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Young Urban Zen SF

Young Urban Zen is a group under the auspices of the San Francisco Zen Center, with a particular focus on those between 20 and 40. It meets on Tuesday evenings for meditation and discussion about Zen practice. People of all experience levels are welcome.

religion & spirituality buddhism

All Episodes

(4 of 4) Zazen Instruction for YUZ: Shikantaza

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2023/02/22

Consider this four-part series a gradual entry into shikantaza, the foundational meditation practice of our school of Zazen. Facilitated by Kodo Conlin, this course is designed sequentially for both experienced and first-time meditators: we develop our skills of awareness to include all aspects of our experience, one at a time. We begin with awareness of the breathing, proceeding to include, one by one, practices for wise awareness of the body, emotions, and thinking. This gradual approach is meant

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(3 of 4) Meditation Instruction for Young Urban Zen

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2023/02/15

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(2 of 4) Meditation Instruction for Young Urban Zen

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2023/02/08

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(1 of 4) Meditation Instruction for Young Urban Zen

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2023/02/02

We begin this four-part series on the practice of Zazen with some key foundations: the vast context of Zazen, essential skills for cultivating awareness of breathing, tips on posture, and considerations when starting a practice at home.

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Stinginess, Resentment & Other Stories - Precepts 4 of 4

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2023/01/26

Anshi Zachary Smith will be hosting on the topic of "Stinginess, Resentment, and Other Stories" and will be talking about two precepts - the 8th and 9th - which uniquely implicate and invite us to explore the problematic side of a particular mechanism that’s one of our greatest gifts as humans. That is: our gift for planning, imagining, and pursuing outcomes that align with our desires (or aversions). We’ll also talk about how stinginess and ill will are related to the other precepts, especially

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Not Praising Self at the Expense of Others - Precepts...

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2023/01/19

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Great Robe of Liberation - Precepts 2 of 4

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2023/01/11

Even before you take the refuges, the precepts ceremony requires that you put on your robe. this is pretty significant. In particular, if you really look at the Robe Chant, it seems what it’s saying is like, “spreading/draping this formless garment of beneficial practice over all beings,” which is kind of cool. In other words, the fabric itself is a metaphor for our connection with and vow to practice for all beings.

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Precepts Call Us In - Buddhist Heritage and Our...

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2023/01/04

First of four talks on the Bodhisattva Precepts: along with Zazen, the essence of Soto Zen training. Kodo introduces the series with a story of the origins of the precepts, how we find true shelter, and a compassionate approach to living our lives peacefully, and in integrity with all beings.

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The Five Aggregates

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2022/12/28

The Buddhist scriptures speak of 84,000 negative emotions, which is a whole lotta weeds! Fortunately for us, the Buddha and his disciples distilled these afflictive psycho-emotional states into lists that aid in our ability to be mindful of their arising and to experience freedom within suffering. The Five Hindrances is one such list.

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Awakening to Life through Contemplating Death

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2022/12/15

Perhaps Suzuki Shosan was wise in teaching that to know death—that is the entire Buddhist teaching. While we are well-supported to ignore this truth, Zen practice does much to keep our mortality front and center. Doing so wisely, gently, with humility, and maybe a touch of humor, can steady the mind and open our hearts to poignancy and to our priorities for this precious human life.

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You can't be a part of something and be separate from it

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2022/12/01

Bryan Clark talks about the Buddha’s Awakening and Anchored Reality

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Gratitude & Calmness

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2022/11/22

This week Bryan Clark talks about gratitude and shares a reading from Zen Mind Beginner’s Mind on Calmness

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The Nature of Inquiry & Response

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2022/11/21

Anshi Zachary Smith discusses the nature of inquiry and response over the course of Buddhist History with examples from the Pali Canon, the Mahayana Scriptures and the literature of Zen. We’ll see how questions that are very similar in intent give rise to radically different answers and, perhaps, dig into why this might be true.

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Tozan's Cold & Heat

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2022/11/10

A monk said to Tozan, “Cold and heat descend upon us. How can we avoid them?” Tozan said, “Why don’t you go where there is no cold or heat?” The monk said, “Where is the place where there is no cold or heat?” Tozan said, “When cold, let it be so cold that it kills you; when hot, let it be so hot that it kills you.”The Blue Cliff Record, Case 43 (Tozan Ryokai, 807-869)The monk asks“how can we avoid cold and heat?”Does he mean this literally? Is his question just about how to avoid extreme weather

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A Life of Coherence

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2022/11/02

Questions on my mind after a week of meditation retreat in the Redwoods: What unifies and what divides us, our hearts and minds? How do we live a life that's sane amidst frenzy and whirl? An interactive community night on the topic of complexity and simplicity.

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Valley Sounds, Mountain Colors

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2022/10/26

Anshi Zachary Smith discusses a story that appears both in Dogen’s Shinji Shobegenzo (case 6) and in his “Valley Sounds, Mountain Colors” fascicle, in which an academic Buddhist teacher named Zhǐxuān asks a Zen Master, Lángyé Huìjué, to explain why we experience the world in the way we do. (Brief) hijinks ensue.

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Compassion Underpins the Eightfold Path

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2022/10/19

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Zazen is Good for Nothing

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2022/10/12

The benefits of meditation are well-documented and worthwhile.Yet, a pith teaching from 20th century Japan, "Zazen is Good for Nothing," points beyond our aims of self-improvement, to a freedom that refuses to be grasped by the mind bent on gain.

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The Sound of One Hand Slapping

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2022/09/29

What happens when we overlay old stories onto new situations? Sometimes these thick karmic filters cause harm to ourselves and others. The Buddha described Nirvana as "free from reference points." How can we discern our "reference points" and practice with them so that we do no harm?

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Three Bolts of Silk: The Practice of Giving in...

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2022/09/21

Taking a page from Dogen's own collection of koans, we will turn Guishan's conversation with Yangshan about a gift of silk -- What role does giving play in our practice of radical thusness? And, what does our Zen tradition contribute to the conversation about such a foundational Dharma practice?

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Young Urban Zen SF

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