SFInsight

11/09/2025

Life under the campaign of continuing cruelty.

I Want You to Understand Chicago Politics Chicago 2025-11-08 I want you to understand what it is like to live in Chicago during this time. Every day my phone buzzes. It is a neighborhood group: four people were kidnapped at the corner drugstore. A friend a mile away sends a Slack message: she was at...

09/26/2025

Sit with us—In Person and Online this Sunday!
Sunday Night Sit with Pamela Weiss
Meditation, Dharma Talk and Discussion
Sunday, September 28
6:00pm - 7:30pm Pacific

Not Always So

Everything changes. Nothings lasts. The Zen master Shunryu Suzuki Roshi said our entire practice can be summed up like this: not always so.

In her final talk at SFI, Pamela will share reflections on the teaching of impermanence.

Pamela Weiss is a dual-lineage Buddhist teacher in both Theravada and Soto Zen. She has been practicing since 1987, including several years as a Zen monastic and retreat teacher training through Spirit Rock. Pamela is the author of “A Bigger Sky: Awakening a Fierce Feminine Buddhism,” and is passionate about weaving the stories of voices of Buddhist women into the fabric of Buddhist practice. She is also a pioneer in bringing mindfulness and Dharma principles to human development and organizational transformation.

People of all experience levels are welcome to join our weekly sittings. Drop-in!

In Person: at the San Francisco Buddhist Center in the Mission District, 37 Bartlett Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94119

Online: Link for the weekly Sunday Zoom meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/770594036...
When using the Zoom app:
Meeting ID 770 594 036, password SFISunday
To join by phone, call (669) 900-9128 and enter Meeting ID 770 594 036, password 272263

09/25/2025

SF insight is closing.
Please see our founding teacher Eugene Cash's announcement at https://www.sfinsight.org

09/12/2025

The SFI Community Giving Program will join an Ocean Beach cleanup—
Saturday, September 27, from 10am - 11:30am.
Join us—contribute to a program that helps keep Ocean Beach clean!
No equipment needed—all tools provided by RefuseRefuse.

Cleanup starts at 10, at Ocean Beach Cafe, 734 La Playa Street, San Francisco, CA 94121. Come a little early if you can, to connect w/ sangha members!

If you'd like to participate, please register via this form:
https://www.mobilize.us/civicjoyfund/event/755689/?referring_vol=5966469&rname=J***y×lot=5200572

Also, please contact J***y at SFI as well, so he'll know who'll be coming from the sangha. Email: [email protected]

09/12/2025

Sit with us.
Weekly Women’s Sangha
This week with Juliana Sloane
Mondays 7:00pm - 8:30pm PT

This group is open to all people who self-identify as women.
Join us for a 30-minute sit, short talk, and Dharma discussion.

Link to join the weekly meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86938821553...
Meeting ID: 869 3882 1553, Passcode: SFIWomen

09/12/2025

Sit with us—In Person and Online this Sunday!
Sunday Night Sit with EugeneCash
Meditation, Dharma Talk and Discussion
Sunday, September 14
6:00pm - 7:30pm Pacific

Everything Changes

As we realize that the form of the universe is in constant change, one of the main insights of all spiritual work arises. We understand that holding onto things, not wanting things to change, is a major source of our suffering. From the perspective of the totality, change is neither bad nor good. From the perspective of our separate entity-hood, we consider certain changes good & other ones bad. We call some of them death & some of them life, some of them pleasure & some of them pain. This perspective necessarily & always involves suffering because it ignores the truth of the constant transformation of the totality.
~Hameed Ali

When those who are wise dwell in contemplation
on the transient nature of the body-mind,
& of all conditioned existence,
they experience joy & delight
seeing through,
to the inherently secure
~Dhammapada Ajahn Munindo

Eugene Cash is the founding teacher of the San Francisco Insight Meditation Community of San Francisco. He teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and leads intensive meditation retreats internationally. His teaching is influenced by both Burmese and Thai streams of the Theravada tradition as well as Zen and Tibetan Buddhist practice. He is also a teacher of the Diamond Approach, a school of spiritual investigation and self-realization developed by A. H. Almaas.

People of all experience levels are welcome to join our weekly sittings. Drop-in!

In Person: at the San Francisco Buddhist Center in the Mission District, 37 Bartlett Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94119

Online: Link for the weekly Sunday Zoom meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/770594036...
When using the Zoom app:
Meeting ID 770 594 036, password SFISunday
To join by phone, call (669) 900-9128 and enter Meeting ID 770 594 036, password 272263

08/28/2025

The SFI Community Giving Program will join an Ocean Beach cleanup—
THIS Saturday, August 30, from 10am - 11:30am.
Join us—contribute to a program that helps keep Ocean Beach clean!
No equipment needed—all tools provided by RefuseRefuse.

Cleanup starts at 10, at Ocean Beach Cafe, 734 La Playa Street, San Francisco, CA 94121. Come a little early if you can, to connect w/ sangha members!

If you'd like to participate, please register via this form:
https://www.mobilize.us/civicjoyfund/event/755689/

Also, please contact J***y at SFI as well, so he'll know who'll be coming from the sangha. Email: [email protected]

08/01/2025

Sit with us.
Sunday Night Sit with devon + nico has
Sunday, August 3
6:00pm - 7:30pm Pacific—online only!
Beyond Self-Improvement: What Dharma Actually Offers
We live in a culture obsessed with optimization—better habits, peak performance, the perfect morning routine. But what if the dharma is pointing to something completely different?

