Category Archives: Old News

Nominations for the BZC Board

Are you interested in serving on the BZC Board or do you know someone who you would like to nominate? If so, please contact the Board Recruitment and Elections Com­mittee: Ed Herzog (edherzog48@gmail.com) or Ellen Webb (elweb@sbcglobal.net). Please include any relevant information about why you or your nominee would make a good BZC Board member.
Every year the Berkeley Zen Center sangha selects up to three at-large members to two-year terms on the BZC Board. This year we have three vacancies. Board members may serve a maximum of two consecutive, two-year terms.  Elections take place in October and the new term starts in January 2023. The Board will present its three nominees at the All-Sangha Potluck on Sunday evening, Sep­tem­ber 18. Nominations can also be made by sangha members at the All-Sangha Potluck.
Some of the various skills the Board seeks in nominees are oral and written communica­tion, organizational experience, information technology, money management, fundraising, engineering, building maintenance, and non-profit law. Nominees should be members of BZC. Board members attend about ten Sunday morning meetings a year plus an all-day retreat in the first part of the year, and serve on at least one working Board committee: Finance; Buildings & Grounds; Development; Electronic Communication & Social Media; Archive; and Elections & Nominations.

Class: Parables of the Lotus Sutra – begins May 12

Abbot Hozan Alan Senauke will be teaching this year’s Practice Period Class on the Parables the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra is one of the most important Mahayana Sutras. Its influence runs throughout Soto Zen’s founder Dogen’s teachings. The parables reveal the inherent possibility of awakening in each of us.

The class will be held on Thursdays evenings May 12, 19, 26 and June 2 from 7:15 til 8:45 pm. This class will be held on zoom, and subsequently will be available on the website under “lectures.”
PDFs of excerpts will be available to class participants. Sign up for the class as part of the practice period sign up. If you are not participating in the practice period but will be attending the class, please notify the Class Coordinator, Ryushin Andrea Thach at andrea.thach@gmail.com.

If you’d like a hardcopy of the materials for the class, please let the Abbot assistant, Jonathon Koltz know. He can be contacted at jonkoltz@gmail.com. For a digital copy of the materials for the class, click here.

Suggested donation is $40 or whatever you can afford. This can be paid by using the “generosity” tab on the BZC website. Use the middle choice of “classes and sesshins” and please note that your payment is for the practice period class on Paypal or send the office manager a note at bzcofficemanager@gmail.com or pay by check by mail.
If you have questions, contact the Class coordinator.

Sangha Work Day June 5

On June 5th, we will be having a Sangha Work Day. The day will open with coffee and pastries at 8:00 a.m., then zazen from 8:15 to 8:40, work circle at 8:45, with work starting at 9:00. Lunch will be provided by our tenzos from noon until work circle at 12:45 p.m., and we’ll wind up with informal zazen 3:15‒3:30.

If you would like to join us, please contact me, Greg Denny, either by email (gr…@techsperience.org) or phone (510.402.8282). Please also let me know which of the following categories of work you are able to participate in:

– cleaning

– gardening

– painting

– simple carpentry or building-related tasks, possibly using tools like drills or saws

Some work may get you dirty. Dress appropriately.

Finally, we will be adhering to the following covid protocols:

– vaccination and one booster required. If you have not already done so, please email your vax info to BZC’s office manager Helen Cheng.

– all must wear a KN94, KN95, or N95 mask while indoors. We are also recommending that people wear it outdoors as much as possible.

Any questions, let me know…..    Greg

Five-Day Sesshin June 8-12

Abbot Hozan will lead our five-day sesshin on Wednesday through Sunday, June 8‒12. Please review the following details and sign up through this link.

  1. The Sesshin will be held from Wednesday, June 8 through Sunday, June 12. The hours are 7:50 AM. to 5:30 PM. Sunday, will include the Shuso Ceremony which begins at 3:30 PM.
  2. Sesshin will be both online and in-person. In-person attendance will be limited to 30 people (with proof of vaccination and booster shots), and participants will be required to attend a minimum of 3 days, which includes 2 consecutive days.  Slots will be given on a first-come-first-served basis, first to practice period participants and then non-practice period folks. So please sign up as soon as possible, although the formal deadline is June 4.
  3. For in-person sesshin attendees, lunch will be served buffet style outside in the courtyard. For work period, please bring suitable clothes to change into.
  4. Abbott Hozan Senauke and Senior Practice Leaders will offer Dokusan for both in-person participants and online participants.

