Welcome to BZC


Upcoming Sittings

(for details about these programs, check the Calendar Page)

Sunday, March 30:  Women’s Sitting

Please join us from 8 AM to 12:15 PM, with tea and cookies following in the courtyard. Laurie Senauke will be the Doshi and Speaker. Marie Hopper will be Director. Please sign up using this link:
Suggested donation: $15. The registration deadline is March 25. Please direct any questions to Marie Hopper, email address marie_hopper@sbcglobal.net.

Sunday, April 13: Beginners’ Sitting: 8:30 a.m. to 4:05 p.m
Suggested donation: $15.  For more information, please contact Helen Cheng at mankattan@yahoo.com

You can pay for any of these events by mailing a check to the BZC Office Manager at 1931 Russell St., Berkeley 94703, or you can pay through the website using the “Sits/Classes” button on the “Generosity” tab. In either case, please indicate what you are paying for, so that your payment is not mixed up with dues or donations.


Class on the Hsin Hsin Ming

With Ellen Webb and Susan Marvin

The Third Ancestor’s famous poem, “The Hsin Hsin Ming or “Trust “or Faith in Mind”  expresses the far-reaching truth of the enlightened mind, the Buddha mind in all of us. True faith is our grounded belief that we have this mind right here — constant, still, and central to our life of practice.
 Ellen Webb and Susan Marvin will lead study on  4 consecutive Thursdays evenings beginning March 6 and ending March 27 at 7:15-8:45 pm. The class will be in person only and will meet on site at BZC (exact location will depend on enrollment.)  Please register so that we can send class participants  updates.
Class fee is $40.

Click on this link to register:

 
If you have questions please contact Class Coordinator Ryushin Andrea Thach

In Memoriam – Hozan Kushiki Alan Senauke Daiosho

Our dear Abbot Hozan Roshi passed away on December 22 after a year’s illness.  Hozan served as Vice Abbot of BZC for 20 years before his Mountain Seat Ceremony in January of 2021. Earlier he served as the Executive Director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, and later served as a teacher and advisor for Upaya Zen Center’s Chaplaincy Training Program.  You can access many of his lectures and teachings (and music) in various sections of the BZC website, YouTube, and elsewhere online; his full obituary is available on Legacy.com.

Read Hozan’s Obituary

BZC had a full round of traditional Soto Zen ceremonies in the days following Hozan Roshi’s death, ending with 49th day memorial service on February 8. There will be a larger, more eclectic funeral/memorial service on August 10, 2025, at the Freight and Salvage Coffee House in Berkeley.