In this talk, devon + nico will explore how authentic Buddhist practice moves beyond the project of self-improvement toward something more radical: the recognition that you were never broken in the first place. They'll share what they've learned from decades of practice about the difference between fixing yourself and actually waking up.

devon hase has been dedicated since 2000 to meditation and studying dharma, having spent years in retreats within the Insight and Vajrayana traditions under renowned teachers like Joseph Goldstein and Tara Brach. Before becoming a full-time dharma teacher, she taught social and cultural studies for a decade and completed programs at Spirit Rock and the Insight Meditation Society.

nico hase began meditation practice in 1994, studying with NDR for seven years and regularly attending retreats at his farmhouse in upstate New York. In 2001, they moved to Colorado, where he immersed himself in dharma at Crestone Mountain Zen Center under Zentatsu Richard Baker-Roshi for six years. Since 2013, he has studied closely with Joseph Goldstein, integrating his One Dharma Vipassana teachings into his practice.

People of all experience levels are welcome to join our weekly sittings. Drop-in!
Link for the weekly Sunday Zoom meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/770594036?pwd=UVJwNmF0azdmTy9BcVpXd2p1N3dXQT09
When using the Zoom app:
Meeting ID 770 594 036, password SFISunday
To join by phone, call (669) 900-9128 and enter Meeting ID 770 594 036, password 272263

08/01/2025

Sit with us.
Weekly Women’s Sangha
This week with Caitlin Standish
Mondays 7:00pm - 8:30pm PT

This group is open to all people who self-identify as women.
Join us for a 30-minute sit, short talk, and Dharma discussion.

Link to join the weekly meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86938821553...
Meeting ID: 869 3882 1553, Passcode: SFIWomen

08/01/2025

Sit with us.
Sunday Night Sit with devon + nico hase
Sunday, August 3
6:00pm - 7:30pm Pacific—online only!
Beyond Self-Improvement: What Dharma Actually Offers
We live in a culture obsessed with optimization—better habits, peak performance, the perfect morning routine. But what if the dharma is pointing to something completely different?

In this talk, devon + nico will explore how authentic Buddhist practice moves beyond the project of self-improvement toward something more radical: the recognition that you were never broken in the first place. They'll share what they've learned from decades of practice about the difference between fixing yourself and actually waking up.

devon has been dedicated to meditation and studying dharma, having spent years in retreats within the Insight and Vajrayana traditions under renowned teachers like Joseph Goldstein and Tara Brach. Before becoming a full-time dharma teacher, she taught social and cultural studies for a decade and completed programs at Spirit Rock and the Insight Meditation Society.

nico began his meditation practice in 1994, studying with NDR for seven years and regularly attending retreats at his farmhouse in upstate New York. In 2001, they moved to Colorado, where he immersed himself in dharma at Crestone Mountain Zen Center under Zentatsu Richard Baker-Roshi for six years. He has also explored Vajrayana teachings with Tibetan teachers, recently completing the Shangpa teachings alongside his partner, devon. Since 2013, he has studied closely with Joseph Goldstein, integrating his One Dharma Vipassana teachings into his practice.

People of all experience levels are welcome to join our weekly sittings. Drop-in!
Link for the weekly Sunday Zoom meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/770594036...
When using the Zoom app:
Meeting ID 770 594 036, password SFISunday
To join by phone, call (669) 900-9128 and enter Meeting ID 770 594 036, password 272263

07/26/2025

The SFI Community Giving Program will join an Ocean Beach cleanup—
THIS Saturday, July 26, from 10am - 11:30am.
Join us—contribute to a program that helps keep Ocean Beach clean!
No equipment needed—all tools provided by RefuseRefuse.

Cleanup starts at 10, at Ocean Beach Cafe, 734 La Playa Street, San Francisco, CA 94121. Come a little early if you can, to connect w/ sangha members!

If you'd like to participate, please register via this form:
https://mobilize.us/s/551b9N

Also, please contact J***y at SFI as well, so he'll know who'll be coming from the sangha. Email: [email protected]

07/26/2025

Sit with us—In Person and Online this Sunday!
Sunday Night Sit with Kitty Costello
Meditation, Dharma Talk and Discussion
Sunday, July 27
6:00pm - 7:30pm Pacific

Creativity and the Dharma

“You are the most powerful when you are in the moment. You create the future when you are in the moment.”
~ Herbie Hancock, jazz improvisation master and Nichiren Buddhist

The “clear seeing” of vipassana gives us more choice, more freedom to intentionally shape and recreate our selves and our lives, moment by moment. You might ponder – Is there creativity in your own dharma practice? Does practice enhance your creativity?

Kitty Costello began practicing Insight Meditation in 2000, and she is a graduate of Spirit Rock's Community Dharma Leaders Program (2017). She is a psychotherapist, a chi gung teacher, and a writer, and has volunteered for 30 years with Freedom Voices Publications, whose mission is "to publish works that speak to and from communities on the margins.”

People of all experience levels are welcome to join our weekly sittings. Drop-in!

In Person: at the San Francisco Buddhist Center in the Mission District, 37 Bartlett Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94119

Online: Link for the weekly Sunday Zoom meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/770594036...
When using the Zoom app:
Meeting ID 770 594 036, password SFISunday
To join by phone, call (669) 900-9128 and enter Meeting ID 770 594 036, password 272263