Hartford Street Zen Center | Issan-ji

Memorial Day Holiday: Zendo Closure

Chris F — Tue, 21 May 2013 05:00:27 +0000

The Zendo will be closed on Monday, 27 May 2013, in observance of Memorial Day. Please come rejoin our regular sitting schedule beginning Tuesday, 28 May, bright-and-early at 6:00 a.m.

Saturday 25 May 2013: Full Moon Ceremony

Chris F — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:17:51 +0000

We’ll have the monthly Full-Moon Ceremony renewal of our Bodhisattva vows Saturday morning after the Dharma talk.

The ceremony takes about a half-hour and involves some thirty full prostrations, but simple standing bows are also all right if prostrations are too strenuous.

Everyone is welcome to take part in this celebration.

17 May 2013: Two program options…

TetsuGen KeiDo — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:12:43 +0000

10:30 – HIV, Friends, Supporters & Community sitting & Socializing.

19:30 – Meditation in Recovery

Tomorrow/Saturday program, Dharma talk provided by Rev. Myo Lahey

Thursdays – 7:30pm – Study Hour

TetsuGen KeiDo — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:02:52 +0000

“When Xishi had a pain in her chest, she held her chest and grimaced. It made her even more beautiful. Homely girls imitating her only increased their ugliness. This is a criticism of study by mouth and ear, those who do not work for ineffable enlightenment.”

Join us this Thursday at 7:30 pm as we study the story of Shoushan’s “New Bride” in The Book of Serenity as an opportunity to practice together with the Sangha. We read the entirety of text we discuss together. Preparation is encouraged, and so are drop ins!

There are books to share for anyone who wants to join in.

14 – 28 May: Sangha Newsletter – 2013

TetsuGen KeiDo — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:30:04 +0000

Click here to view it!

14 May 2013

TetsuGen KeiDo — Mon, 13 May 2013 01:52:45 +0000

Going single edition hardcover for sale on May 14 2013!

11 May – Saturday; Guest Speaker Rev. Kojun Hull Sensei

Chris F — Sat, 11 May 2013 01:00:33 +0000

Please join us this Saturday morning for a Dharma talk by Rev Kojun Hull Sensei of Great Vow Monestary in Oregon.

Metta Meditation: May 10 2013 6pm

Chris F — Fri, 10 May 2013 02:30:08 +0000

Join us on the second and fourth Friday evenings of each month for a Metta guided meditation lead by Rev. Myo Lahey.

This is an exciting new program, so please join us, and let us know what you think.

We hope to see you to help encourage more Metta in our sometimes difficult world!

Thursdays – 7:30pm – Study Hour

Chris F — Wed, 08 May 2013 06:00:58 +0000

We are currently reading The Book of Serenity compiled in China in the twelfth century and recently translated into English by Thomas Cleary. We read together the entirety of the text we discuss each week, so please feel free to drop in. Prior preparation is encouraged, however, by no means required.

There are books to share for anyone who wants to join in.

11 May – Saturday; Guest Speaker Rev. Kojun Hull Sensei

TetsuGen KeiDo — Sun, 05 May 2013 08:08:43 +0000

Please join us this Saturday morning for a Dharma talk by Rev Kojun Hull Sensei of Great Vow Monestary in Oregon. Kojun Sensei is a Dharma successor of Chozen Bays, Roshi and Zen Teacher Hogen Bays. Kojun entered training with Chozen and Hogen Bays in March of 1999. She was ordained in August of 2002, and became a Dharma Holder in January of 2008. She received Dharma Transmission in July of 2012. Kojun is the Director of Training at Great Vow, and leads a number of retreats there each year. Currently on sabbatical in San Francisco.

Great Vow Monastery is a residential Zen Buddhist training monastery guided by the vow to help relieve suffering in the world. They aspire to maintain authentic, wholehearted practice while keeping the teachings open and accessible to anyone with a sincere desire to experience the Buddha-Dharma. Their practice is a synthesis of Soto and Rinzai Zen traditions informed by the practice and study of thier teachers, Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi and Zen Teacher Hogen Bays. The monastery is an arm of the Zen Community of Oregon.

