Author: TetsuGen KeiDo

In Soto Zen there are three individuals looked back on with great gratitude for passing the torch of practice and teachings we now carry forward:

Dogen & Keizan

Bodhidharma

Rev. Anshi Daigi Zachary Smith has been practicing Zen since 1993. He took jukai in 1995, was Shuso (Head Student) in 2007, ordained as a Zen priest in 2014 and received Dharma Transmission on April 17, 2019, all with former abbot and Senior Dharma Teacher Ryushin Paul Haller.

He currently directs North Mountain Zendo, a zazenkai (sitting) group in North Beach. In addition to his involvement with Zen, Zachary is a husband, a father of four, an engineer, a musician, a bike fanatic, and an “avid but mediocre” poet. He may be the only person in the history of Zen in the West to have interrupted a residential practice period to tour with a rock band.

We hope you can join us!

Join us for zazen (seated meditation) at 9:30am, with the Dharma talk to follow at 10:30. We offer in-person distanced attendance, and we also will continue to offer a Zoom web conferencing for video and/or audio presence for the scheduled events. There’s an earlier sitting at 6:30am, in addition to the later one at 9:30am (you can log into the conference starting at 9am to socialize). A period of zazen is typically 40 minutes, and it’s ok to adjust your sitting posture as needed. The Dharma talk includes time for questions and answers, occasionally followed by a particular ceremony such as the celebration of Buddha’s Birthday. We enjoy tea and cookies together afterwards. Please click here to be routed to our Zoom gathering  

And as always you can contact us to arrange an introductory session ~8:45am if you are a beginner.

As a reminder any week you do not see a speaker announced it is our Abbot, Rev. Myo Lahey.

Steven Tierney (Kai Po Koshin) is a Dharma transmitted teacher in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi. Steven practices with: Meditation in Recovery, Great Spirit, SFLGBTQA, and Dragons Leap Sanghas in addition to the Harford Street Zen Center. Steven believes that we can find wisdom, compassion and awakening wherever good people come together for practice, healing, service and joy. Tierney is a psychotherapist in private practice and Professor Emeritus in Counseling Psychology at CIIS.

We hope you can join us!

Join us for zazen (seated meditation) at 9:30am, with the Dharma talk to follow at 10:30. We offer in-person distanced attendance, and we also will continue to offer a Zoom web conferencing for video and/or audio presence for the scheduled events. There’s an earlier sitting at 6:30am, in addition to the later one at 9:30am (you can log into the conference starting at 9am to socialize). A period of zazen is typically 40 minutes, and it’s ok to adjust your sitting posture as needed. The Dharma talk includes time for questions and answers, occasionally followed by a particular ceremony such as the celebration of Buddha’s Birthday. We enjoy tea and cookies together afterwards. Please click here to be routed to our Zoom gathering  

And as always you can contact us to arrange an introductory session ~8:45am if you are a beginner.

As a reminder any week you do not see a speaker announced it is our Abbot, Rev. Myo Lahey.

thank you for joining today’s precepts ceremony and please note we are closed due to the holiday until Tuesday, September 3.

We would like to first thank all who joined and help deliver a very nice and touching ceremony recently.

We also want to share there will be another Jukai Ceremony Saturday August 31st in place of the usual Dharma talk for two of the beloved Issan-Ji temple lay community (Sangha). We hope you will join us for this wonderful and touching event!

This event will be in place of the usual Saturday Dharma talk (although some words of Zen (Soto) lineage will be spoken). Also note this event will occur for others in August and early September again, as a note for the near future. Prior to that 10:30am time slot it will be our usual routine.

Join us for zazen (seated meditation) at 9:30am, with the Ceremony to follow at around/near 10:30. We offer in-person distanced attendance, and we also will continue to offer a Zoom web conferencing for video and/or audio presence for the scheduled events. There’s an earlier sitting at 6:30am, in addition to the later one at 9:30am (you can log into the conference starting at 9am to socialize). A period of zazen is typically 40 minutes, and it’s ok to adjust your sitting posture as needed.

