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Current HSZC Sangha News
Study Hour, Thursdays @7:30pm
We bid farewell (for now) to the Book of Serenity at case 100 last night at just under three years of study hour’s study. We will take a break next week, Aug 7th and reconvene on Aug 14th with the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, also called Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra, a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra. It dates from no later than the 3rd century ce, based on its earliest Chinese translations, and most likely from the 1st or 2nd centuries ce.
We will use the Robert Thurman as the basic text but reading the other translations and comparing differences is also acceptable. We also just found out about a fourth by our same Book of Serenity Translator, Thomas Cleary you can look into by clicking here appears to only be in e-book version.
Please read the introduction and first chapter to prepare for our first study hour on this text August 14th.
our recent newsletter
Study hour is moving on to a new text!
We are scheduled to conclude on July 31, 2014 The book of serenity
The next book scheduled is the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, also called Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra, a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra. It dates from no later than the 3rd century ce, based on its earliest Chinese translations, and most likely from the 1st or 2nd centuries ce.
In the sūtra the layman and householder Vimalakīrti, who is also, significantly, a model bodhisattva, instructs deities, learned Buddhist arahants, and lay people in all matters concerning the nature of enlightenment and Buddhist truth.
There are multiple translations, we may focus a bit on the Dr Robert Thurman version, but welcome any version to compare the translations.
We can share books for anyone who wants to join in, or feel free to purchase a copy and join us (many are very low cost online). Check our twitter page for any changes in schedule.
26 July, 10:15am – Guest Speaker Jamie Howell
Please join us this upcoming Saturday for guest speaker Kogen Seido Jamie Howell (Wild, Untamed Source – Sincere Way) who began his Zen practice with Joshu Sasaki Roshi in 1979 at the Mount Baldy Zen Center.
In 1983, when he was living in San Francisco and his eldest daughter was diagnosed with leukemia, Jamie began to study with Michael Wenger at the San Francisco Zen Center. He spent the next 28 years raising four children with his wife, working in the music business and later the real estate business while dedicating himself to Zen practice. He now has three grandchildren.
Jamie was a soccer player and coach for over 40 years and still competes in triathlons with the Golden Gate Triathlon Team. He road managed Hot Tuna and Natalie Cole, was the sales manager of Hill and Company, and currently works with his partner Luba Muzichenko at Zephyr Real Estate.
It took Jamie almost 17 years to sew his first rakusu; he received the precepts in a jukai ceremony in 2000. He was chairman of the board of San Francisco Zen Center in 2004 and 2005, and was shuso at City Center in 2006. In 2011, Jamie received lay Dharma Entrustment from Dairyu Michael Wenger.
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.
19 July 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.
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.
12 June – Full Moon Ceremony
We’ll have the monthly Full-Moon Ceremony renewal of our Bodhisattva vows this 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. This month according to the Farmer’s Almanac is the Full Thunder, Hay or Buck Moon.
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 if applicable and then right to social time, tea and cookies.