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

Hindrances

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/11/26

Tim Wicks leads a talk looking at the many obstacles that we face on our path to awakening. By focusing on the hindrances and how we work with them, we see that there is a way forward to address the feelings of separation and isolation by cultivating wisdom through intimate practice that leads us to the truth of interconnection.

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Working with Subtle Frustrations

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/11/19

Hiro Ikushima explores “Working with Subtle Frustrations”, the quiet sense that something is missing, and the low-level dissatisfaction that follows us through the day. In Zen, these small irritations become important teachers when we meet them directly rather than trying to fix or avoid them.

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not believing all your thoughts

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/11/13

In this talk we ponder the idea of “not believing all your thoughts”. How can our zazen practice help us to quiet unrest, dis-ease, stress, and pain. How can I cultivate discernment in practice?

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Not Harboring Ill Will

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/11/05

Michael McCord prompts us with a few questions before diving into the concept of harboring ill will. Whatis forgiveness in the Buddhist practice?How do we work with long standing grievances and short term frustrations?

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Being Complete in Each Moment

Young Urban Zen SF ·

2025/10/28

Kristin Diggs discusses how in the Soto Zen tradition we emphasize careful attention to the details immediately at hand, and doing one thing at a time, doing one thing completely. What does it mean, and how is it relevant in our fast-paced digital age? It couldn't be more relevant.

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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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Young Urban Zen SF

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