We enjoy tea and cookies together afterwards.  Please click here to be routed to our Zoom gathering    

And as always you can contact us to arrange an introductory session ~8:45am if you are a beginner.

As a reminder any week you do not see a speaker announced for Dharma talk Saturdays, it is our Abbot, Rev. Myo Lahey.

The Jukai-shiki or”Jukai” Ceremony of Conferring the Precepts of Zen Lineage – is a 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

This event will be in place of the usual Saturday Dharma talk (although some words of Zen (Soto) lineage will be spoken). Also note this event will occur for others in August and early September again, as a note for the near future. Prior to that 10:30am time slot it will be our usual routine.

Join us for zazen (seated meditation) at 9:30am, with the Ceremony to follow at around/near 10:30. We offer in-person distanced attendance, and we also will continue to offer a Zoom web conferencing for video and/or audio presence for the scheduled events. There’s an earlier sitting at 6:30am, in addition to the later one at 9:30am (you can log into the conference starting at 9am to socialize). A period of zazen is typically 40 minutes, and it’s ok to adjust your sitting posture as needed.

We enjoy tea and cookies together afterwards.  Please click here to be routed to our Zoom gathering    

And as always you can contact us to arrange an introductory session ~8:45am if you are a beginner.

As a reminder any week you do not see a speaker announced for Dharma talk Saturdays, it is our Abbot, Rev. Myo Lahey.

photo by – https://www.renshinbunce.com/company

Please join us on the 13th of July, Saturday morning for a Dharma talk by Rev. Ryuei, Michael McCormick, who was ordained to the Nichiren-shū (Lotus Sutra School) ministry in 2001 by Rev. Ryusho Matsuda, of the San Jose Nichiren Temple.

Rev. McCormick is also a long-time practitioner of zazen (seated meditation) and a student of the writings of Dōgen-zenji.

He will be joining us from Brazil (Brasil). We hope you can join us!

Join us for zazen (seated meditation) at 9:30am, with the Dharma talk to follow at 10:30. We offer in-person distanced attendance, and we also will continue to offer a Zoom web conferencing for video and/or audio presence for the scheduled events. There’s an earlier sitting at 6:30am, in addition to the later one at 9:30am (you can log into the conference starting at 9am to socialize). A period of zazen is typically 40 minutes, and it’s ok to adjust your sitting posture as needed.

The Dharma talk includes time for questions and answers, occasionally followed by a particular ceremony such as the celebration of Buddha’s Birthday. We enjoy tea and cookies together afterwards.  Please click here to be routed to our Zoom gathering    

And as always you can contact us to arrange an introductory session ~8:45am if you are a beginner.

As a reminder any week you do not see a speaker announced it is our Abbot, Rev. Myo Lahey.

We hope you have a safe and wonderful holiday celebrating the birth of our government. Issan-ji temple / HSZC will be closed for this, Thursday, July 4th.

And we want to invite you to join us Saturday July 6 for a talk from HSZC’s resident Priest , Tanto and Board President, Rev. Daiko Tanzen, David Bullock!  One of our current connection to the early days of Hartford Street’s Zen Center founding, the garden’s long term friend, and many other capacities past and present of HSZC (as well as the past Maitri); who was ordained by the temple’s founder – Rev. Issan Dorsey. 

We hope you can join us!

Join us for zazen (seated meditation) at 9:30am, with the Dharma talk to follow at 10:30. We offer in-person distanced attendance, and we also will continue to offer a Zoom web conferencing for video and/or audio presence for the scheduled events. There’s an earlier sitting at 6:30am, in addition to the later one at 9:30am (you can log into the conference starting at 9am to socialize). A period of zazen is typically 40 minutes, and it’s ok to adjust your sitting posture as needed. The Dharma talk includes time for questions and answers, occasionally followed by a particular ceremony such as the celebration of Buddha’s Birthday. We enjoy tea and cookies together afterwards. Please click here to be routed to our Zoom gathering  

And as always you can contact us to arrange an introductory session ~8:45am if you are a beginner.

As a reminder any week you do not see a speaker announced it is our Abbot, Rev. Myo Lahey.