Tag: Zen Practice
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A Letter to the Sangha: Abbot Mako on Skillful Action
Dear Sangha, As I sit at my desk at Tassajara—a place beloved by myself and so many others—and watch the evening light cast flickering shadows across the tatami floor of the Abbot’s cabin, I feel deeply grateful to be right here. From this seat, I am in harmony with the ancient oaks, the sound…
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The Presence of Poetry in Our Lives: A Conversation with Paul Haller and Naomi Shihab Nye
Ryushin Paul Haller and Naomi Shihab Nye By Tova Green Poet Naomi Shihab Nye and SFZC Senior Dharma teacher Ryushin Paul Haller will co-host A Benefit for Gaza: Writers Witness for Peace on May 18, 4 pm at City Center, 300 Page Street. Naomi and ten writers of diverse faiths and backgrounds will read…
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Jukai Ceremony at City Center on April 19
From L to R: Margaret Coad, Elliot Mercer, Jisan Tova Green, Shosan Victoria Austin, Anshi Zachary Smith, Benchi Tangde and Sherwin Yu. Photo by Shundo David Haye. Congratulations to the initiates who received the precepts in a Jukai Ceremony at SFZC’s City Center on April 19th. Receiving the precepts from Shosan Victoria Austin: Benchi…
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How to Inhabit a Life: An Interview with Tatsudo Nicole Baden
Photo by Jürgen Frank By Tova Green Tatsudo Nicole Baden recently spoke with me about her path to Zen, her initial meeting with Richard Baker Roshi, and what her focus is now as a Zen teacher and Abbot. She will be giving a Dharma talk at City Center on May 14 and at Green…
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Greens’ Chef Katie Reicher on Her New Cookbook and Her Journey to Greens
By Tova Green Katie Reicher, Executive Chef at Greens Restaurant in San Francisco, has published her first cookbook, Seasons of Greens. Katie is Greens’ fourth Executive Chef (all of them women) since it was founded in 1979. Cooking has been an important part of Katie’s life since childhood. “I grew up in a huge,…
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Celebrating Recent Shusos at SFZC
Photo by Shundo David Haye. There have been several Shusos at SFZC since early 2024, when we last ran a feature on them. Please see below to get up to date on our four newest Shusos. Warm wishes and congratulations to all! Senior Dharma Teacher Eijun Linda Ruth Cutts (l) and Shuso Nyokai Shindo Kristin…
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Tassajara Summer Retreats 2025
Photo by Ty Greenstein San Francisco Zen Center is pleased to announce that Tassajara will be offering an inspiring array of retreats this summer! These Zen meditation and interdisciplinary arts retreats are geared towards guests who are interested in immersing in practice and nature under the guidance of some of our most established teachers.…
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An Update on Zentatsu Richard Baker from Abbot David Zimmerman
Note from the editor: For the past few weeks, Zentatsu Richard Baker and his Dharma heir Tatsudo Nicole Baden have been visiting City Center where both Nicole and Richard gave a Dharma talk. They moved to Green Gulch Farm over last weekend and the plan was for Nicole to give the talk there on…
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It’s about the music
Andres Segovia once called the classical guitar a small orchestra. Traditionally, its back and sides are made of rosewood, its soundboard of spruce or cedar. Together with these resonant woods, its six nylon strings, three or four of them wire-wound, can produce a rich variety of tones, ranging from the velvety to the brilliant, the…
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Abbot Jiryu on the Publication of Becoming Yourself
Photo by Robert Erdmann Dear Sangha, In 2018, I had the good fortune to begin work with Sojun Mel Weitsman Roshi on a new book of talks by Suzuki Roshi. The book was drawn from jewels of his teachings that Mel had been squirreling aside over the decades to someday publish. In the years…