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Zen Center Community Blog

Joan Amaral Tagging for Charity

Posted By Alec Henderson, Sunday, October 04, 2009

City Center Fall Practice Period Shuso Joan Amaral draws rainbows and crowds at the 2009 Castro Street Fair.

Tags:  San Francisco Zen 

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Meandering around GGF

Posted By Taiyo Lipscomb, Thursday, July 23, 2009
One of the SFZC members that lives on the east coast asked why he didn't see any of my photos among these pages and i found i didn't really have an answer other then i've just not done it. So ... in response to Peretz's question i am going to begin posting photos i've been taking over the years at GGF which i shall call "Meandering around GGF." The first is a California quail who was driving me a bit crazy as it had been sitting/walking along the wall for hours, giving its lookout call every 20-30 secs while i was working in the teahouse. I wanted to chase it away, instead i took its picture.

Tags:  Quail  teahouse  wall 

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InterFaith Vigil for Peace

Posted By Alec Henderson, Thursday, May 21, 2009
War continues to rage thoughout the world ending and destroying countless lives by violence.

Please come and stand for peace and reconcilliation. We carry the banner of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship

We are out every Thursday at noon in non-violent vigil for peace at the Federal Building in San Francisco. Please join us.

For more information click http://www.sf-interfaith.org/community_events9.html

Tags:  Buddhist Peace Fellowship  non-violence  vigil 

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Photo of Jana Draka and Blanche Hartman

Posted By Alec Henderson, Monday, May 11, 2009

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Leave Home

Posted By Greg Fain, Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Mission accomplished! There they are, from left to right: The Reverends Trevor Maloney, Steven Davidowitz and Shundo David Haye. This lovely photograph was taken by our official photographer for the event, Catherine McPhee. Thanks Catherine! Thanks everybody who helped with the ceremony and reception! Thank you ordaining teachers! Thank you sewing teachers! Thank you lineage of Buddhas and Ancestors! What a lovely day it was last Saturday. What a lovely ceremony.

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My Second Favorite Ceremony

Posted By Greg Fain, Thursday, April 16, 2009
I am keeping crazy busy gearing up for a Shukke Tokudo ceremony this coming Saturday at 3:00 p.m. here at City Center. Shukke Tokudo means, well, I'm not sure I know what it means now...What Myo said, eh? Anyway it is a priest ordination ceremony; Shundo David Haye, Steven Davidowitz and Trevor Maloney will be ordained as priests in our order by our Abbot Paul Haller, Dairyu Michael Wenger and Kosho McCall, respectively. A very XY affair! I don't have time to spend writing about it much. But the joke is that in several meetings such as senior staff and practice committee, I have checked in about how excited I am to be involved in this ceremony as Ino, and then said "It's my favorite ceremony! No, wait it's my second favorite ceremony. My favorite ceremony is a wedding where I'm the officiant!" I'm quite surprised at myself for having this public forum (not that I'm kidding myself that very many people are reading it!) and not having yet mentioned how much I love to do weddings! So if you're planning on getting hitched, and you think you may want a Buddhist service, think of me! The jolly Zen wedding officiant! I can provide references.

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Tags:  ceremony  priest  shukke tokudo 

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Sesshin (Gathering the Heart/Mind)

Posted By Greg Fain, Friday, April 10, 2009
Well what's the use of having a blog if I never post to it?! I have been one very busy Ino to be sure. Last week was the 7-day sesshin that ended our Spring Practice Period. Sesshin means (roughly) gathering the heart/mind. It is a traditional time for more concentrated and intense practice, a time to get very settled and very quiet. This was my first sesshin as Ino, and although I can certainly say it was intense, on the other hand for this monk it did not feel especially settled! There were so many details to be concerned with! But that after all is the practice of the Ino. The Ino works real hard so that others can have a settled experience. No problem!



The theme of this Practice Period was Vow, and every noon service we chanted the Eihei Koso Hotsuganmon, the beautiful vows of our Founder in Japan, Eihei Dogen Daiosho. Sometimes when I chant this I get so happy! so allow me to share that happiness with you here...


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Tags:  chanting  City Center  meditation  practice period  sesshin  sutra 

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Shuso!

Posted By Greg Fain, Thursday, March 19, 2009
In my last post on this blog (my first post on this blog!) I included a link to Ango, a Japanese word meaning "Peaceful Abiding" which is a Zen monastic training period, usually known around these parts as a Practice Period, typically lasting 90 days as it says in the Wiki entry. However, not every practice period in Zen Center lasts 90 days. In Tassajara they do, or at least they try to. The Practice Period currently in progress at Tassajara will be 88 days. The Practice Period currently in progress here at City Center will be 62 days long. Practice Period is a time in which Zen students practice intensively together. The historical origins of Practice Period are in the “rains retreats” of the early Buddhist monks and nuns when they could not travel due to heavy rains. During that time they settled down for more intensive practice. The Sangha making a mutual commitment to intensified practice and study is the main mark of a Practice Period. Another such mark is the leadership of a Shuso, or Head Student/Head Monk. While not every Practice Period at City Center has a Shuso, we are blessed in this current one to be enjoying the kind leadership of Shuso Bernd Bender, whose Dharma name is Kichu Chika, meaning Joyful Devotion, Wisdom Song.

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Tags:  City Center  practice period  shuso 

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