Spiritual Friendship & Dharma Friends

Given by Jiryu Rutschman-Byler at Green Gulch Farm on August 23rd, 2026 Jiryu Rutschman-Byler reflects on Suzuki Roshi’s encouragement to “not lose these points: how to be kind to others and how to be one with others,” and offers practices and stories to support these inter-related practices.

Given by Odo Ellen Simpson at City Center on August 19th, 2026 Odo Ellen Simpson explores the nature of spiritual friendship in the context of Buddhist life is a support to our practice and a joyous component of our lives together.

Given by Dan Zigmond at City Center on August 13th, 2026 Dan Zigmond explores attention itself as a form of generosity: dana, the first of the Buddhist perfections and, as he puts it, the ground floor of the whole path.

Given by Kika Susan Hellein at Green Gulch Farm on August 9th, 2026 Kika Hellein discusses the relationship between interior and external realities.

Given by Jan Willis at Green Gulch Farm on August 2nd, 2026 Dr. Jan Willis discusses the life of eighth-century poet and philosopher, Shantideva, and what it can teach us about genuine bodhisattva practice.

Given by Eijun Linda Cutts at Green Gulch Farm on July 26th, 2026 Eijun Linda Ruth Cutts explores how caring with wholehearted attention to what is before us and within us realizes the practice of expressing the True Reality of All Things.

Given by Tenzen David Zimmerman at City Center on July 25th, 2026 Central Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman offers three analogies related to light as supportive practices for zazen, noting that in Zen, light serves as a powerful analogy for awareness.

Given by Doshin Dan Gudgel at City Center on July 22nd, 2026 Doshin Dan Gudgel explores joy as a fuel for practice and shares a practice for connecting with joy during daily meditation.

Given by So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson at Green Gulch Farm on July 19th, 2026 So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson explores a practice that rejects nothing, wastes nothing, and reveals how transformation begins when everything belongs through stories from Green Gulch Farm, Zen teachings, and an ecological view of dependent arising.

Given by Odo Ellen Simpson at City Center on July 18th, 2026 Odo Ellen Simpson explores the depth and complexity of Soto Zen ancestor practice in the context of monastic and lay life with consideration of cultural and family trauma perspectives.