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Thu, Nov 2, 2023
The theme for this year's Aspects of Practice class will be Dogen Zenji's Genjo Koan - Actualizing the Fundamental Point. It will be offered hybrid - in person for up to 40 people as well as in the Online Zendo.
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Fri, Nov 3, 2023
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.
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Sat, Nov 4, 2023
Saturday Morning Schedule
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Sun, Nov 5, 2023
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Thu, Nov 9, 2023
The theme for this year's Aspects of Practice class will be Dogen Zenji's Genjo Koan - Actualizing the Fundamental Point. It will be offered hybrid - in person for up to 40 people as well as in the Online Zendo.
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Sat, Nov 11, 2023
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Sat, Nov 11, 2023
Saturday Morning Schedule
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Mon, Nov 13, 2023
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.
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Sat, Nov 18, 2023
Saturday Morning Schedule
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Sat, Nov 18, 2023
Lay Ordination (Jukai) will be held in the Zendo from 3PM to 6PM.
Lay Ordinees, their teachers, officiants, and invited friends and family will be in the zendo. The rest of the community is invited to attend online by using the zendo link on the BZC home page.
Hozan Alan Senauke will transmit the precepts to students Jaimie Kimmel and James Erb; Ryushin Andrea Thatch will transmit the precepts to students Greg Herz, Pauline Kerschen, and Evan Vreeland.
Longtime BZC friend, Alan Block, will confer precepts to his student Linda Ostro.
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Sun, Nov 19, 2023
The next Women’s Sesshin will be Sunday, November 19, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, with tea and cookies following.
We are delighted to welcome Mushim (Patricia) Ikeda, a founding and core teacher at East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC). Ikeda began practice at Zen Buddhist Temple in Ann Arbor, Michigan, followed by a journey of several years through the U.S. and South Korea, visiting monasteries. After settling in Oakland and having a son, she contributed a regular column on Buddhist family practice for Turning Wheel, the publication of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. She has taught meditation retreats for people of color, social justice activists, and women, nationally, based in the values of cultural humility and co-creative self-determination in marginalized communities. She continues to teach at EBMC.
Hannah Meara will be the doshi, and Mary Duryee will be the sesshin director. Sign-up will begin in early November and will be posted on the website. Please direct questions to Mary Duryee at maryduryee@gmail.com
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Mon, Nov 20, 2023
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.
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Sat, Nov 25, 2023
Saturday Morning Schedule
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Mon, Nov 27, 2023
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.