Every Saturday we offer early morning zazen (seated meditation), a brief drop-in meditation instruction at 8:30 am. And again zazen at 9:25 am. We wrap up with a dharma talk at 10:15 am followed by tea and cookies.

4 May 12:30pm – Sangha Council after Buddha’s Birthday

TetsuGen KeiDo — Fri, 03 May 2013 08:08:13 +0000

The Hartford Street Zen Center Sangha Council will occur post Buddha’s Birthday event and a quick break for lunch: We’ve formed council as a forum to continue to talk of and discuss with each other – and with the sangha at large – issues, concerns, questions and conflicts which have been challenging – downright hard to talk about or never seem to have an appropriate time we are all together to discuss. We’ll use a practice model of working with each other with the most skillful speech we can access. This is a great opportunity also for those who haven’t been around lately to reengage and be a part of the present and future Hartford Street!

Our next meeting will be on Saturday 12:30pm to 2:30pm, May 4, 2013 for 120 minutes (with a break included).

We’re continuing this format that is flexible enough for a diversity of needs. This session will be facilitated by Beata Chapman, a long time member and Board president of the Santa Cruz Zen Center. She is knowledgeable about many aspects of zen communities. The scaffold we’ll be working from is based on the Council process developed by the Ojai Foundation.

You do not need to have an ‘issue’ or overt concern to attend. Council is sangha building, connection and healing. All are welcome!

If you have questions regarding this, call Peter Goetz at 510.595.1281. If you’d like a copy of the Ojai Foundation guidelines for Council process, email Peter at goetzpj@aol.com

4 May – Saturday Buddha’s Birthday! Vaiśākha or Hanamatsuri (花祭)

TetsuGen KeiDo — Wed, 01 May 2013 08:08:22 +0000

We’ll have a Dharma talk as usual at 10:15 a.m., and afterwards a ceremony celebrating the birth of the baby Buddha in which we circumambulate the zendo (meditation hall) while chanting the Heart of Great Perfect Wisdom Sutra. Subsequently we’ll repair to the dining room for the birthday party itself. Everyone is welcome!

HSZC newsletter Apr 30 – May 14

TetsuGen KeiDo — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:30:39 +0000

Click here

1 May – Wednesday: 5:00pm Neighborhood Safety Meeting @ HSZC

TetsuGen KeiDo — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 01:00:15 +0000

On May 1st the Zendo will be closed for evening Zazen and we will instead be hosting the neighborhood safety meeting. We have had an increase of neighborhood incidents and will meet to discuss measures we can take personally and on the building itself to increase safety on Hartford Street and surrounding areas:

This meeting will include Sgt. Chuck Limbert, Alan Beach of EVNA, Andrea from CBD, Greg from CCOP and John from Patrol Special and potentially some additional important neighborhood resources may join to help us work to increase safety on our streets and coming and going from our temple!

All are welcome and invited to join us for this event and discussion!

26 April – Arbor Day & Metta Service @HSZC

TetsuGen KeiDo — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:52:46 +0000

Please don’t forget to join us Friday at 6pm for a guided Metta service…

And it is also Arbor Day and I think most of us feel some connection and affection for trees!

Metta Service/Meditation: 26 April 2013 6pm

TetsuGen KeiDo — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:31:22 +0000

I think it goes without saying given current, recent & historical events we need as much Metta as we can generate. Please join us next Friday!

Thursdays – 7:30pm – Study Hour

TetsuGen KeiDo — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 08:08:27 +0000

We are currently reading The Book of Serenity compiled in China in the twelfth century and recently translated into English by Thomas Cleary.

There are books to share for anyone who wants to join in.

April 16 – 30 Newsletter

TetsuGen KeiDo — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:40:04 +0000

Click here!

NEW PROGRAM! Bi-Monthly Fri evenings beginning 26th of Apr.; Metta Service with Rev. Myo Lahey

TetsuGen KeiDo — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 21:37:09 +0000

Join us on the second and fourth Friday evenings, monthly for a Metta service/guided meditation lead by Rev Myo Lahey beginning April 26th at 6pm!

This is an exciting new program, so please join us and let us know what you think.

We hope to see you to help encourage more Metta in our sometimes difficult world!

