My Calendar

Week of Mar 1st

  • One-Day Sesshin

    One-Day Sesshin


    Mon, Feb 26, 2024

    One-day Sesshin.  Saturday, March 16 from 6:00 AM to 5:30 PM. The priest and speaker will be Hannah Meara.

    The deadline to sign up is Noon on Thursday, March 14. In-person attendance will be limited to 33 people.  Those who sign up after we reach the 33-person limit will be placed on a waiting list.  Sesshins in 2024 have been fully subscribed and people have been turned away so sign up soon to guarantee a spot.

    SIGN UP BY CLICKING HERE:

    The sesshin will also be offered online; sign up using the same link.

    For all sesshin attendees, proof of vaccination and booster shots are required to participate.  Indoor masking is now optional, but social distancing protocols will still be observed.

    Breakfast and Lunch will be served in the zendo using the traditional oryoki form.  To purchase a set of oryoki bowls, check our website for a link. An oryoki refresher class will occur during the second period of zazen.

    We will have a short work period, so please bring work clothes you can change into.

    The sesshin fee is $35 for in-person attendees.  You may pay online, or you can send a check to BZC at:

    Berkeley Zen Center
    1931 Russell Street
    Berkeley, CA 94703

    Attention:  Office Manager, Helen Cheng

    Additional donations may be made at https://berkeleyzencenter.org/support-bzc/.

     

    If you have questions, please contact the Sesshin Director, Mark Copithorne at copithorne@hotmail.com.

    Way Seeking Mind Talk: Hax Baker

    Way Seeking Mind Talk: Hax Baker


    Mon, Feb 26, 2024

    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.

  • Drop-in Sitting and Study

    Drop-in Sitting and Study


    Wed, Feb 28, 2024

    The Wednesday Drop-in group is a weekly event, now in person, that goes from 7:10 to 9:00 PM. It includes a 30-minute period of Zazen meditation and a brief service in the zendo, followed by tea and refreshments and an hour of reading and discussion in the Community Room. The group particularly welcomes newcomers to Zen Buddhist practice and/or new to Berkeley Zen Center. It also provides an opportunity for practitioners to sit and study together on an ongoing basis. We meet every Wednesday except for the five-day Spring Practice Period sesshin(retreat) in June, the annual seven-day Buddha’s Enlightenment sesshin in December and during the two-week interim period during the December holidays. We also maintain a google group to share reading materials we are studying, announce other BZC events and issues related to logistics. The groups is facilitated by a BZC Priest, Ikushin Gerry Oliva. Gerry can be contacted at gryoliva@gmail.com for further information.

  • Way Seeking Mind Talk: Genpo Senauke

    Way Seeking Mind Talk: Genpo Senauke


    Fri, Mar 1, 2024

    BZC schedules a Way-Seeking Mind Talk on the First Friday afternoon of each month. The talk, followed by Q&A, begins at 5:45pm after five minutes of zazen and runs until 6:25pm. Please note, our First Friday afternoon WSM Talks are online only. The zendo is closed for in person Zazen on the First Friday of the month.

     

  • Dharma Talk: Marie Hopper

    Dharma Talk: Marie Hopper


    Sat, Mar 2, 2024

    Saturday 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
  • Half-day Sitting

    Half-day Sitting


    Sun, Mar 3, 2024

    There will be a Half-Day Sitting on Sunday,
    March 3, from 8:00 a.m. to noon. The suggested
    donation is $10. To sign up, or for further
    information, please contact the director, Gary
    Artim, at gartim@gmail.com.