5:45 pm – 6:20 pm
Fri, Sep 3, 2021
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.
7:50 am – 5:00 pm
Sat, Sep 4, 2021
Hozan Sensei will lead a one-day online sesshin on Saturday, September 4, 7:50 a.m.‒5:00 p.m. Please sign up by September 1 (the Wednesday before the sesshin). If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the sesshin director, Mary Beth Lamb, at sesshin@berkeleyzencenter.org.
When paying for sesshin, please indicate on your check or in the PayPal note field that your donation is for the “September Sesshin.” The suggested donation is $15, or whatever you can afford. Mail a check to BZC Office Manager, 1931 Russell St., Berkeley, CA 94703, or pay through the website using the “Sits/Classes” tab on the Donate page. Please consider a donation to Berkeley Zen Center above the suggested fee to help us maintain our practice.
You may sign up here: Sign Up sheet for the September 4 Sesshin.
10:15 am – 11:30 am
Sat, Sep 4, 2021
Meeting ID: 657 798 2914
Passcode: bzc
7:30 am – 6:30 pm
Mon, Sep 6, 2021
10:15 am – 11:30 am
Sat, Sep 11, 2021
Meeting ID: 657 798 2914
Passcode: bzc
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Sun, Sep 12, 2021
Hozan Sensei offers this Abbot’s Tea on the 2nd Sunday month at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom for up to twelve people per meeting. For registration and information, please contact Hannah Meara (hmeara@gmail.com).
7:30 am – 8:30 am
Mon, Sep 13, 2021
Our annual New Member Entering Ceremony will be on Monday, September 13, 7:30 a.m. If you are a new BZC member, or if you are a member who has never participated in this ceremony and would now like to, please contact Carol Paul (caroljpaul@yahoo.com or 510- 206-5051).
Although during this time the sangha cannot meet new members with an in-person bow, BZC most heartedly welcomes and looks forward to greeting them in our virtual online zendo at the ceremony.
10:15 am – 11:30 am
Sat, Sep 18, 2021
Meeting ID: 657 798 2914
Passcode: bzc
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Sun, Sep 19, 2021
An all-sangha meeting will be held Sunday, September 19, at 7:00 p.m., which will include nominations for the BZC Board. Each year the sangha affirms three of its six members-at-large for two-year terms to the BZC Board. Board members may serve a maximum of two consecutive terms. Elections take place in October and the new term starts in January 2021.
This year three of the at-large Board members will finish their second terms at the end of 2021 (Tom Painter, Gary Artim, and Rondi Saslow), so we will be filling all three spots with new Board members. BZC members will have the opportunity to affirm them in an online ballot process in October. (The at-large members who are in the middle of their terms are Linda Hess, Sue Oehser, and Dean Bradley.)
On that ballot, the members will also have the opportunity to affirm the three salaried positions at BZC: Abbot, Office Manager, and Archive and Media Assistant.
If you would like to nominate someone to serve on the Board, please pass their name on to Ed Herzog, Rondi Saslow, or Carol Paul (BZC Nominations and Elections Committee members). We are always interested in potential Board members!
A great deal of care, time, and commitment has been put into the nominating process to make it as fair and unbiased as possible.
All BZC members and friends are invited to attend the sangha meeting. Please join us for this important conversation.
8:00 am – 8:30 am
Mon, Sep 20, 2021
There will be an open discussion in the online zendo right after a shorter period of zazen:
7:30 am: zazen
8:00 am: open discussion
10:15 am – 11:30 am
Sat, Sep 25, 2021
Meeting ID: 657 798 2914
Passcode: bzc
8:00 am – 8:30 am
Mon, Sep 27, 2021
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.