Category: Events

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5 November @10:15am – Guest Speaker Zenshin Greg Fain

2ff2b913c6a4f8be85b6c3fc326527b9Please join us this upcoming Saturday for guest speaker Zenshin Greg Fain. Greg was ordained by Sojun Mel Weitsman in 2002, and received dharma transmission in 2012. Greg is married and currently serves as tanto (head of practice) at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Greg has been studying and practicing Yoga for the past six years, and now considers it an essential part of his daily practice. “The more I practice zazen (seated meditation) the more I realize how completely this is body practice, and how yoga supports the body to be present for the practice.”

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!

 

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29 October – Sejiki @11am!

Following the Dharma talk we’ll celebrate the ancient ceremony known in Japanese as Sejiki, or “Feeding the Jiki (wandering spirits)”.
bv4jcThis 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. Costumes and sundry noisemaking devices are encouraged, and everyone is invited to participate. (Time approximate after the Dharma talk, at about 11 a.m.)

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 a ceremony if applicable, then tea and cookies.

Please join us Saturdays and we hope to see you often!

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full moon ceremony saturday; Oct 15 @11am

harvest_moon_1This is the full harvest moon –this is the month when the leaves are falling & the game is fattened. Now is the time for hunting & laying in a store of provisions for the long winter ahead. October’s Moon is also known as the Travel Moon & the Dying Moon.

Saturdays include the early morning sitting & service beginning at 6:30am, a brief drop-in meditation instruction at 8:30 am. And again zazen at 9:25 am. We are offered a Dharma talk at 10:15 am followed by ceremony (when applicable) and then tea and cookies and socializing.

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

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Oct 1st @11am Memorial Service for Bodhidharma (Darumaki)

katsuo-ji_daruma_07Daruma-san, a round red-colored doll, is known as a good-luck talisman associated with temples and shrines. The good fortune associated with Bodhidharma (Daruma) comes from the legend that no matter how many times Bodhidharma fell down he would always get up.

In the areas where silk worms are cultivated, there is a custom of painting in one of the eyes on the Daruma doll if the worms produce much silk thread in spring and painting in the other one of Daruma’s eyes if the worms produced much silk thread in autumn.

bdhmraBodhidharma, the inspiration for the Daruma doll, was originally one of the ancestral teachers of The Soto Zen School. He was the first Ancestors of Zen in China and also known as Bodai Daruma Daishi.

The red Daruma doll seen throughout Japan was originally modeled on this great teacher who sat facing a wall unflinchingly for nine years and lived to the old age of 150.

Bodhidharma died on October 5th. Early autumn is the harvest time in Japan and also the time when the autumn silkworm is cultivated. For this reason, this ceremony includes our feeling of gratitude to Bodhidharma as well as a prayer for a good harvest in the next year. There is also the wish expressed that those who participate in the ceremony will enjoy a long life.

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Queer Meditation – Beginning Tuesday, 27 September @6pm

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Beginning Tuesday, 27 September, the Hartford Street Zen Center will host a weekly mindfulness and meditation get-together for our LGBTQI community, family, and friends. Continuing in the spirit of our founding Abbot, Rev. Issan Tommy Dorsey, our intention is to extend the special welcome for persons in sexual/gender minorities which Rev. Issan was among the first in the US to make a principle of Dharma study and practice.

This special hour from 6 to 7 p.m. will include mindful sitting, discussion, question & answer, helpful pointers for practice, and perhaps other features of importance to our community. There is no charge, but our temple, Issan-ji (One Mountain Temple), does depend upon donations from the Sangha (the community of practitioners) for its survival, so your generosity is deeply appreciated.

Please feel invited to participate in this Dharma practice event, at a place where LGBTQI students of Dharma have always been welcome.

To learn more of our history, see the excellent biography of Rev. Issan, “Street Zen”, written by his close friend Tensho David Schneider.

May all beings be happy, may they be joyous and live in safety.

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Thursdays we offer Study Hour @7:30pm

Please join us Thursdays!

Dōgen Zenji’s (Founder of our school of Zen) Shobo Genzo.

Untitled“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.

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Jun 18 – Half day sitting & Orlando memorial service.

Please join us this coming Full Moon12 Saturday for a quiet morning of Dharma practice with the Hartford Street community. There will be periods of both walking and sitting meditation beginning at 6:00 a.m., with a Dharma talk by the Abbot at 10:15 a.m. as usual.

Following the talk we’ll have a simple memorial service for those injured or killed in the massacre at Orlando, Florida. Practicing together in this way is one powerful fashion of responding to the currents of greed, hatred and confusion which are at the root of human-caused tragedies such as we have seen this week, as on so many other occasions.

NOTE: A simple breakfast will be served, but you’ll need to sign up in advance if you wish to have breakfast. You may leave us a message at 415-863-2507 to sign up, but also please leave a return phone number.

May all beings be happy, may they be joyous and live in safety…