue Cliff Record.
03/08/2025, Zenki Mary Mocine, dharma talk at City Center. Zenki Mary Mocine speaks about Eihei Dogen Zenji's text “Tenzo Kyokun (Instruction to the Cook)” as part of the March 2025 intensive focus on kitchen practice.
03/05/2025, Teah Strozer, dharma talk at City Center. Teah Strozer speaks about Eihei Dogen Zenji's text “Tenzo Kyokun (Instruction to the Cook)” as part of the March 2025 intensive focus on kitchen practice.
03/02/2025, Kokyo Henkel, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. An introduction to this ancient Zen poem that is often recited at SF Zen Center and Soto Zen temples around the world. The metaphor of a mirror and its reflections to clarify buddha-nature and the world of experience is offered by the Buddha in various sutras, and by many Zen ancestors as well.
03/01/2025, Edward Brown, dharma talk at City Center. Edward Espe Brown shares teachings from Eihei Dogen's “Tenzo Kyokun”, and stories from practicing as tenzo (head cook) at Tassajara under the guidance of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi.
02/22/2025, Dōshin Mako Voelkel, dharma talk at City Center. Abiding Abbot Dōshin Mako Voelkel explores the dharma teachings of the past year-plus of renovation work, community cooperation and trying new forms.
02/19/2025, Anshi Zachary Smith, dharma talk at City Center. Anshi Zachary Smith asks “How can we study and engage with memory and mind processes in such a way that it allows for skillful, discerning activity?”
02/16/2025, Tenzen David Zimmerman, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman explores the nature of the commitment that a priest makes, shares his own journey to ordination, and describes the responsibility that comes with the archetypal role.
02/08/2025, Doshin Dan Gudgel, dharma talk at City Center. Doshin Dan Gudgel offers suggestions and principles for providing and engaging in online practice, and celebrates the connection between ‘sacred' and ‘everyday' activities in Soto Zen.
02/02/2025, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Abbot Jiryu Rutschman-Byler suggests that to meet the current moment, we might practice a deep-rooted kindness, like the kindness of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, whose imperturbable compassion is born of the study of perfect wisdom.
02/01/2025, Sozan Michael McCord, dharma talk at City Center. Sozan Michael McCord uses the lens of "The Harmony of Difference and Equality" by Shitou Xiqian, to unpack the relevance of remembrances such as Black History Month and how such events are not in conflict with our ultimate truth, that we are all one interconnected humanity.
01/18/2025, Jisan Tova Green, dharma talk at City Center. This talk by Jisan Tova Green weaves together themes from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s sermons, teachings of Zen ancestor Eihei Dogen and the late Hozan Alan Senauke, and stories from Tova's life.
01/15/2025, Anshi Zachary Smith, dharma talk at City Center. Anshi Zachary Smith examines two koans (Zen teaching stories) from the Blue Cliff Record that have to do with duality, and rice.
01/11/2025, Keiryu Liên Shutt, dharma talk at City Center. Keiryu Liên Shutt discusses how the hands and eyes of Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, need to be directed towards ourselves, too. Especially in times of crisis.
01/08/2025, Shundo David Haye, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk, Shundo reflects on the qualities that practice can imbue us with, which are much needed in the world at this time.
01/04/2025, Shosan Victoria Austin, dharma talk at City Center. Shosan Victoria Austin asks: How does Zen training help us find a sense of refreshment in ordinary, simple activities?
12/28/2024, Sozan Miglioli, dharma talk at City Center. Sozan Miglioli explores the four fundamental principles of Wa, Kei, Sei, and Jaku—core teachings rooted in Zen and essential to the Way of Tea.
12/21/2024, Tenzen David Zimmerman, dharma talk at City Center. On the occasion of the Winter Solstice, Central Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman delves into the themes of stillness, rest, liminality, and balance.
12/18/2024, Roger Hillyard, dharma talk at City Center. Roger Hillyard explores the idea of transmission — how it flows in all directions, how we experience it in our lives, and how Eihei Dogen wrote about it in “Twining Vines.”
