All posts by Laurie Senauke

Laurie started formal Zen practice in 1980 at San Francisco Zen Center; she worked at Greens restaurant back in the day, and lived at Tassajara for three years. In 1989 she married Hozan Alan Senauke, moved to Berkeley Zen Center, and raised their two children. After several years of intense focus on child-rearing, she gradually returned to more involvement in formal practice. She served as head student (shuso) at BZC in 2003 and received lay recognition in 2006. In April 2018, she received priest ordination from Daito Steven Weintraub as Kosei Nyokai – Radiant Vow, Suchness Ocean. In Fall 2018 she served as shuso at Tassajara. She practices hypnotherapy and has been co-leading “Write What You Don’t Know” retreats at San Francisco Zen Center.

Rohatsu Sesshin 2023

We invite you to join us for a Seven-Day Rohatsu Sesshin at Berkeley Zen Center, Monday December 4 through Sunday December 10, from 6:00 AM to 5:30 PM. This sesshin will be led by Abbot Hozan Alan Senauke, and will commemorate the Buddha’s enlightenment.
  1. Deadline to sign up is Monday, Monday, November 27.  Participants are expected to attend for a minimum of 3 days, of which at least 2 are consecutive.  In-person attendance will be limited to 33 people.  Those who sign up after we reach the 33-person limit will be placed on a waiting list.
SIGN UP BY CLICKING HERE:
  1. The sesshin will also be offered online; sign up using the same link.
  2. We have switched back to masking optional. We also ask you to test 48 hours before you come and again on your first day.
  3. If you need overnight lodging, there will be spots available at the Zen Center.  Please contact Cecelia Fitzgerald at shika@berkeleyzencenter.org to arrange this.
  4. We will be offering oryoki breakfast and lunch in the zendo.  It is important that all participants be trained in the oryoki forms. There will be an oryoki training prior to sesshin, details will be posted on the website.  For further information please contact Ellen Webb at elweb@sbcglobal.net,
  5. There will be two special ceremonies during Rohatsu this year:
  • Founders’ Ceremony (including Suzuki Roshi Memorial), Monday, December 4; and
  • Buddha’s Enlightenment Ceremony, Saturday December 9
Check the website for times for each.
  1. We will have a short work period each day, so please bring work clothes you can change into.

  2. Dokusan will be offered daily by Hozan Alan Senauke, and practice discussion by a senior student, both in-person and online.
  3. The sesshin fee is $35 for in-person attendees, or $15 for online participants (or whatever you can afford).  You may pay online, leave a check in the donation slot, or mail a check to BZC at:
Berkeley Zen Center
1931 Russell Street
Berkeley, CA 94703
Attention:  Office Manager, Helen Cheng
Additional donations may be made at by check as above, or at  https://berkeleyzencenter.org/support-bzc/.
If you have questions, please contact the Sesshin Director, Rob Lyons at robertlyons2305@gmail.com

One-Day Sesshin November 11

We invite you to join us for a One-Day Sesshin at Berkeley Zen Center, Saturday, November 11, from 6:00 AM to 5:30 PM. (Please note the time change:  we will begin at 6:00 AM, and will include both breakfast and lunch). This sesshin will be led by Carol Paul, and will close our Fall Aspects of Practice Period.
1.  Deadline to sign up is Noon on Thursday, November 9.  In-person attendance will be limited to 33 people.  Those who sign up after we reach the 33-person limit will be placed on a waiting list.
SIGN UP BY CLICKING HERE:
2. The sesshin will also be offered online; sign up using the same link.

3. For all sesshin attendees, proof of vaccination and booster shots are required to participate.  Indoor masking is now optional, but social distancing protocols will still be observed.

4. Breakfast and Lunch will be served in the zendo using the traditional oryoki form.  To purchase a set of oryoki bowls, check our website for a link. An oryoki refresher class will occur during the second period of zazen.  For further information please contact Ellen Webb at elweb@sbcglobal.net.

5. We will have a short work period, so please bring work clothes you can change into.
6. Dokusan will be offered by Carol Paul, and practice discussion by Sue Oehser – both in person and online.
7. The sesshin fee is $35 for in-person attendees (or whatever you can afford).  You may pay online, or you can send a check to BZC at:
Berkeley Zen Center
1931 Russell Street
Berkeley, CA 94703
Attention:  Office Manager, Helen Cheng
Additional donations may be made at https://berkeleyzencenter.org/support-bzc/.
If you have questions, please contact the Sesshin Director, Rob Lyons at robertlyons2305@gmail.com

Aspects of Practice Class

The class for our Aspects of Practice Period will be on Dōgen Zenji’s Genjōkōan – Actualizing the Fundamental Point.  This seminal fascicle is Dogen’s instructions about how to bring the spirit of our practice to our everyday lives.  It was written for a lay student in 1233.
The class will be offered on 4 Thursdays, October 19 and 26, November 2 and 9, 7:15 to 8:45, and will be led by 4 teams of Practice Leaders (see below for the Aspects Calendar with details about the leaders).  The class will be hybrid – both in person and online.  Please register using the link below (in addition to registering for Aspects).
Aspects Calendar

Special Guest Speaker from Japan September 22

Welcoming Rev. Kosai Ikeda

Friday, 22 September at 5:45

In person in the zendo and in the BZC Online Zendo 

BZC welcomes Rev. Kosai Ikeda offering a dharma talk on “Practicing the Buddha Way Wherever and Whenever.” Rev. Ikeda comes to us as a “special dispensation teacher” from Soto Zen headquarters in Japan. He graduated from College of San Mateo, trained at Eiheiji, and is currently abbot of Kenryu-ji temple in Yamagata prefecture.

