San Francisco Zen Center Dharma Talks

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 pra...

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 exp...

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, li...

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...

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 consideratio...

Given by Tenzen David Zimmerman at Green Gulch Farm on July 12th, 2026 Central Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman speaks to the loss felt by the fire that destroyed the Tassajara Zendo in March 2026, and pa...

Given by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho at City Center on July 11th, 2026 Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho shares the experience of being a student and learning from a Zen teacher. What is needed? Are you prepa...

Given by Horin Nancy Petrin at City Center on July 8th, 2026 Horin Nancy Petrin reflects on the ‘settled self’ inspired by Suzuki Roshi’s lecture ‘Be Kind with Yourself” ...

Given by Jiryu Rutschman-Byler at Green Gulch Farm on July 5th, 2026 Abbot Jiryu Rutschman-Byler shares some of Suzuki Roshi’s views on WWII, America and Japanese nationalism, and shares a ...

Given by Shundo David Haye at City Center on July 1st, 2026 Shundo David Haye reflects on the role and value of practice in imbuing us with inner integrity, in this age of social media and AI....

Given by Shoren Heather Iarusso at Green Gulch Farm on June 28th, 2026 Shōren Heather Iarusso explores the intersection of Buddhism, gender fluidity and the PRIDE movement using a rainbow as a metapho...

Given by Jisho Lisa Beth Hoffman at City Center on June 27th, 2026 td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;} Jisho Lisa Beth Hoffman, in this Queer Pride weekend talk, asks &...

Given by Guo Gu at Green Gulch Farm on June 21st, 2026 td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;} Chan Teacher Guo Gu speaks of the significance of the "gulch" in Gr...

Given by Guo Gu at City Center on June 16th, 2026 ...

Given by Nyokai Kristin Diggs at Green Gulch Farm on June 14th, 2026 Nyokai Kristin Diggs talks about zazen as a practice of realizing the non-separation of body and mind, and about the dynamic relati...

Given by Sozan Michael McCord at City Center on June 13th, 2026 Sozan Michael McCord teaches that when we look at the cause of suffering, we see that it is grasping and clinging or aversion and not ac...

Given by Anshi Zachary Smith at City Center on June 10th, 2026 Anshi Zachary Smith examines the "doing nothing” of zazen, and how much it actually does....

Given by Ryotan Cynthia Kear at City Center on June 6th, 2026 Ryotan Cynthia Kear shares Darlene Cohen’s core teachings on the importance of cultivating concentration, personal koans, transforma...

Given by Chikudo Catherine Spaeth at City Center on June 3rd, 2026 Chikudo Catherine Spaeth teaches that a whole world of forms catches us up in personal emotions and stories, and when we see through ...

Given by Sokaku Kathie Fischer at Green Gulch Farm on May 31st, 2026 Sokaku Kathie Fischer examines examines Case 32 of the Mumonkan (The Gateless Gate), likening this story to Suzuki Roshi's teac...

Given by Gendo Lucy Xiao 玄道 at City Center on May 30th, 2026 Gendo Lucy Xiao 玄道 explores the dynamic interplay between our awakened nature and the ongoing cultivation of practice within the conditions...

Given by Sozan Michael McCord at Green Gulch Farm on May 24th, 2026 Sozan Michael McCord takes a deep dive into the motivations behind acceptance and rejection, and the many ways they play out in ever...

Given by Nyokai Kristin Diggs at City Center on May 23rd, 2026 Nyokai Kristin Diggs talks about the difference between the zazen of Soto Zen and styles of sitting practice that aim at attaining an ide...

Given by Tenmyo Dojima at City Center on May 20th, 2026 Tenmyo Dojima 堂島典明 reflects on interfaith dialogue in Italy and lessons learned through injury and recovery, and invites us to slow down, breath...

Given by So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson at Green Gulch Farm on May 17th, 2026 So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson uses somatic meditation, the image of the hand, and Zen teachings on non-separation, to explore how w...

Given by Gengyoko Tim Wicks at City Center on May 13th, 2026 Gengyoku Tim Wicks explores Dogen Zenji's famous teaching, "To study the Buddha way is to study the self," through the lens o...

Given by Jiryu Rutschman-Byler at Green Gulch Farm on May 10th, 2026 Jiryu Rutschman-Byler explores and invites the practice of profound ease, which we can touch by exhaling completely enough to &ldqu...

