Week of Oct 25th
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Way Seeking Mind Talk: Ellen Webb
Way Seeking Mind Talk: Ellen Webb
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Mon, Oct 23, 2023There will be a student talk in the online zendo right after a shorter period of zazen:
7:30 am: zazen
8:00 am: way-seeking mind talkWhat is a "way-seeking mind" talk? See below.
Way-Seeking Mind at Berkeley Zen Center
“Way-Seeking Mind” talks by practitioners at Berkeley Zen Center have been a regular event on Monday mornings for more than thirty years. Each of us came to Zen practice as a seeker, with a spirit of inquiry. Each of us arrives at BZC from our own diverse backgrounds—social, familial, educational, religious, and so on. The idea of our way-seeking mind talks is for students to share how it is that they came to practice. Each person tells his or her own story in a unique way that often blends autobiography, spiritual biography, and the practice questions that each of us is engaged with.
The talks are by invitation, and last about twenty-five minutes, including time for presentation and short question & answer period. For newer students, this is a chance to meet and hear those we are sitting with. Those invited to talk have been sitting steadily at BZC; for them it is an opportunity to tell their story and be seen and heard. One of the teachers or senior students is available for advice in shaping one's talk, should that be useful.
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Aspects Class: Genjo Koan
Aspects Class: Genjo Koan
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Thu, Oct 26, 2023The theme for this year's Aspects of Practice class will be Dogen Zenji's Genjo Koan - Actualizing the Fundamental Point. It will be offered hybrid - in person for up to 40 people as well as in the Online Zendo.
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Lecture: Abbot Hozan
Lecture: Abbot Hozan
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Sat, Oct 28, 2023Saturday Morning Schedule
- Temple cleaning: 7:35 – 8:10 (in person)
- Zazen: 8:30 – 9:10
- Service: 9:10 – 9:30
- Kinhin: 9:30 – 9:40
- Zazen: 9:40 – 10:05
- Kinhin/break 10:05 – 10:15
- Lecture: 10:15 – 11:15
Sejiki Ceremony - Feeding the Hungry GhostsSejiki Ceremony - Feeding the Hungry Ghosts
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Sat, Oct 28, 2023On Saturday, October 28th, BZC will celebrate Sejiki, an annual ceremony from our Soto Zen tradition that we have missed during the pandemic. The morning program will include a short zendo talk by Hozan, followed by a joyous ceremony in the courtyard. The outdoors altar is filled with fruit, cakes, and other food offerings. Raucous noise-making by children and adults call forth hungry ghosts feel and the spirits of the departed. After offerings and chanting the “Sutra of Opening the Gate of Sweet Dew,” we will read the names and honor all those who have died this year.
Families and children are encouraged to participate. Since we have adapted the tradition to dovetail with the western tradition of Halloween, members and children are welcome to come Halloween costumes. The talk and ceremony will start in the zendo at 10:15. All are welcome to join the work circle at 7:35 to help set up the altar and decorate the grounds.