Intimacy and the Shape of our Practice

05/12/2024, Thiemo Blank, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. This talk was presented by Thiemo on Mothers Day at the end of an introductory Sesshin (meditation retreat) at Green Dragon Temple. The Investigation of - “the true dragon” (Reality / Thusness) - in Sesshin is likened to the ancient story of the blind men investigating an Elephant. The speaker suggests that Forms and Ceremonies offer a path to wholeheartedly and intimately connect to the “dragon”. As babies we were in accord with the flow of Reality but as adults we lost connection by our focus on conceptual thinking. Returning to our original intimacy we need to learn the “backward step” that Dogen is teaching.

05/04/2024, Jisho Lisa Beth Hoffman, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk, given at Beginner's Mind Temple, Jisho Lisa Beth Hoffman explores the meaning of refuge and the experience of doing so through teacher, teaching and community - Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.  Sharing herexperiences with Heart teacher Surei Darlene Cohen and mentor Ninsen Lee Lipp, this talk is personal, engaging and encouraging.

05/01/2024, panel discussion at City Center. In this discussion, held in place of the regular Wednesday night dharma talk at Beginner's Mind Temple, Eli Brown-Stevenson leads a discussion featuring Community Village co-founders Caleb Tenenbaum, Nina Raddy, and Richard Bae; and, representing San Francisco Zen Center, resident priest Sozan Michael McCord. Community Village is an emerging peer-led, co-created, pan-Buddhist meditation community primarily focused on younger meditators. San Francisco Zen Center is a long-established Buddhist training organization, firmly based on the Soto Zen lineage of Japan. In the discussion, many common themes and experiences emerge, as well as notable areas of overlap and mutual support.

04/28/2024, Zoketsu Norman Fischer, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this talk Zoketsu discusses case 19 of Mumonkan, Nanchuan’s Everyday Mind. Our practice is very plain and ordinary, and yet, the plain and ordinary world is also vast and wide, and when we practice zazen regularly we can begin to live in it with that appreciation. To end his talk Zoketsu quotes at length from a commentary to this story by his late teacher Sojun Weitsman, from his new posthumous book Seeing One Thing Through.

04/27/2024, Kyoshin Wendy Lewis, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk, given at Beginner's Mind Temple, Kyoshin Wendy Lewis discusses the Zen text "Harmony of Difference and Equality". Written in the 8th century in China, the "Harmony of Difference and Equality" holds significant importance in Zen history. It is chanted daily in many Zen temples and at the memorial ceremonies of founding teachers. The tone of the poem is an examination of the interactivity of the relative and absolute truths. In his commentary on the poem, Shunryu Suzuki says "The capacity of the human mind has three aspects: potentiality, interrelationship, and appropriateness. ... [T]he 'interrelationship between someone who helps and someone who is helped' is called jihi [which] is usually translated as ‘love.'"

04/24/2024, Kodo Conlin, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk, given at Beginner's Mind Temple, Kodo Conlin discusses this rich topic. Here, we resolve the distance between speaker and listener to turn the questions, "What is the shape of our practice?" and "How do we stay intimate with Dharma?" Also, haiku by Mitsu Suzuki one day after the 110th anniversary of her birth.

04/17/2024, Anshi Zachary Smith, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk, given at Beginner's Mind Temple, Anshi Zachary Smith digs into the well-known Case 17 of the Blue Cliff Record. Here, we discover that there are unexpected and experientially accurate ways to interpret the original text of Hsiang Lin’s response beyond the usual, “Sitting for a long time becomes toilsome.” We explore some of these and talk about what, if anything, the “toil” or work of Zazen might be, both in the course of a single sitting and of a lifetime of practice.

04/14/2024, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. In this talk, Jiryu suggests that by reflecting on the potential of Artificial Intelligence in Buddhism, in the form, for example, of the Suzuki Roshi chatbot, we can be led to renew our commitment to embodied presence, which is the real purpose and effort of Zen practice, and the real source of Bodhisattvas’ wisdom and compassion.

04/13/2024, Shosan Victoria Austin, dharma talk at City Center. Zen forms work both in clear and hidden ways. In this interactive lecture, given at Beginner's Mind Temple, Shosan Victoria Austin discusses the ancient chants, called dharanis, which sound like magic spells. At a deeper level, they function as rituals that hold teachings. Chanted with faith and energy, they build safe internal space — physically through posture, physiologically through sound, and mentally through key words of wisdom and compassion. Recited daily in Zen temples throughout the world, the Sho Sai Myo Kichijo Dharani (Jvala-Maha-Ugra Dharani, “Flame of Great Strength Dharani”) empowers us in resources. In times of disaster and conflict, more resources means less overwhelm. Through practice, we can take steps towards refuge and relief.

04/10/2024, Jisan Tova Green, dharma talk at City Center. In this talk, given at Beginner's Mind Temple, Jisan Tova Green speaks of her recent visit to Montana de Silencio, a Suzuki Roshi lineage Zen Center in Medellin, Colombia, where the late Blanche Hartman's name is mentioned daily as "our first woman ancestor in America." Tova's presence as a woman teacher was encouraging to women in the sangha, as there are few women Zen teachers in South America. Tova also draws from “The Gathering” — a novel by Professor Sasson about the ways in which the first Buddhist women came together and persevered in their requests for ordination. She refers to Dr. Paula Arai's “Women Living Zen” which illustrates the strengths of Japanese women who pursued a monastic lifestyle. Tova ends with her reflections on challenges for contemporary women practicing in Soto Zen centers, including San Francisco Zen Center.