12/14/2024, Zenki Mary Mocine, dharma talk at City Center. Zenki Mary Mocine asks: How should we practice with dis-ease, fear and even anger? Remember your connection with and compassion for all beings, including yourself.
12/10/2024, Chikudo Catherine Spaeth, dharma talk at Tassajara.
12/07/2024, Jisan Tova Green, dharma talk at City Center. Jisan Tova Green weaves together several themes in this final talk of the City Center Fall 2024 Practice Period: welcoming beginner's mind and the ten ox-herding pictures, Buddha's enlightenment, and seeing our path of practice as a journey, not unlike Buddha's journey.
11/30/2024, Sozan Michael McCord, dharma talk at City Center. Sozan Michael McCord discusses where the concept of work practice came from in the Zen Buddhist tradition and how the principles found in the monastic setting can be used in any modern work context.
11/24/2024, Kiku Christina Lehnherr, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Kiku Christina Lehnherr teaches that practicing and overtly expressing appreciation, gratitude and generosity towards all the people, situations and things, great and small, that support our lives and fill them with love and beauty, is a powerful antidote to challenging situations.
11/23/2024, Rinso Ed Sattizahn, dharma talk at City Center. This dharma talk by former central abbot Rinso Ed Sattizahn examines Suzuki Roshi's open, inviting practice, and unpacks Wang Wei's poem “In my middle years…”
11/16/2024, Paula Arai, dharma talk at City Center. This dharma talk by visiting teacher Paula Arai at Beginner's Mind Temple explores Buddhism from a woman's perspective, focusing on the liberating power of storytelling in sutras. Combining rigorous research and an embodied approach, Arai humanizes Buddhist women's experiences. She shared two stories—Queen Shrimala and "Bowing With the Dharma"—from her upcoming book, "Of Lotuses and Mud: Women Liberating Dharma".
11/20/2024, Jisan Tova Green, dharma talk at City Center. In this dharma talk by Fall 2024 practice period co-leader Jisan Tova Green, Tova investigates how it's possible to find inner freedom in a world in which so many beings are not free to fully be who they are.
11/17/2024, Abbot Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this talk, closing a five day sesshin, Jiryu talks about the unborn, undying aspect of reality, opened to through the practice of stopping, dropping off everything, and just being our ordinary self.
11/13/2024, Eli Brown-Stevenson, dharma talk at City Center. This dharma talk was given at Beginner's Mind Temple by So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson, co-leader of the fall 2024 Practice Period at City Center. Inspired by the teachings from Suzuki Roshi and the symbolism of the bell in Zen practice, this talk explores the Bodhisattva's unwavering path of sincerity, presence, and purpose. Through Ox-Herding Pictures 5 and 6, we follow the journey from striving and control to a state of acceptance and flow. Moving from “Taming the Ox” to “Riding the Ox Home,” we learn to meet ourselves with patience and embrace life as it is.
11/10/2024, Zesho Susan O'Connell, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. This talk by Zesho Susan O'Connell examines the vast field of existence, the fabric of our world that can get torn and faded. We are not in control, but we can “clearly observe” the tears.
11/09/2024, Jisan Tova Green, dharma talk at City Center. This dharma talk was given at Beginner's Mind Temple by Fall 2024 Practice Period co-leader Jisan Tova Green. How can we welcome what we find unwelcome—from pain, disturbing emotions or thoughts in Zazen to events in our country or the world? Drawing from teachings on Bodhicitta (awakening mind) and her experience as a hospice worker, Tova suggests ways we can turn toward and learn from experiences we don't welcome.
11/06/2024, Gengyoko Tim Wicks, dharma talk at City Center. This dharma talk was given at Beginner's Mind Temple by tanto (head of practice) and practice period co-leader Gengyoko Tim Wicks. In the talk, Tim shares some of the teachings that are being studied this practice period and talks about practicing wherever we find ourselves. Recorded on Wednesday, November 6, 2024.
11/03/2024, Eijun Linda Cutts, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this practice period talk, Senior Dharma Teacher Eijun asks: how do we practice when we are anxious and fearful —especially when there are great challenges in our life. Back to the basics!
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