When paying for sesshin, please indicate on your check or in the PayPal note field that your donation is for the “June five-day sesshin.” The sesshin fee is $15 a day. Mail a check to BZC Office Manager, 1931 Russell St., Berkeley, CA 94703, or pay through the website using the “Sits/Classes” tab on the “Donate” page. Please consider a donation to Berkeley Zen Center above the suggested fee to help us maintain our practice.

If you have questions, please contact the Sesshin Director, Rob Lyons at <RobertLyons2305@gmail.com>.

Buddha’s Birthday Celebration – Saturday, April 9

Buddhists throughout the world celebrate Buddha’s Birthday. We follow the Japanese tradition of symbolically bathing the baby Buddha, represented by a small statue ensconced in a flower-covered bower. This year’s ceremony will be in the courtyard on Saturday, April 9, following a short talk by Abbot Hozan. Due to the uncertain path of Covid we cannot at this point predict the kind of participation this year’s ceremony will offer, whether on Zoom or in person. Watch for announcements in early April.
If you would like to help decorate the bower at 7:45 a.m. on April 9, please email Hannah Meara (hmeara@gmail.com). School-age children are welcome to participate. The seven people who sign up first will be asked to take part in person. All children and adults must be fully vaccinated and wear masks.

Sojun Roshi’s Memorial Sunday, June 19

Dear Sangha,
Please save the date Sunday, June 19 mid-afternoon for our long-awaited memorial service for Hakuryu Sojun Roshi. It will be held in the Green Gulch Garden, as well as on Zoom. The exact start time and other details will be communicated shortly.
Warmly,
Abbot Hozan and Coordinator Carol Paul

Sangha Meeting and Budget Approval

All BZC members and friends are warmly invited to bring a cup of tea to the online zendo and join this meeting on Sunday, March 20, 7:00 p.m. We will hear committee reports, review the 2021 financial report, discuss the Board-recommended 2022 budget, and consider our 2022 fundraising goals. The budget is our treasurer’s best effort to project the financial goals and realities for BZC’s current year. After discussion, the budget will be submitted for approval by those in attendance. We look forward to seeing you!

Spring Practice Period May 7 – June 12

Our annual spring practice period will begin with a one-day sitting on Saturday, May 7, and continue through a five-day sesshin and Shuso Ceremony on Sunday, June 12. Whether you are sitting in the zendo or at home, Abbot Hozan invites each of us to increase our commitment to practice for these six weeks, while tending to our work, family, and other obligations.

Before the pandemic, Sojun Roshi invited Enzan Chotoku Gary Artim (Round Mountain/ Clear Genuine) to be shuso or head student. After a two-year postponement, Hozan has renewed this invitation for Gary to serve as shuso.

In the Soto tradition, a new abbot’s first practice period with a shuso is a kind of confirmation of his or her position. With our spring practice period Hozan takes this step.

There will be a Thursday night class with Hozan (subject to be announced).

Due to our Covid protocols, in-person attendance will be limited, and the usual schedule of events may be revised. For a detailed practice period calendar and appli­ca­tion form, please check the BZC website after April 15.

New Koan Class 3/17 – 4/7

Ellen Webb, Ryushin Andrea Thach, and Ron Nestor will present three koans from Thomas Cleary’s translation of The Book of Serenity. This collection of 100 koans or cases is the koan collection most associated with our Soto lineage.We’re aiming for interactive class discussions of these three provocative cases, which can be understood from different points of emphasis. We’ll supply a scanned copy of Cleary’s text and Word files of excellent commentaries by Koun Yamada. For those without printers we will have paper copies available on the bulletin board shelf at BZC.  The Book of Serenity is also available from booksellers and online. The four cases we’ll be working with are case #12, Dizang Planting the Fields, case #20, Dizang’s Nearness, case #36, Master Ma is Unwell, and case #53, Obaku’s “Drinkers”. Studying koans in this way is not the same as the Rinzai practice of working with one’s teacher and trying to embody the koan, so we want to be clear about the difference. However, we have found it to be rich and helpful in clarifying the essential points of Zen practice.

 

Cost for the series is $40 or what you can afford. More information will be posted on BZC Community Group as we get closer to the dates. All are welcome.

Oryoki Training

I invite you to take advantage of the next oryoki training, especially before Aspects of Practice. I will be offering it Saturday, September 21, and Saturday, October 19, either in the zendo or in the community room, from 11:30 to 12:15 after morning program, or by appoint­ment. Please contact me, Sue Oehser, at (510) 339-0243 (voice, not text), or text (510) 541-3264, or soehser@earthlink.net for questions or to arrange another time to meet.

Briefer oryoki instruction is also offered before breakfast at all full Saturday morning programs, except during sesshins.