UPDATE!: 13 April; Guest Speakers – Ayya Anandabodhi & Sister Jayati

TetsuGen KeiDo — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:04:53 +0000

We will have another delightful visit and talk from Ayya Anandabodhi and Sister Jayati (last visited in January 2013). Our original scheduled talk lead by Ayya Santacitta will be postponed to a future date. Ayya Santacitta’s father Josef Bayer recently passed beyond peacefully in hospital in Austria, with his loving wife by his bedside. He was 84 and had been ill for some time.

Our deepest condolences; intentions sent for safe travel and wishing a beautiful reflection of memories and commemoration of life to Ayya Santacitta, family, friends, the Aloka Vihara and Saranaloka Sangha and we look forward to seeing her as soon as we can reschedule. For now she is traveling to Austria to be with her family.

Please still plan to join us this Saturday as Ayya Anandabodhi graciously offered to step in and provide our Dharma (Dhamma) talk, who we enjoyed tremendously in the recent past.

13 April; Guest Speakers – Ayya Anandabodhi & Sister Jayati

TetsuGen KeiDo — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 20:08:53 +0000

Hartford Street is pleased to announce and invite you to a morning with two Nuns who are compassionate trailblazers in the rebuilding of a lineage of ordained bhikkhunis; stemming originally from the Thai Forest Theravada school of Buddhism ; the Nuns of Aloka Vihara are very well respected and frequently booked speakers/Dharma (Dhamma) teachers. They reside currently in a Vihara near Ocean Beach in San Francisco practicing with a vibrant and dedicated Sangha and are working on the intention to found a training monastery for bhikkhunis in a rural setting on the West Coast.

Ayya Anandabodhi first encountered the Buddha’s teaching in her early teens, which ignited a deep interest in the Buddha’s Path of Awakening. She has practiced meditation since 1989, and lived in Amaravati and Chithurst monasteries in the UK from 1992 for 18 years.

In 2009 she moved to the U.S. on invitation of the Saranaloka Foundation, to help establish Aloka Vihara, a training monastery for women, where she now resides. She took leave of the Ajahn Chah lineage in 2011, in order to take full bhikkhuni ordination. The teachings and example of Ajahn Chah continue to be an influence and inspiration in her practice and teaching.

Sister Jayati was born in England in 1974. She first encountered the Buddha’s teachings at the age of twelve while attending a retreat with the F.W.B.O.(Friends of the Western Buddhist Order). She felt a deep sense of resonance with the teachings on Metta and made a commitment to cultivate this in her life.

Ayya Santacitta (who will be scheduled another date to speak due to unexpected event) was born in Austria and has practiced meditation since 1988. Her first teacher was Ajahn Buddhadasa, who sparked her interest in Buddhist monastic life. She has trained as a nun in both the East and West since 1993, primarily in the lineage of Ajahn Chah. Since 2002, she also integrates Dzogchen teachings into her practice.

Ayya Santacitta is co-founder of Aloka Vihara, a training monastery for women in San Francisco, where she has lived since 2009. In 2011, she received bhikkhuni ordination with Ayya Tathaaloka Theri as preceptor. She offers teachings at the vihara, as well as in the wider Bay Area and occasionally other parts of the US, sharing her experience in community as a means for cultivating the heart and opening the mind.

Please join us for this wonderful event and feel free to read more about the Sisters on their website and watch this very touching video about their work & lives! Beacuse the Nuns as part of their precepts must eat their final main meal of the day by noon Some of our Sangha will formally be offering a meal dana and if you would like, feel free to bring your lunch and join us for lunch at Hartford Street with the Nuns following the talk, during our simultaneous offerings of tea and cookies.

Please join us any Saturday and we hope to see you often and for this special Saturday event!

Newsletter 2 – 16 April 2013

TetsuGen KeiDo — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:13:56 +0000

These are normally posted in a link on Facebook, so if your not connected to us there, please do connect there and we also email them directly, so feel free and we encourage all to “subscribe”!

Studying the Mystery: Teacher and Student (Rev. Myo Lahey)

Shindō Strzelczyk — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 00:28:53 +0000

How the dharma flows between teacher and student. What is a teacher/student relationship? How does it manifest?

