Events in April 2025
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Buddha’s Birthday Celebration Buddha’s Birthday Celebration
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Sat, Apr 5, 2025Buddha’s Birthday Celebration
On Saturday, April 5, 10:15‒11:15 a.m., BZC will join Buddhist centers around the world in celebrating the birth of the baby Buddha (traditionally considered to have been in early
April).Following a short service and an introductory talk in the zendo, we will proceed to the courtyard for a kid-friendly ceremony.
After the doshi makes an initial offering of flowers and bathes the baby Buddha with sweet tea, we will chant the Heart Sutra and all
adults and children will have a chance to use a ladle to bathe the baby Buddha. Children will also be offered small containers of bubble solution. We welcome children and others to
come for work period at 7:35 a.m. to help
decorate the baby Buddha’s bower stands.Dharma Talk: Ryushin Andrea Thach Dharma Talk: Ryushin Andrea Thach
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Sat, Apr 5, 2025Full Saturday Program Schedule
- 6:00-6:40 Zazen
- 6:40-6:50 Kinhin
- 6:50-7:20 Zazen
- 7:20-7:40 Service
- 7:40-8:30 Breakfast
- 8:30-8:50 Break
- 8:50-9:30 Work Practice
- 9:30-10:05 Zazen
- 10:05-10:15 Kinhin
- 10:15-11:15 Dharma Talk
- Followed By Informal Tea
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Open Discussion Open Discussion
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Mon, Apr 7, 2025.... in the online zendo.
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Dharma Talk: Ellen Webb Dharma Talk: Ellen Webb
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Sat, Apr 12, 2025Full Saturday Program Schedule
- 6:00-6:40 Zazen
- 6:40-6:50 Kinhin
- 6:50-7:20 Zazen
- 7:20-7:40 Service
- 7:40-8:30 Breakfast
- 8:30-8:50 Break
- 8:50-9:30 Work Practice
- 9:30-10:05 Zazen
- 10:05-10:15 Kinhin
- 10:15-11:15 Dharma Talk
- Followed By Informal Tea
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Board Meeting Board Meeting
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Sun, Apr 13, 2025Board Meeting
Sunday, 4/27, 9:00‒11:00am -
Way Seeking Mind Talk: Helen Cheng Way Seeking Mind Talk: Helen Cheng
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Mon, Apr 14, 2025There 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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Dharma Talk: Susan Marvin Dharma Talk: Susan Marvin
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Sat, Apr 19, 2025Full Saturday Program Schedule
- 6:00-6:40 Zazen
- 6:40-6:50 Kinhin
- 6:50-7:20 Zazen
- 7:20-7:40 Service
- 7:40-8:30 Breakfast
- 8:30-8:50 Break
- 8:50-9:30 Work Practice
- 9:30-10:05 Zazen
- 10:05-10:15 Kinhin
- 10:15-11:15 Dharma Talk
- Followed By Informal Tea
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Way Seeking Mind Talk: Raghav Bandla Way Seeking Mind Talk: Raghav Bandla
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Mon, Apr 21, 2025There 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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Dharma Talk: Karen Sundheim Dharma Talk: Karen Sundheim
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Sat, Apr 26, 2025Full Saturday Program Schedule
- 6:00-6:40 Zazen
- 6:40-6:50 Kinhin
- 6:50-7:20 Zazen
- 7:20-7:40 Service
- 7:40-8:30 Breakfast
- 8:30-8:50 Break
- 8:50-9:30 Work Practice
- 9:30-10:05 Zazen
- 10:05-10:15 Kinhin
- 10:15-11:15 Dharma Talk
- Followed By Informal Tea
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All-Sangha Budget Meeting All-Sangha Budget Meeting
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Sun, Apr 27, 2025We will have an All-Sangha meeting on
Sunday, April 27, at 7:00pm on Zoom. There
will be an update on the Abbot search process
and a presentation of the 2025 Proposed
Budget up for Sangha approval. The Board will
also present some proposed changes to the
BZC bylaws, which we will ask the Sangha to
vote on. If you have any questions, please
contact the BZC Board President, Karen
Sundheim (ksundheim@gmail.com). -
Way Seeking Mind Talk: Kurt Kowalski Way Seeking Mind Talk: Kurt Kowalski
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Mon, Apr 28, 2025There 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.