Painting

Eli Brown-Stevenson offers a talk titled The Art of Just This. 

Inspired by art and this quote from Suzuki Roshi, Eli talks about the importance of being with the process and not just focused on outcomes and results. 

“A wonderful painting is the result of the feeling in your fingers. If you have the feeling of the thickness of the ink in your in your brush, the painting is already there before you paint.”

Stopping Burnout

Michael McCord discusses how one might stop the momentum of burn out.

The Buddha lived a life of extreme luxury and then dove head-long into asceticism for many years, only to come to the realization that a balanced life was where harmony could be found. His story is a road map for modern life full of pursuit, accomplishment and acquisition.  Even when a person buys-in to the concept of equanimous living, it doesn't mean that the momentum of a life will change that much.  Since we live in our bodies and minds (actually these are joined but appear different much of the time), second by second, and that IS our life, how does the way I have put my life together actually work for me?

Resentment

Resentment often lingers quietly, heavy, unspoken, and rooted in pain. But it can be your teacher, showing you where you are still holding on. In this talk, Hiro Ikushima explores how Zen practice invites us to meet resentment with tenderness and curiosity. By turning toward it, we may uncover the hurt beneath and open the way to healing, compassion, and freedom. Even our hardest emotions can become gateways on the path of practice.

Patience

As children, many of us were raised by parents who told us to “be patient—and yet, few of us learned exactly what patience is or how to cultivate it. Mei Elliott explores what patience looks like, and how we can manifest it in our life and practice. If we're experiencing any form of suffering—large or small—patience can provide a doorway to freedom amidst difficulty.

Affinity

Eli Brown-Stevenson talks about the transformative power of ‘affinity’—that natural resonance of being seen and welcomed—and how zazen practice can help us meet ourselves and others with openness, trust, and compassion.

Mental Posture

Zachary Smith reflects on a talk given by Zentatsu Richard Baker, SFZC’s second Abbot, in 2012 about the idea of “mental posture”. Zach discusses how this idea can help us both with sitting and with bringing practice to our daily activity outside the Zendo.

Hearing 'Others'

Michael McCord discusses taking refuge in sangha, from the standpoint of Buddhist training for being with not only the sangha and the world, but clues to our own mystery of suffering. How good is our hearing for those with whom we do not agree?  How do we cultivate being present with people whom we find oppressive or askew with our views, especially if we are trying to find our voice?  

Case 4 of the Blue Cliff Record

The topic is focused on an old Zen story (Case 4 of the Blue Cliff Record for those who are familiar with the literature), which discusses the apparently paradoxical relationship between what we might call “spiritual ambition”—i.e. wishing to benefit in some way from a spiritual practice like Zen—and the way in which ambition of any sort (aka “grasping”) is a barrier to fruitful practice.