March 31 – April 1: HSZC and Zendo will be closed

TetsuGen KeiDo — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 16:25:18 +0000

In observance of the widely celebrated Easter holiday.

Enjoy the colored eggs, baby animals & spring celebrations and your bunny sleep!

We will see you bright and early for zazen again starting the morning of April 2nd.

Be well and we will see you soon!

12:30pm Mar 30, Sat.; Sangha Council

TetsuGen KeiDo — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 02:40:21 +0000

The Hartford Street Zen Center Sangha Council: We’ve formed council as a forum to continue to talk of and discuss with each other – and with the sangha at large – issues, concerns, questions and conflicts which have been challenging – downright hard to talk about or never seem to have an appropriate time we are all together to discuss. We’ll use a practice model of working with each other with the most skillful speech we can access. This is a great opportunity also for those who haven’t been around lately to reengage and be a part of the present and future Hartford Street!

Our next meeting will be on Saturday 12:30pm to 2:30pm, March 30, 2013 for 120 minutes (with a break included).

You do not need to have an ‘issue’ or overt concern to attend. Council is sangha building, connection and healing. All are welcome!

If you have questions regarding this, call Peter Goetz at 510.595.1281. If you’d like a copy of the Ojai Foundation guidelines for Council process, email Peter at goetzpj@aol.com

THURSDAYS: Study Hour 7:30PM

TetsuGen KeiDo — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 08:08:59 +0000

We are currently reading The Book of Serenity compiled in China in the twelfth century and recently translated into English by Thomas Cleary.

There are books to share for anyone who wants to join in.

Saturday 30 March 2013: Full Moon Ceremony

TetsuGen KeiDo — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 18:33:09 +0000

We’ll have the monthly Full-Moon Ceremony renewal of our Bodhisattva vows Saturday morning after the dharma talk.

The ceremony takes about a half-hour and involves some thirty full prostrations, but simple standing bows are also all right if prostrations are too strenuous.

Everyone is welcome to take part in this celebration.

Dark to the Mind, Bright to the Heart (Rev. Cynthia Kear)

Shindō Strzelczyk — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 07:09:44 +0000

Rev. Cynthia Kear explains in personal terms the meaning and experience of the Three Refuges and their vital importance on the path of practice.

Guest Speaker, Sat. 23 Mar.: Rev. Cynthia Kear

TetsuGen KeiDo — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 08:08:39 +0000

Please join us this Saturday morning for a Dharma talk by Rev. Ryotan Cynthia Kear.

Cynthia received Jukai from SFZC prior Abbot Paul Haller in 2004. In 2008 she was given Shukke Tokudo (priest ordination) by Darlene Cohen, her heart and root teacher, and was shuso (head student) in 2009. In December, 2010 Darlene gave her Dharma Transmission. In 2009 Cynthia graduated from the Shokagu Zen Institute, a three year Zen seminary training program.

She is the founding member of the Wild Geese Sangha, a group that has met for over 8 years. She leads the Upstairs Sangha, a study group (both of which meet at her home zendo), and co-leads the Women’s Meditation & Recovery Sangha which meets monthly at HSZC.

Saturdays we offer our reduced morning schedule, a brief drop-in meditation instruction at 8:30 am. Zazen (seated meditation) at 9:25 am. A dharma talk at 10:15 am followed by tea and cookies.

Please join us for whatever part(s) of the program you are able.

One Body, Three Treasures (Rev. Myo Lahey)

Shindō Strzelczyk — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 23:11:13 +0000

Rev. Myo Lahey recommends not to get caught up in thinking too much about one’s own practice, and instead to seek refuge in the three treasures.

Clothing Drive a Success!

revmyo — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 18:47:28 +0000

Our one month-long clothing drive for the benefit of St. Anthony Foundation’s Free Clothing Program was a hit! We began our drive on the National Day of Service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and concluded it on Saturday, February 23. A clothing barrel was provided by St. Anthony’s for us to use in the zendo, but over the course of the drive dedicated Sangha members accumulated and dropped off so many bags of clothing they were piled upstairs in the dining room. All in all we had the equivalent of almost 30 bags of clothes and other items including some children’s toys. At the end of the clothing drive Siphai from St. Anthony’s picked up the clothing from us. Siphai also happens to practice at a Cambodian Buddhist Temple in the Sunset District.

