Calendar

2024 BZC Calendar of Events

Weekly Schedule

Week of May 22nd

  • Way Seeking Mind Talk: Peter Overton

    Way Seeking Mind Talk: Peter Overton


    Mon, May 22, 2023

    There 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 talk

    What 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.

  • Practice Period Class: Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

    Practice Period Class: Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind


    Thu, May 25, 2023

    This spring our practice period class will draw upon the riches of Suzuki Roshi’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. Beneath the warm and inviting tone of Suzuki Roshi’s words are boundless depths that appear anew with each reading. Over nearly fifty years of teaching, Sojun Roshi never reached the limits of this book’s Zen wisdom. So, we begin again.
    We will share a selection of chapters, which will be announced. Practice period members, in fact all BZC practitioners ought to have a copy of this book. And a pdf of the whole text can be found at this link. https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/Zen-Mind.pdf
    Classes will be held in the zendo and online at 7:15pm, for five Thursday evenings from May 18 to June 15. Suggested class fee is $50 or whatever you can afford. See you in class.
    Please register for the class by clicking this ink: Class – Zen Mind Beginner’s Mind – Sign up
     COVID restrictions will apply. If you have questions, you could reach out to the Class Coordinator Ryushin Andrea Thach at  andrea.thach@gmil.com.
  • Lecture: Susan Marvin

    Lecture: Susan Marvin


    Sat, May 27, 2023

    Saturday Morning Schedule

    • Zendo opens:       8:20 am
    • Zazen:                      8:30 – 9:10
    • Service:                   9:10 – 9:30
    • Kinhin/break       9:30  – 9:40
    • Zazen:                      9:40 – 10:10
    • Lecture:                  10:15 – 11:15