My Calendar

Week of Jan 31st

  • Way-Seeking Mind Talk: Dean Bradley

    Way-Seeking Mind Talk: Dean Bradley


    Mon, Jan 31, 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.

  • Class on the Three Doors of Liberation

    Class on the Three Doors of Liberation


    Thu, Feb 3, 2022

    Class on the Three Doors of Liberation

    Hozan will offer a four-session online study on this classic teaching—the Three Doors of Liberation—on Thursday evenings, 7:15 to 8:45, January 13 through February 3.

    Zen Master Yoka Genkaku’s Shodoka/Song of Enlightenment begins with this verse:

    There is the leisurely one,
    Walking the Way, beyond philosophy,
    Not avoiding fantasy, not seeking truth.
    The real nature of ignorance is the Buddha-nature itself;
    The empty delusory body is the very body of the Dharma.

    These Zen verses remind us of the Three Doors of Liberation: Emptiness, Signlessness, and Wishlessness. While we have never studied these practices in detail, Sojun gave a rich lecture on them towards the end of his life. They feature prominently in the teaching of Thich Nhat Hanh and others in Theravada and Mahayana lineages. More to the point, the Three Doors of Liberation help us see the whole of our life as practice that is easeful, fluid, and ever-changing. Please join us for these classes, which will include study and reflection on our own embodiment of freedom.

    The suggested donation is $40 for the series (or $10 per class).  You may donate by check or via the website.  If you donate using the website, click on Sits/Classes (under the Generosity tab) and please include a note indicating that you are paying for "Hozan's Thursday class".

    Resource Links:

    https://www.lionsroar.com/the-doors-of-liberation-may-2014/

    https://berkeleyzencenter.org/dharma-talk/sojun-mel-weitsman-three-doors-of-liberation/

  • Way-Seeking Mind Talk: Greg Hertz

    Way-Seeking Mind Talk: Greg Hertz


    Fri, Feb 4, 2022

    There will be a way-seeking mind talk in the online zendo at the time of the usual Friday afternoon zazen:

    5:40 pm: zazen
    5:45: talk

    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: Hozan Alan Senauke

    Lecture: Hozan Alan Senauke


    Sat, Feb 5, 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