My Calendar

Week of Oct 28th

  • Way-Seeking Mind Talk: Kabir Nabi

    Way-Seeking Mind Talk: Kabir Nabi


    Mon, Oct 24, 2022

    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.

  • Lecture: Dave Rutschman

    Lecture: Dave Rutschman


    Sat, Oct 29, 2022

    Saturday Program Link (ie, Online Zendo)
        • Zendo opens:       8:30 am
        • Zazen:                      8:40 – 9:20
        • Service:                   9:20 – 9:30
        • Kinhin/break       9:30  – 9:40
        • Zazen:                      9:40 – 10:10
        • Lecture:                  10:15 – 11:15

    Meeting ID: 657 798 2914
    Passcode: bzc

    Sejiki Ceremony - Feeding the Hungry Ghosts

    Sejiki Ceremony - Feeding the Hungry Ghosts


    Sat, Oct 29, 2022

    On Saturday, October 29, BZC will again 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 Hondo Dave Rutschman, followed by a joyous ceremony in the courtyard.
    The outdoors altar will be filled with fruit, cakes, and other food offerings to entice spirits from the beyond and those present. Raucous noisemaking by children and adults will call forth hungry ghosts and the spirits of the departed. After offerings and chanting of 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 in Halloween costumes. Noisemakers will be provided and you may also bring your own. The talk and ceremony will start in the zendo at 10:15 a.m. All are welcome to join the work circle at 7:35 a.m. to help set up the altar.

  • Women’s Sesshin

    Women’s Sesshin


    Sun, Oct 30, 2022

    All women, feminine identified, non binary and transwomen of the sangha:

    The BZC annual women’s sesshin will take place on Sunday, October 30th We are delighted that Jisan Tova Green will be our speaker and doshi for this time together.

    This will be a hybrid sesshin. There is space in the zendo for 29 people to attend in person, on a first come/first serve signup basis.  We will also have the capability for people to attend on zoom. We will meet from 7:45AM-12 noon. We ask that those attending be present for the full sesshin. Lunch will not be served; some people may wish to join with others for lunch nearby after the sesshin.

    Everyone attending in person will need to be up to date on their Covid 19 vaccinations and to have sent a copy to the office manager, or alternatively, to bring a copy of their up to date record to the sesshin. Everyone attending in person will need to be masked for the morning, with a K95 mask. The fee is $15 or whatever you can best afford. Checks should be made out to Berkeley Zen Center, and marked women’s sesshin.

    The signup sheet is attached; please fill it out and email it to Marie Hopper at marie_hopper@sbcglobal.net .Please indicate on the sheet any special needs that you may have, for example, if you need to sit in a chair, or a kneeling chair .If you have further questions please contact Luminous Heart Penelope Thompson, sesshin director,  at penelopethompson9@gmail.com

     Click Here To Sign Up