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Events

Introduction to Zen
Oct 22-Nov 12 6:30-8:30pm

Thursday evenings

Join Zen priest Dainin Jesse Brunette for an introductory dive into the heart of Zen practice. Each week we’ll explore the hows and whys of this ancient technique with a period of meditation and group discussion.

This class is intended to give you an intimate familiarity of the practice of Zen meditation (zazen) To help support your understanding we will discuss the Buddha’s teachings, the forms (including bowing and chanting), and the internal experience of meditation.

Suggested reading: Opening the Hand of Thought by Kosho Uchiyama

This offering is open to all regardless of experience.

The group will be limited to a maximum of 14 participants.

Jesse Brunette has been practicing and studying Buddhism for over 25 years and was ordained by Jisho Warner in 2025. He is the Ino at Stone Creek, manages the garden, and facilitates the Monday night Next Gen Zen discussion group.

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Events

Ease in Sitting
Sat, Oct 24 9:00AM-12:00PM

Ease in Sitting: Posture Support with Shosan Victoria Austin

Join Shosan Victoria Austin for a supportive zazen posture workshop.

Grounded in more than forty years of practice at San Francisco Zen Center, as both a Zen teacher and longtime Iyengar yoga teacher, Victoria offers a warm, practical approach to finding steadiness and ease in sitting.

Together, participants will explore how posture, structure, and breath can support meditation without strain. Victoria’s teaching draws on her own experience of over-effort in practice and a lifelong inquiry into meeting the body with patience and care.

This workshop will offer accessible ways to work with common challenges in sitting—including discomfort in the knees, back, neck, or a general sense of unease—while honoring each person’s body and conditions.

Rather than aiming for a perfect pose, students are invited to discover a more balanced, sustainable, and alive way to sit zazen.

Shōsan Victoria Austin started practicing Zen in 1971, and is a Dharma heir of Sōjun Mel Weitsman. To help increase the accessibility of Zen practice in the West, she became an Iyengar yoga teacher in 1988. She has served in many roles at San Francisco Zen Center’s urban temples and Tassajara monastery, including President, Head Cook, and Tanto (Head of Practice). Victoria currently teaches meditation and yoga in diverse settings throughout California and serves as an International Teacher (Kokusaifukyōshi) of the Sōtō School.

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Events

One Day Sitting
Sat, Oct 17

Please join us for this one day sitting led by Stone Creek’s Head Priest Myogen Kathryn Stark and Stone Creek Teacher Edmée Danan.

This one day of concentrated practice will be held in silence with alternating periods of zazen (seated meditation, usually 30 minute periods) kinhin (walking meditation, usually 10 minute periods), meals and a work period in the afternoon. A dharma talk will be given in the morning and participants will have an opportunity to speak privately with the teachers (dokusan).

We will be sitting from 7am to 5pm .

Vegetarian breakfast, lunch, and snacks will be served, and for meals we will be using oryoki (Japanese nesting bowls). Oryoki sets will be available to borrow if you do not have one, or are available for purchase for $75.

Oryoki instruction will be given for those who are new to the practice.

We will begin with a short orientation and opportunity for zazen instruction. Please plan on arriving by 6:45am and on being in your seat ready to start by 6:55am.

We look forward to practicing together.

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