Thursdays we offer Study Hour @7:30pm
Please join us Thursdays!
Dōgen Zenji’s (Founder of our school of Zen) Shobo Genzo.
“This monumental work is considered to be one of the most profound expressions of Zen wisdom ever put on paper, and also the outstanding literary and philosophical work of Japan. It is a collection of essays by Eihei Dogen (1200–1253), founder of Zen’s Soto school.”
We are primarily focused on the more recent published version of Kazuaki Tanahashi. “He and a team of translators that represent a Who’s Who of American Zen have produced a translation of the great work that combines accuracy with a deep understanding of Dogen’s voice and literary gifts. This volume includes a wealth of materials to aid understanding, including maps, lineage charts, a bibliography, and an exhaustive glossary of names and terms—and, as a bonus, the most renowned of all Dogen’s essays, “Recommending Zazen to All People.”
The book is easily found online and there are books to share for anyone who wants to join in.
Saturday 20 August – the full moon ceremony – 11am
Saturday 
is what the fishing tribes are given credit for naming the full sturgeon moon, since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month. a few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises, it appears reddish through any sultry haze. it was also called the Green Corn Moon or Grain 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 welcome to join in this ceremony/celebration.
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!
Saturday, 13 August – John King Memorial
At around 11am after our normal Saturday program and Dharma talk we will have our 
annual observance to commemorate the life and life’s work of Rev. John King,
a loved and missed member of our Sangha. Please join us to remember and celebrate this wonderful human life and you can even hear one of his talks at HSZC by clicking here.
We hope you can join us!
August 2016 Newsletter
Saturday – August 6, 2016 @10:15am, Guest Speaker Renshin Bunce
Renshin Bunce was a resident of SF Zen Center from 2001 to 2008, first for three years at Tassajara and then for four more years at City Center. She has helped hundreds of students sew their rakusus in the SFZC sewing room, where she currently leads a class with Tim Wicks every other Saturday afternoon. And she is an author of the book Entering the Monastery.
She is a great caring support in the process of the sewing of Buddha’s robe (rakusu) and a tremendous good humor and a very warm heart. She is also known for her photographs, and her page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/renshin/ has been called “The Zen Center Yearbook.”
Ren made jukai with Myogen Steve Stücky in 1996, when he gave her the name Renshin Jiko (Lotus Heart/Mind, Boundless Compassion); was priest ordained with Zenkei Blanche Hartman in 2003; was Shuso with Myogen-roshi at Tassajara in 2008; and received Dharma Transmission from him in 2013. She lives on the Peninsula, where she works as a hospice chaplain.
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 (followed by ceremony if applicable) and then socializing, tea and cookies. Please join us!
July 2016 News
16 July 2016 – Full Moon Ceremony
This is the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month’s Moon was the Full Hay Moon
and as such, it is our renewal of our Bodhisattva vows this upcoming Saturday morning after the Saturday Morning Dharma talk ~11am.
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 welcome to join in this ceremony/celebration.
After, tea & some socializing. Please join us if you can!
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!