Calendar

2024 BZC Calendar of Events

Weekly Schedule

Mon, Aug 31, 2020

Way-Seeking Mind Talk: Ron Nestor

Way-Seeking Mind Talk: Ron Nestor


Mon, Aug 31, 2020

There will be a Zoom 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.

Class: The Subtle & Poetic Teaching of Tung-shan

Class: The Subtle & Poetic Teaching of Tung-shan


Mon, Aug 31, 2020

Ross Blum will present a two-session class on this 9th century Chinese Zen teacher from whom our Soto School derives its name. At our first meeting we'll study a selection of stories compiled in The Record of Tung-shan translated by William Powell. In our second class we’ll explore the “Five Positions,” his description of the unfolding of a Zen student’s practice within the world of form and emptiness as it relates to our life today.

For details and class materials, click here.

The class will be held in BZC’s Online Zendo and is open to all; no need to register.

Class offering by donation supports BZC’s programs. Your discretionary amount is greatly appreciated.  Donations by check to BZC or with PayPal using the Classes tab on our Donation Page.