Tag: Zen Practice

Lucy Xiao and Paul Haller. Photo by Robert-Lyons   Gendō Lucy Xiao received Dharma Transmission from Senior Dharma Teacher Ryūshin Paul Haller at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center on September 20, 2025. Lucy’s Dharma name is Furyū Gendō — Wind Dragon, Subtle (or Mysterious) Way. She has practiced at SFZC City Center and Tassajara since 2000,…

  Think the fold. Become the fold. Forget the fold. Everything in my art is about interconnectedness …coming alive, like a dreamcatcher that lures the true self to a place of deep intimacy. The closeness of this connection is what inspires me, because intimate togetherness with oneself, with others, and with the world can be…

Left to right: Thiemo Blank, Abbot Jiryu, Cam Esaryk and Meiya Wender. Photos by Steph-Blank Congratulations to Cam Esaryk who received priest ordination from Abiding Abbot Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, with supporting preceptors Thiemo Blank and Meiya Wender, at Green Gulch Farm on September 28. Cam’s Dharma name is Chōtan Shōgetsu (Deep Clear Pool, Radiating Moonlight).  

Photo by Jesse Blalock   The kitchen at Green Gulch Farm has nourished many monks, students, guests, and teachers over the past 53 years. As one of the kitchens of SFZC’s three temples, and along with the beautiful fields of GGF’s organic farm, it has inspired some of America’s most revered vegetarian chefs (Deborah Madison,…

Left to right: Charlie Korin Pokorny, Abbot Jiryu, and Sarah Dōjin Emerson. Photo by Andrea Vecchione.   Photos by Andrea Vecchione In recent weeks, Abbot Jiryu Rutchman-Byler introduced the new Suzuki Roshi book, Becoming Yourself, to members of several Zen communities in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Abbot Jiryu, who co-edited the book with Sojun Mel Weitsman,…

Photo by James Higgins.   On Sunday, September 7, the residents of Tassajara came together for a Gate Closing Ceremony, which signaled the end of the 2025 Guest Season. The ceremony began with a procession from the work circle, followed by an incense offering, wisdom water, and bows. Abbot Mako made a statement: “Closing this…

Left to right: Dan Landy, Rinso Ed Sattizahn, Rosana Castrillo.   Congratulations to Dan Landy (Sōseki Mitsuzen / Sangha Rock Intimate Whole) and Rosana Castrillo (Kyōgetsu Honshin / Mirror Moon Original Trust), who received the Bodhisattva precepts from Rinso Ed Sattizahn in a Lay Initiation Ceremony at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center on September 3.  

  By Tova Green Zenshin Florence Caplow, a Soto Zen priest and teacher who trained at San Francisco Zen Center, has lived with chronic illness and pain since 1999, and was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2021. Three years ago, she began offering an online program at SFZC for people with chronic pain and health…

Photo by Margo Moritz   In this letter, Central Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman writes on forgiveness and repair in his own life and how SFZC is working with former Abbot Richard Baker to reconcile a difficult past and move forward together. Dear Sangha: I first came to San Francisco Zen Center (City Center) in the…