Author: TetsuGen KeiDo

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11 February Parinirvana ceremony & speaker Daiko Tanzen, David Bullock

…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.*

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. this week the talk is offered by resident priest Daiko Tanzen, David Bullock.

Everyone is welcome & invited to attend.

Every Saturday we offer early morning zazen (seated meditation), morning service, a brief drop-in meditation instruction at 8:30 am. And again zazen at 9:25 am. Dharma talk at 10:15 am; ceremony after when applicable; then socializing, tea and cookies. Please join us!

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Sat, Feb 04 @10:15am; Guest Speaker Ko Shin, Steven Tierney

Please join us for a Dharma talk Next Saturday by Ko Shin Steven Tierney, Ed.D. CAS who 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 and was ordained by Michael Wenger on January 6, 2013. Steven’s commitment is to a community based Buddhism and he has spent the last ten years extending Buddha’s teachings to those living with addictions, in recovery and those facing serious health and mental health challenges.

Every Saturday we offer early morning zazen (seated meditation), morning service, 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 and then socializing,  tea and cookies.

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28 of January @11am double feature events! Dōgen Zenji’s birthday & Lunar New Year!

After the dharma talk @10:15am on Saturday January 28th we will have short ceremony to pay homage to the Birth of Dōgen Zenji the founder of our school of Zen Buddhism in Japan and then we will hop the sea of Japan for our 5th annual Chinese New Year Celebration (lunar new year) as we welcome in Chinese Astrology the year of the Fire Rooster or sometimes referred to as the year of the Phoenix.

817 years ago born in Kyōto, Dōgen founded the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan after traveling to China and training under Rujing, a master of the Chinese Caodong (Chinese Sōtō Zen) lineage.

He is widely respected for his  beautiful writing, teachings and thorough documentation of how a monastery should operate. Click here to read more about Dōgen.

Then…

Gong Xi Fa Cai ! Please join us for the fifth annual event for a Chinese (lunar) New Year Celebration and remembrance to those who have gone beyond. This is the year of the FIRE Rooster.

After the dharma talk and birthday ceremony by our Abbot Rev Myō Lahey, join us for some Chinese New Year  décor, treats and the symbolic call to our deceased loved ones, followed by offerings to make their current state a more enjoyable one and just remember them and send loving intentions through joss paper offerings.

It is also the event we recognize our completed goals and wishes by offering our Daruma  to the beyond in the joss paper fire and installing a  new Daruma by coloring in one eye as setting the goal (traditional Daruma process).

This day in China is also recognized as the birthday of Maitreya Bodhisattva (better known as the more familiar Budai Luohan), the Buddha-to-be. Thus people also abstain from killing animals (eating meat) on this day.

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

Please join us this Saturday for this celebration and we hope to see you often!

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Jan 21st @ 11am – – honoring the first Buddhist nun and adopted mother of the Buddha

Next Saturday is the annual observance of  Mahapajapati‘s life as well as a great opportunity to celebrate women in Buddhism through the first female nun. It is also near in general, international Women’s day.  Mahapajapati Gotami, the first woman to be ordained from the Buddha and to join the Sangha. She was the Buddha’s maternal aunt and adopted mother after her sister, Queen Maya (Mahāmāyā), the Buddha’s birth mother, died.

Every Saturday we offer early morning zazen (seated meditation), morning service, a brief drop-in meditation instruction at 8:30 am. And again zazen at 9:25 am. Dharma talk at 10:15 am followed by ceremony (when we have one) and then tea and cookies. We also have a regular schedule 6 days each week.

Please join us this Saturday for this celebration and we hope to see you often!

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HSZC closed, Monday January 16th – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther CaptureKing, Jr.) is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King’s birthday, January 15. The holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

King was the chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

Enjoy the holiday & we will see you Tuesday!

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Full moon Ceremony – Saturday, Jan. 14 @11am, Speaker Daiko Tanzen David Bullock @10:15am

In Native American and early Colonial times, the Full Moon for January was called the Full Wolf Moon. It appeared when wolves howled in hunger outside the villages. Traditionally, the January Moon is also known as the Old Moon.

This is our renewal of our Bodhisattva vows this upcoming Saturday morning after the Saturday Morning 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. All are invited to join in this ceremony/celebration.

Prior to the ceremony join us at 10:15am for a talk offered by  Rev. Daiko Tanzen, David Bullock; one of our current connections to the early days of Hartford Street’s Zen Center founding; the garden’s long term friend, current Board President, a resident priest and current Tanto as well as many other capacities past and present of HSZC (and the past Maitri); ordained by the temple’s founder – Rev. Issan Dorsey.

Every Saturday we offer early morning zazen (seated meditation), morning service, a brief drop-in meditation instruction at 8:30am. And again zazen at 9:25 am. We wrap up with a dharma talk at 10:15am followed by ceremony when applicable and then right to social time, tea and cookies. Please join us!

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Jan 7, 2017 – Jukai lay initiation ceremony @11am

Two of our dear and beloved Sangha members will have a Jukai (lay initiation) receiving of precepts ceremony immediately following the Saturday morning Dharma talk. 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 Ben and Richard’s vows, renew our own, to congratulate Richard, Ben and all on the Soto Zen path!

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New Year 2017! join us Dec 31! starting at 7:30pm

Join us for an evening event kicking off at 7:30pm Dec 31 and taking us into 12am Jan 1 2017! please note: we will be closed on Jan 31st until ~7pm.

IMG_1981There’ll be some soji or traditional New Year’s temple cleaning, a light snack , zazen (seated meditation), striking our large bell 108 times, a burning ceremony of things to leave behind in 2016, and finally a toast to the new year.

Please note: There won’t be the regularly scheduled zendo events on the 31st… and we will be closed the 1st of January (We will additionally observe Chinese new year and goals set with a new Daruma, as we have been the past few years along with joss offerings to those beyond our visible realm for the year of the Rooster early February).