Is it okay to strive to intentionally acquire states like peace and contentment? How do you know when you have them?
Concentration and Zazen
Mei Elliott explores many questions related to concentration practice. Is it possible to cultivate concentration without gaining mind? Do both shamata and shikantaza develop concentration? What does focusing on the breath have to do with freedom from suffering?
To answer these questions we will be exploring Zen teachings as well as material from the early Buddhist canon, including information about the jhanic factors.
A follow-up class to Meditation and the Thinking Mind.
Skillful Speech
How do we speak the questions we don't know how to ask each other? Can we find ways to cross the gulfs that divide us and keep us separated? It is up to us to start having the conversations we want to be hearing and creating the realities we want to inhabit.
Siobhan's talk focuses on finding ways connect across difference using the framing of "Skillful Speech" which is one of the steps on the Eightfold Path. She will be inviting us to look at how we can begin to heal by having the courageous conversation that you don't want to have.
Depending on Dependent Arising
The teaching of interdependence, as an interpretation of Dependent Arising, is a cornerstone of California Zen. How can we enrich our understanding of Dependent Arising to foster transformation?
Genjokoan
Engetsu Lefevre speaking about the Genjokoan and creativity. The Genjokoan was written by Eihei Dogen, the founder of Soto Zen in Japan, and it addresses how true reality can be expressed in everyday life.
Compassion
Compassion - Miriam-Webster "sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it"
Will this make a person soft, weak? Many can see how this is a good trait with loved ones or the unfortunate in our society but on a daily basis - will a person get taken advantage of at work? in fighting for justice? or dealing with the more fortunate in society at large? How does this central tenant of Buddhism apply in a person's everyday life?
Four Noble Truths as Stages of Practice
Bryan Clark speaks on the four noble truths as stages of practice. He's calling it his, "feeble attempt to shoe horn his personal journey into established Buddhist doctrine."
Meditation and the Thinking Mind
Mei Elliott explores how to work skillfully with thinking in meditation. For many practitioners, it can be easy to relate to thoughts as "the problem" in our meditation, and yet, the thinking mind is imperative for communication, work, survival, and for understanding the very teachings that allow us to practice. Given this, it can be difficult to know how to relate to thoughts, and what to do when they arise in meditation: do we drop them, ignore, reject, chase, or allow them? During this YUZ session we will explore how to skillfully relate to thoughts through traditional meditation instruction from the Zen and early Buddhist traditions. Learning how to see our thoughts clearly, frees us from compulsive reactivity, providing us with insight into the nature of not-self and greater freedom in daily life.
Mei will be focusing on this curriculum for a two part series. Both classes on this theme will gravitate around practical meditation training, and will provide opportunities for you to ask questions about your practice. The date for part two in this series will be announced shortly, and will likely occur in the coming month.
Parents
Siobhan shares about the theme in the context of her personal experience:
My relationship with my parents is a central theme in my life. My dad has alzheimers and my mum is his main carer. They just celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary, and the dynamics between them have transformed as age has set in. Watching the change in their relationship from hardworking politicians in Europe, (my father was a member of the European Parliament and my mum worked with him), to the simplicity of their current lives where the main decision of the day is which cafe to go to and read the papers, has been a really beautiful and tender witnessing. Seeing how they both are dealing with aging and death, particularly of their friends, has been an inspiring example, heartfelt with no grasping.
Siobhan will also speaks about how to practice with the challenging dynamics that often arise with our parents: the wish to be approved of and the pain of not meeting their standards; or the difficulty of not being able to save, control or fix parents that suffer and struggle.
Wonder
Wonder is an inspiring field of practice that both includes and reaches beyond the practical.
Formal Zen Practice
What is formal zen practice? How can you do it and is it the right training for you?
Engetsu Lefevre is the head of the meditation hall (the ino) at City Center; she will be sharing about how she came into this role, starting as a professional in a big city, then finding herself in a monastery for several years, and now working a temple job. She will be talking about her relationship to zen training, and inviting the community to to explore this training for themselves.
Thanks for the Feedback
Mei Elliott explores the theme of feedback. We are surrounded by feedback. A high five, a promotion, not being invited to a friend's wedding, getting an A or an F, a thank you note from a neighbor, the expression on your bosses face when you show up late, again. Feedback is everywhere, and yet most people find constructive feedback extremely difficult to receive. Together, we'll explore the way that our struggles with feedback are linked to truth, relationship, and identity. This will include an investigation of the way the Buddhist teachings of not-self, or anatta, support us in meeting feedback with openness and ease.
This talked is inspired by the brilliant book of the same title by Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone.
How can I be "Zen" in a world that demands multitasking?
Michael McCord explores: Is one pointed focus, doing one thing at at time actually a way that is possible to live and work, or is Zen set up in conflict with the very requirements of the modern world? Is it just a practice to escape to, some antidote for the world, or is it a place we can live?
Work and Right Livelihood
Me Elliott speaks: An exploration of our personal stories regarding work, the intentions behind them, and the moment-to-moment practice of liberation through our livelihood. We'll also investigate the tension between seeking our true vocation, and finding the possibility of awakening in any work, no matter how mundane.
Anger and Lovingkindness
Siobham Cassidy talks about how Anger has a surprising purpose and can be used as a guide to point to needs that are not being met. Through this lens we can connect more deeply with ourselves, leading to self-understanding and self-compassion. Lovingkindness is the pathway that will be used during YUZ to help cultivate understanding of this powerful human energy.
Realizing Impermanence
It was through a deep realization of impermanence that Zen Master Dogen, the founder of Soto Zen in Japan, decisively committed to practicing the Way. Here, Kodo Conlin discusses the practice of the perception of impermanence, locating it within our lives today in San Francisco, within our seated meditation practice, and within the body-&-mind of each of us.
Orienting to the Path of Practice
In our style of Zen, first, we meditate. "If you want to attain suchness, you should practice suchness without delay." And yet, what is the broader landscape of practice? Is there a wider context in which our meditation is held?
In this talk, Kodo Conlin explores the question of how we can orient ourselves, continually, on the path of practice.
Keeping Things Simple: Finding Freedom with the Sallattha Sutta
Mei Elliott hosts a Community Night on the Sallatha Sutta, also known as The Arrow.
The Power of Forgiveness
Siobhan Cassidy speaks on the power of forgiveness. She explores how both non-violent communication and the Dharma support an understanding of forgiveness.
What Matters Most
Mei Elliott discusses what matters most. Knowing that many of us can easily get consumed by the minutiae of daily life, how do we connect to what really matters? How can meditation practice support us in finding and living with a larger vision?