Our thanks to all the Sangha members who helped by participating in planning the drive, publishing notices online, and who donated their clothing to this well-known charitable program. Our appreciation extends to St. Anthony Foundation for providing us an opportunity to participate in this, allowing us to practice our Bodhisattva Vow by helping others.

THURSDAYS: Study Hour 7:30PM

TetsuGen KeiDo — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:45:32 +0000

We are currently reading The Book of Serenity compiled in China in the twelfth century and recently translated into English by Thomas Cleary.

There are books to share for anyone who wants to join in.

8 March; A deep bow to Women including Mahapajapati

TetsuGen KeiDo — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 13:05:59 +0000

Today is International Women’s day. We give a deep bow to women; the mothers, caregivers, creators of life. Women, fully equal to male gender on the gender spectrum in any life path they chose with what seems to be an extra innate quality or ability to love and support all beings are in our deepest gratitude and respect today and every day.

In honor of women and the life of Mahapajapati, we will have a short ceremony after the 6:30am zazen & 7:10 chanting service on Saturday, March 9th.

“The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights” Gloria Steinem

9 March; Guest Speaker – Ko Shin, Steven Tierney

TetsuGen KeiDo — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:44:01 +0000

Ko Shin Steven Tierney, Ed.D. CAS is Professor of Counseling Psychology and Chair of the Community Mental Health Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. A certified addiction specialist, he is the Co-Founder of the San Francisco Mindfulness Foundation, providing relapse prevention and mindfulness-based services to individuals and families. Steven has been studying and practicing Buddhism for more than 20 years.

On January 9, 2013 Ko Shin ordained as a Soto Zen priest by Dairyu Michael Wenger.

Every Saturday we offer our reduced morning schedule, a brief drop-in meditation instruction at 8:30 am. Zazen (seated meditation) at 9:25 am. A dharma talk at 10:15 am followed by tea and cookies.

Please join us for whatever part(s) of the program you are able.

THURSDAYS: Study Hour 7:30PM

TetsuGen KeiDo — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:00:38 +0000

We are currently reading The Book of Serenity compiled in China in the twelfth century and recently translated into English by Thomas Cleary.

There are books to share for anyone who wants to join in.

2 March 2013: Full Moon Ceremony

TetsuGen KeiDo — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 20:00:40 +0000

We’ll have the monthly Full-Moon Ceremony renewal of our Bodhisattva vows Saturday morning after the dharma talk.

The ceremony takes about a half-hour and involves some thirty full prostrations, but simple standing bows are also all right if prostrations are too strenuous.

Everyone is welcome to take part in this celebration.

Congratulations Nicholas!

TetsuGen KeiDo — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:57:07 +0000

A special congratulations to Nicholas now Shindō on his receiving of the 16 precepts on Feb 23, 2013 in his lay initiation ceremony.

23 February 2013, 11:00AM; JUKAI – lay initiation

TetsuGen KeiDo — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 20:30:23 +0000

One of our dear and beloved Sangha members and former Hartford Street residents, Nicholas will have a Jukai (lay initiation) ceremony immediately following the Saturday morning Dharma talk and Saturday program. This public ceremony is to celebrate and formally mark a practitioner receiving the sixteen Bodhisattva precepts (3 refuges, 3 pure precepts, 10 essential precepts) and vowing to work to live their life in accordance with these precepts. Please join us for this wonderful event to celebrate Nicholas’ vows, renew our own and congratulate Nicholas and all on the Soto Zen path!

Parinirvana Day – 15 February

TetsuGen KeiDo — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 09:00:57 +0000

…the Tathagata has completely extinguished the fire of the mental afflictions that have been accumulated over countless aeons, the nature of the diamond Tathagata permanently endures -

not transforming and not diminishing.*

Please join us Saturday to commemorate this event.

*Nirvana Sutra – Fa-xian version, tr. by Stephen Hodge.

Saturday, 16 February: Buddha’s Parinirvana

revmyo — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 03:10:36 +0000

This coming Saturday, we’ll have a brief ceremony commemorating the entry into Nirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha, following a short Dharma talk at the usual time of 10:15 a.m. Everyone is welcome to attend.