San Francisco Zen Center

San Francisco Zen Center All are welcome.

San Francisco Zen Center is a Soto Zen community where the offerings of zazen, study and work practice are available to a diverse population of students, visitors, lay people, priests, and monks.

“The secret of all teachings of Buddha is how to live in each moment, how to obtain absolute freedom moment after moment...
06/04/2026

“The secret of all teachings of Buddha is how to live in each moment, how to obtain absolute freedom moment after moment. This is the theme of the Genjo Koan.” —Suzuki Roshi

In Dogen’s beautiful, seminal Genjo Koan, he extends a wonderful and challenging invitation: how to engage fully in the present moment and discover liberation in the midst of our daily lives, no matter what the internal or external circumstances might be.

In this four night retreat, we will emphasize incorporating these liberative teachings not just in mind but equally in heart and body. Using multiple experiential modalities, such as zazen, yoga, sense walks, movement meditation, self-care, journaling, and practice discussions with the teachers, we will embrace the Genjo Koan and invite it to embrace us.

Embodying the Genjo Koan in our Daily Lives
With Cynthia Ryotan Kear and Diane Shoshin Fitzgerald
Wednesday, July 15, 4:00 pm–Sunday, July 19, 11:00 am
Green Gulch Farm

Learn more: bit.ly/4eoxyEk

A Special Zen-a-thon Challenge Match!We are delighted to share some wonderful news with our Zen-a-thon community. A gene...
06/04/2026

A Special Zen-a-thon Challenge Match!

We are delighted to share some wonderful news with our Zen-a-thon community. A generous donor has stepped forward with a dollar-for-dollar challenge match of up to $15,000.

That means every gift made in this final week of Zen-a-thon will have twice the impact, helping support the mission and programs of the San Francisco Zen Center. A donation of $50 becomes $100, $250 becomes $500, and so on until the full $15,000 challenge has been met.

Every contribution, regardless of size, brings us closer to meeting the challenge and strengthening our practice community.

Make your gift today and help unlock the full $15,000 match before Tuesday, June 9: bit.ly/4wlRaQq

The Zendo (and the World) is on Fire!Dharma Talk by Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman In this talk, Abbot David recounts the ...
06/03/2026

The Zendo (and the World) is on Fire!
Dharma Talk by Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman

In this talk, Abbot David recounts the events of the March 2026 Tassajara Zendo Fire and how the sangha practiced with the calamity in the days that followed. He then reflects on how we might meet, with a presence of mind, what the Buddha described as “a world on fire.”

Watch Now: bit.ly/4fYV6AV

2026 Fall Ango at TassajaraSave the Date! The full Practice Period begins on Wednesday, September 23 and ends on Saturda...
06/03/2026

2026 Fall Ango at Tassajara

Save the Date! The full Practice Period begins on Wednesday, September 23 and ends on Saturday, December 21, with a one-month option starting at the same time and ending on Wednesday, October 21. The Practice Period will be led by Abbot Dōshin Mako Voelkel.

More details, including the application, will be available soon.

San Francisco Zen Center learned on Friday, May 29, that the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has arrested an individual...
06/02/2026

San Francisco Zen Center learned on Friday, May 29, that the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has arrested an individual suspected of involvement with the March 26 zendo fire. This person is not a resident of Tassajara or a member of the sangha.

See our Zendo Fire Blog post for more information: bit.ly/3OcTat5

(Photo credit: Shundo David Haye)

San Francisco Zen Center is pleased to announce an update to our Abbatial structure and bylaws. This change clarifies th...
06/02/2026

San Francisco Zen Center is pleased to announce an update to our Abbatial structure and bylaws. This change clarifies the roles of our abbots and formalizes a leadership structure that has already been functioning provisionally for years.

Read more about the update on SFZC Abbatial Structure on the blog: bit.ly/43qh1JQ

(Photo credit: Shundo David Haye)

Offer congratulations to Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and City Center Winter 2026 Practice Period shusos. Visit the SFZ...
06/01/2026

Offer congratulations to Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and City Center Winter 2026 Practice Period shusos.

Visit the SFZC blog: bit.ly/4fd6kBH

2nd image: Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman and Ellen Simpson
3rd image: Kikū Christina Lehnherr and Lorenzo Garbo

Experience the transformative power of shared practice! City Center's Saturday Sangha affinity group is a wonderful way ...
05/31/2026

Experience the transformative power of shared practice! City Center's Saturday Sangha affinity group is a wonderful way to develop and deepen your practice by joining with a peer group of like-minded friends to care for the temple and study together. If interested, see the Saturday Sangha webpage or talk to Tanto Tim the next time you participate in our Saturday morning public program.

Saturday Sangha Affinity Group
Most Saturday Mornings
City Center

Learn more: bit.ly/3RqQIRa

(Photo credit: Shundo David Haye)

In practice, we gradually release our fixation on a separate and fixed self, and become intimate with the dynamic, inter...
05/30/2026

In practice, we gradually release our fixation on a separate and fixed self, and become intimate with the dynamic, interdependent nature of experience itself. Rather than trying to eliminate one self and cultivate another, we learn to see how the sense of self arises moment by moment—shaped by conditions, sustained by habit, and already embraced within the field of all beings.

The workshop will be grounded in direct experience. It will include guided experimental meditations on the self, brief talks by Bernd, and shared reflection from our lives and practice.

Self, No-Self, and the Field of All Beings
With Bernd Bender
Two Saturdays, July 11 & 18, 9–11 am PT / 6–8 pm CEST
Online

Learn More: bit.ly/4uA8IqW

The role of Tanto is often about supporting the container of practice itself: helping care for the schedule, the trainin...
05/29/2026

The role of Tanto is often about supporting the container of practice itself: helping care for the schedule, the training environment, and the many moving pieces that allow people to come and practice sincerely together. It has been both humbling and beautiful to step more deeply into this responsibility.

Thank you for helping support this path and the many people it touches.
— Eli Brown-Stevenson

Donate now: bit.ly/4nO9Fcx

Address

300 Page Street
San Francisco, CA
94102

Telephone

+14158633136

Website

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