Blessings of the Feast of the Enlightenment to all from the Issan-ji Resident Student, Clergy and Sangha!
Dec 3rd 2022 – Retreat Space – 6am to 6pm
Flexible to the winds of change the gentle reed or the sturdy oak tree sways in the direction of the winds force. And if they don’t… they break.
For the 2022 Winter Light Retreat our numbers were too low to produce and fill a full retreat this year. Please join us instead for a single full day sit including two meals. The schedule will begin at 6am and end at 6pm. Please join us!
Email: info@hszc.or or call – (415) 863-2507 for information or to take part.
Wishing you health & prosperity as we head to 2023. Please remember the little Castro temple, Issan-ji in your charitable donations, we rely on you for survival and to keep the dharma of HSZC alive.
~~ Holiday closure days ~~
19 Nov – Guest Speaker Rev. Hobu, Beata Chapman – 10:30am
Hobu Beata Chapman has practiced Zen with chronic nerve pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for 23 years. She studied with Katherine Thanas at Santa Cruz Zen Center and with Darlene Cohen until her untimely death, and received Dharma transmission from Tony Patchell in 2013. Beata also helped Hartford Street Zen Center with its’ council process for several years and is a great friend of Issan-ji Temple.
Beata continues the Suffering & Delight groups for people with chronic pain that Darlene founded around 15 years ago, and teaches an online S&D group she began for people not able to attend in person. For more information about Beata’s work with chronic pain, you can see sufferinganddelight.net. Beata is an organizational consultant currently doing corporate leadership training and assisting health care organizations to develop compliance systems. She recently started a zazen group in San Mateo (PenZen.net).
Join us for zazen (seated meditation), with the talk to follow, we offer in-person distanced attendance; We also will continue to offer a Zoom web conferencing for video and/or audio presence for the scheduled events. 9:30 zazen (you can log into the conference starting at 9am to socialize) for 40 minutes and a Dharma talk at 10:30am, followed by Q&A as well as an opportunity to check in and see how you are doing, followed by a ceremony if applicable, then tea and cookies in person after that. Please click here to be routed to our Zoom gathering.
Please join us Saturdays and we hope to see you often!
Save the dates: Nov 30 – Dec 4 2022
Please join us for the Winter Light Retreat!
If you’d like more info before we publish 2022 details – Visit here for an idea looking at 2021’s retreat
Friday Night Zazen is back!
Happy Halloween & Sejiki –
the ancient ceremony known in Japanese as Sejiki, or “Feeding the Jiki (wandering spirits)” is often performed near Halloween in United States’ Zen Centers.
This ceremony addresses our connection to the “unseen world”, typically overlooked in the West. All aspects of our life that have been disowned, disrespected and denied are invited to come forth from exile and be nourished, a gesture that may have particular significance for members of the LGBTiQQ community, whose own place in the social order has been undermined by fear, prejudice and violence.
Join us for zazen (seated meditation), with the talk to follow, we offer in-person distanced attendance; We also will continue to offer a Zoom web conferencing for video and/or audio presence for the scheduled events. 9:30 zazen (you can log into the conference starting at 9am to socialize) for 40 minutes and a Dharma talk at 10:30am, followed by Q&A as well as an opportunity to check in and see how you are doing, followed by a ceremony if applicable, then tea and cookies in person after that. Please click here to be routed to our Zoom gathering.
Please join us Saturdays and we hope to see you often!
Guest Speaker: Sat. 22 October 2022– Rev. Fugan, Gene Bush
Fugan Eugene Bush began formal Zen practice in 1982 and received Dharma transmission from the late Rev. Katherine Thanas in 2010. Gene serves as one of the Practice Leaders of Santa Cruz Zen Center.
He also became a teacher for the Arcata Zen Group in 2013, with occasional forays to Hartford Street Zen Center and to Queer Dharma at San Francisco Zen Center.
Join us for zazen (seated meditation), with the talk to follow, we offer in-person distanced attendance; We also will continue to offer a Zoom web conferencing for video and/or audio presence for the scheduled events. 9:30 zazen (you can log into the conference starting at 9am to socialize) for 40 minutes and a Dharma talk at 10:30am, followed by Q&A as well as an opportunity to check in and see how you are doing and tea and cookies in person after that. Please click here to be routed to our Zoom gathering.