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.

Upcoming Class on Pali Suttas

“Enlightenment Stories from the Pali Canon,” taught by Laurie Senauke, will be offered on 3 Monday nights in August (8/7, 8/14, and 8/21) in the online zendo (only), from 7:15 to 8:45 pm.  Here’s the link to sign up.

https://forms.gle/zZ9rT5eZ7U7a7TVw8

The Pali Suttas are considered the earliest teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, memorized by the monks and passed on through word of mouth for several generations before being written down.

This body of literature includes many different kinds of teachings – one very accessible type is when the Buddha addresses lay people whom he meets serendipitously on his travels.  Some historical background will be presented, but the main time of the class will be reading the suttas (one per class) aloud and sharing our responses.

The suggested donation is $30, or whatever you can afford. Note that this class will be online only.