PODCAST

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

Establishing the Path of Practice

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/10/22

Ryushin Paul Haller, long-time resident senior teacher and former Abbot, discusses the deepening of awareness and noticing how it affects how we respond to self and others; as we learn to see how we respond to our experiences, we see how we cause suffering for ourselves and others. This talk was streamed live for this fall’s second EPP (Establishing the Path of Practice) course. Learn more about EPP here.

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Knowing and Not-Knowing

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/10/15

There’s an obvious and vital reason why we humans are so attached to our convictions, and the evidence for this attachment is written all over our history, from the earliest written records to this morning's edition of whatever news media we happen to be consuming now. It is also is the subject of the very first chapter of the very first published koan collection. Referring to the exchange between Emperor Wu of Liang and the great master Bodhidharma in the aforementioned chapter, Anshi Zachary

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Relationships with Technology

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/10/09

We wouldn't enter into a romantic or business relationship without shared agreements, some established boundaries and emphasis on acceptable communication, however, it is quite common for us to have entrenched relationships with technology that have never been examined as to their overall net effect on us. In this talk, we will examine technology using some of the same principles we use in Zen practice to navigate relationships.

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True Person

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/09/30

Tonight’s Zen talk is led by Rev Kristin Diggs. Meeting Zen's "True Person" , an engagement that requires looking directly at what it is you are actually seeking.

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Bubbles and Impermanence

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/09/23

Impermanence is one of the Three Marks of Existence, yet often the most difficult to accept in our daily lives. Whether it’s the changing of the seasons, a shift in career, or the realities of aging, sickness, and death, change is constant. In this talk we’ll practice how to meet impermanence not as an abstract concept, but as a lived experience, through the simple, fleeting beauty of bubbles.

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"Do Not Be Angry" a chapter from Becoming Yourself

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/09/17

Tonight’s talk was about a Chapter from Suzuki Roshi's new book, "Becoming Yourself".The Chapter is “Do Not Be Angry.”Kogetsu takes a look at how this fits with our practice of the Bodhisattva precepts and how it relates to how we can live with more groundedness, connection, and clarity, even when we're angry.

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I Vow to Refrain from Intoxicants

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/09/09

In this episode, Michael will be covering the precept: “I Vow to Refrain from Intoxicants”. This vow is one that is often misunderstood in its scope and purpose. How is this core vow in Buddhism practiced in our everyday lives?

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Letting Go of Resistance

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/09/03

Hiro offers a short talk on Letting Go of Resistance. Often what weighs on us most is not the situation itself, but our resistance to it. Resistance is not something we need to fight, but something we can meet with awareness and compassion. The aim is not to manipulate experience, but to access a dimension of being where resistance is already absent.

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Liberative Constraints

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/08/27

The theme for the talk will be about "Liberative Constraints".This is a topic Eli has brought up at the recent Young Urban Zen retreat at Tassajara and thought might be relevant as a continuation of last week’s talk. In a world shaped by constant choice and digital customization, Zen practice offers a radically different kind of freedom, the kind that arises from structure, rhythm, and restraint. We will talk about the liberating power of intentional constraints, and how forms like zazen, silence,

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Taking the Monastery Home

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/08/20

The theme for this talk is about "Taking the Monastery Home".First, what brings us to the temple and to practice? What kind of experiences can we have at the temple that can help us in our lives? If we get the opportunity to visit and stay at a monastery, what do we take with us? If not, can we build a sacred space within ourselves and in our homes?KōgetsuMok discusses the various ancient forms practiced in the temples that have real practical meaning and can be a frame for our home practice.

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Taking What Is Not Given

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/08/13

Michael McCord discusses "Taking what is not given", essentially the precept around stealing. However, just like all the precepts, this one goes quite deep in regards to relationships and our expectations/demands for how we want others to show up for us and the capacities we expect. And like all the precepts, the antidote is what we focus on most of the time. For not stealing the antidote is generosity and not acting from a stance of scarcity. Michael looks at behaviors that support this way of

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On Becoming Yourself

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/08/06

Hiro Ikushima explores Becoming Yourself, a newly published book of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi’s talks. He reads and reflects on a few selections that center on themes such as zazen, self and no-self, and how Zen meets everyday life. These timeless teachings offer both clarity and encouragement for practice in the midst of our busy modern lives.

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No More Words

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/07/30

Zach discusses the long-standing debate about the utility of the written and spoken Dharma in the context of a practice that claims to go beyond words and concepts. People have literally been arguing about this for millennia and we’ll take it up as well.

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Virya

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/07/23

It sometimesseems like the world is falling apart and we can feel overwhelmed and isolated and sapped of energy. In this talk, Tim discusses strategies for building energy, Virya in Sanskrit, and how to work with it as one of the central elements in our Zen practice.

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No One to Be, Nowhere to Go

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/07/16

What if there’s nothing to fix, improve, or figure out? What if this moment, just as it is, is enough? In the preceeding session, Hiro explored the conceptual foundation of self and no-self—how our sense of “I” is formed and sustained. Building on that understanding, we shift into direct, experiential practice, allowing presence to reveal itself through shikantaza and mindfulness-based meditation. This talk about living with presence is centered more around guided and silent meditation,with less

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Awakening from the Dream of Self

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/07/09

Hiro speaks about the notion of awakening from the dream of self. Much of our suffering arises from clinging to a fixed sense of self—a mental construct shaped by memory, identity, and striving. When we begin to see through this illusion, we may discover a quiet, open presence that has always been here.

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Self, One Self, Not-Self

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/07/01

Dear YUZ,I'm delighted to write to you again after six months away.We will meet tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 7:15 PM in the Buddha Hall at 300 Page St. You're more than welcome to come a few minutes early to help set up. We will sit Zazen and discuss this:Self, One Self, Not-SelfIt sure seems like I have a self--an agent of action, one who makes choices, does work, gives gifts, harms others, apologizes... So what do we make of this teaching of No Self of not-self? If Zen says I don't have a self, how

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The Somatics of Meditation Practice Can Help Us In...

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/06/17

We will have our usual Tuesday 7:15pmYUZgatheringtomorrow in the Buddha Hall, entrance300 Page Street.Tonight we’ll have a new speaker, Rev. Shosan Victor Austin, a senior priest at City Center who will be speaking about how the somatics of meditation practice can help us in our stressful busy lives.We hope to see you all tonight and note you’re welcome for dinner which will be served at 6:30pm.Please come earlyif you can to help set up and settle in.Warm regards,Kōgetsu

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Note to Self

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/06/11

On this anniversary of when I first came to practice, I’ll share some of the choices I’m glad I made—and a few things I wish I had paid closer attention to. Think of it as a reflection for my younger self, and maybe for anyone else finding their way into practice.Warm bow,Eli

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The Intersection of Leadership and Zen Principles

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/06/03

The meeting will start at 715pm in the Buddha Hall and the subject tonight is discussing the intersection of leadership and Zen principles. Whether you have a formal leadership role at home (parent), school (resident assistant; teachers assistant) or work (managing, mentoring) we all impact each other and also take on many undefined roles where others look to us directly or indirectly. What we find in looking at this is that relationships are the core of our existence and how we hold our trauma,

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Young Urban Zen SF

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