Given by Kim Kogen Daiho Hart at City Center on May 6th, 2026 Kim Kōgen Daihō Hart, who was raised in apartheid South Africa, explores themes of accepting what is unacceptable and what our practice as...

Given by Gengyoko Tim Wicks at City Center on May 2nd, 2026 The talk discusses the significance of the Platform Sutra in Zen practice, highlighting its role in the exploration of sudden versus gradual...

Given by Gendo Lucy Xiao 玄道 at City Center on April 29th, 2026 Gendo Lucy Xiao 玄道 explores the theme of the Spring Practice Period and explores the relationship between “nothing lacking” a...

Given by Kiku Christina Lehnherr at Green Gulch Farm on April 26th, 2026 Kiku Christina Lehnherr teaches that cultivating generosity, patience, tolerance, compassion, gentleness and steadfastness are ...

Given by Ben Connelly at City Center on April 25th, 2026 Ben shares from his new book “Inside the Flower Garland Sutra, Huayan Buddhism and the Modern World.” Ben illustrates the teachings...

Given by Shosan Victoria Austin at City Center on April 22nd, 2026 Shosan Victoria Austin, in this Earth Day lecture, invites us to contemplate how practicing ethics protects both us and the world....

Given by Doshin Dan Gudgel at City Center on April 15th, 2026 Doshin Dan Gudgel expresses a hope for lasting peace in this world, based on deep belief in interconnection and impermanence, and the incr...

Given by Rinso Ed Sattizahn at Green Gulch Farm on April 12th, 2026 Rinso Ed Sattizahn reflects on the meaning of Jizo’s staff and comments on David Chadwick and the Shunryu Suzuki teaching stor...

Given by Hondo Dave Rutschman at City Center on April 11th, 2026 Hondo Dave Rutschman explores how we enter a ritual space with our effort and intention, without attempting to control the outcome....

04/08/2026, Dan Zigmond, dharma talk at City Center. Dan Zigmond explores how the "monkey mind" the Buddha diagnosed 2,500 years ago is exactly what today's algorithms are engineered to exploit, drawi...

04/04/2026, Marc Lesser, dharma talk at City Center. Marc Lesser weaves together personal stories, Shunryu Suzuki, Dogen, and the Enneagram, in an exploration of how we interpret our identities and th...

04/01/2026, Henzan Roger Hillyard, dharma talk at City Center. Roger Hillyard explores how Dogen's most poetic sutra, Mountains and Rivers, can help us practice with tragedy and lead us towards equani...

03/18/2026, Doshin Patti Mitchell, dharma talk at City Center. Doshin Patti Mitchell shares how meditation and community helped her face suffering, expectations, and self-judgment. Speaking about the ...

03/15/2026, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho expands the teachings of Buddha from tools held in our hands (in our control) to a way of living that is ...

03/14/2026, Doshin Mako Voelkel, dharma talk at City Center. Abiding Abbot Dōshin Mako Voelkel explores the life and lessons of Mahapajapati—the first Buddhist nun, and foster mother of the historical...

03/08/2026, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho explores stillness and silence as a response to the great suffering we are facing today. Can we trus...

03/07/2026, Jeannie Linam and Myoju Erin Merk, dharma talk at City Center. Jeannie Linam and Myoju Erin Merk explore how our individual body is inseparable from the living Earth....

03/04/2026, Shosan Victoria Austin, dharma talk at City Center. Shosan Victoria Austin explores love as an internal posture, rather than a feeling. A stable base for our posture of love is awareness a...

03/01/2026, Abbot Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Jiryu Rutschman-Byler reflects on the classical Zen teaching "the ten thousand things are one body," exploring how understandi...

02/28/2026, Grace Dammann, dharma talk at City Center. Dr. Grace Dammann shares her journey through medicine, Zen practice, disability, and spiritual awakening....

02/25/2026, Hokyo Lorenzo Garbo, dharma talk at City Center. Hokyo Lorenzo Garbo reflects on full presence as direct, embodied, moment-to-moment awareness beyond judgment or self-narrative, illustrate...

02/22/2026, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho speaks to the fear of being consumed by great suffering while being turned towards the expansion of ...