For the last fifteen years he has been serving as a Buddhist chaplain of the local correctional facility, helping inmates with their rehabilitation and re-entry programs. Rev. Ikeda has also been teaching kendo, the way of the sword, to high school students in his region. He writes:

It is a great honor for me to visit temples overseas for the first time on behalf of the head priest of Soto Zen school in Japan. I hope you will kindly accept me as a sangha friend who shares the same aspiration. I will certainly do my very best to share my talk in English but, admittedly, it would take our mutual effort, patience, imagination, open mind, and kindness to share the deep meaning of the talk. I hope we can make the most of this opportunity as a practice opportunity for each other and learn from each other.

Please join us on this special occasion.

What is a Good Life?

On three Thursday evenings—September 21, 28 and October 5 at 7:15pm—Berkeley Zen Center is pleased to host Shaykh Yassir Chadly in dialogue with Hozan about “a good life” in our respective Sufi and Zen traditions.

Please register at https://forms.gle/WTS5VK9PFNo9PeSz5

Yassir is a Sufi imam, born in Morocco, ministering to Bay Area Islamic communities for many years. From 2002 to 2017 he taught Islamic and Sufi studies at U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union. Yassir and Hozan have been good friends since the 90s, sharing the music and wisdom of our spiritual paths. Yassir has visited and lectured at BZC several times. His warm-hearted presence is uplifting.

We can accommodate up to 35 people in the zendo itself (vaccination card required), and we will be live-streaming on Zoom as well. The suggested class fee is $30 (or whatever you can afford). For further information, contact class coordinator Ryushin Andrea Thach andrea.thach@gmail.com.

 

 

Beginners’ Sesshin October 1

Please join us for a special sitting that comes around only twice a year. This is an opportunity for new and old practitioners alike to become intimate with beginner’s mind. The sesshin will be led by Laurie Senauke and Susan Marvin. The focus will be on the basics of Suzuki Roshi’s practice: zazen, kinhin, and bowing. New students will receive clear explanations of our sometimes challenging forms, while more experienced students will have a chance to fine-tune their practice.

Here is the link to register (please be sure to read the details below):

https://forms.gle/uC7hnTD6p2GfmAtq8

The sesshin will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 1. It will be offered in-person only (no online participation). The rhythm of the day will be similar to our regular sesshins, with shorter periods of zazen and some on-the-spot instructions. Please bring your own bag lunch (or you can purchase a lunch nearby).

The fee for this day is $15, or whatever you can afford.

You may pay online, or you can send a check to BZC at:
Berkeley Zen Center
1931 Russell Street
Berkeley, CA 94703
Attention:  Office Manager, Helen Cheng
If you have questions, please contact the day’s directors, Susan Marvin (lai_hang@yahoo.com) and Laurie Senauke (lauriesenauke@gmail.com).

One-Day Study Sesshin September 23

We invite you to join us for a One-Day Study Sesshin at Berkeley Zen Center, Saturday, September 23, from 7:50 AM to 5:30 PM. This study sesshin will be led by Hozan Alan Senauke, and will focus on Dogen’s Tenzo Kyokun/ Instructions to the Cook.
1.  Deadline to sign up is Noon on Thursday, September 21.  In-person attendance will be limited to 33 people.  Those who sign up after we reach the 33-person limit will be placed on a waiting list.
SIGN UP BY CLICKING HERE:
PLEASE NOTE: THIS SESSHIN WILL NOT BE OFFERED ONLINE.
For all sesshin attendees, proof of vaccination and booster shots are required to participate.  Indoor masking is now optional, but social distancing protocols will still be observed.
Lunch will be served outdoors at tables in the courtyard, using a modified oryoki form.  There will be an instruction in eating oryoki during the 2nd period of zazen that day; a set of oryoki bowls to purchase will be available at that time.
We will have a short work period, so please bring work clothes you can change into.
Neither dokusan nor practice discussion will be offered during this study sesshin.
The sesshin fee is $25 for in-person attendees (or whatever you can afford).  You may pay online, or you can send a check to BZC at:

 

Berkeley Zen Center
1931 Russell Street
Berkeley, CA 94703
Attention:  Office Manager, Helen Cheng
Additional donations may be made at https://berkeleyzencenter.org/support-bzc/.
If you have questions, please contact the Sesshin Director, Rob Lyons at dharmawork@yahoo.com.