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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260526T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260531T110000
DTSTAMP:20260511T010047Z
CREATED:20260510T214831Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260511T010047Z
UID:10000114-1779811200-1780225200@www.sfzc.org
SUMMARY:Agency\, Interdependence and Compassion: Exploring Themes to Inform Our Most Senior Years\, ZMC 5/26–5/31 – Waitlist Only
DESCRIPTION:This five-day retreat explores the question of agency in the context of aging through the lens of Buddhist practice. How do we stay awake\, responsive\, and connected as our capacities and roles change? Participants will engage in zazen\, mindful discussion\, experiential exercises\, and contemplative inquiry to deepen awareness of interdependence and self-compassion. \nAging invites us to meet limitations and transitions not as failures\, but as opportunities for presence and wisdom. Together\, we will examine the ways we give and receive help\, communicate our needs\, and act from a place of clarity and care. Through meditation\, shared meals\, exercises in compassion\, and supportive dialogue\, we will cultivate the capacity to respond with grace and dignity to the unfolding of life as it is.
URL:https://www.sfzc.org/event/agency-interdependence-and-compassion-exploring-themes-to-inform-our-most-senior-years-zmc-5-26-5-31-waitlist-only/
CATEGORIES:Workshops and Retreats
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260526T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260531T110000
DTSTAMP:20260511T010048Z
CREATED:20260510T214831Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260511T010048Z
UID:10000115-1779811200-1780225200@www.sfzc.org
SUMMARY:Joyful Ease\, Your Own True Body\, ZMC 5/26–5/31  – Waitlist Only
DESCRIPTION:Awaken a sense of fully embodied joy and ease through yoga asana\, breath\, and Zen meditation. \nThe true Dharma teachings are conveyed and brought forth within the practices of posture\, zazen meditation\, and yoga\, with this very body-mind. Linda’s and Patricia’s combined teaching\, a seamless interweaving of Zen and Yoga\, leads us to grow down and into the roots of ourselves\, encouraging joy and ease. \nEach day we’ll immerse ourselves in zazen practice\, receive Dharma teachings from Linda\, and engage in discussion and inquiry. \nAnd each day we’ll have two yoga classes—active work in the morning\, followed by restorative yoga and breath work in the afternoon. We enter these practices fully with one another\, each person’s presence lending support to the group\, enhancing and highlighting our own true body of joy and ease. Modifications of the poses will always be offered. \nThere will also be time to enjoy the baths and take walks and hikes in the rugged beauty of Tassajara.
URL:https://www.sfzc.org/event/joyful-ease-your-own-true-body-zmc-5-26-5-31-waitlist-only/
CATEGORIES:Workshops and Retreats
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260527T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260530T110000
DTSTAMP:20260511T010049Z
CREATED:20260510T214831Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260511T010049Z
UID:10000116-1779897600-1780138800@www.sfzc.org
SUMMARY:The Wonder of Bird Song\, GGF 5/27–5/30
DESCRIPTION:In this overnight retreat\, we will enter the world of birds and bird sounds\, with morning and evening outings led by Zac Denning in the Green Gulch Farm grounds. Our goal will be to immerse ourselves for a short time in the lives of birds\, learning about how and why they sing\, and about the wonders and struggles of their daily existence. On the outings\, we’ll be standing still for long periods to listen to particular birds\, then walking a short distance\, and listening again\, etc. Zac will share bird anecdotes—humorous\, scientific\, or quirky—that will help us to appreciate them as individuals\, and to understand the challenges they face in a human-modified world. Appreciating birds is more our aim than identification\, but Zac will also try to familiarize you with a few songs you might be able to recognize later. \nAbove all\, by listening to birds\, we hope to leave our preoccupations behind for a few moments\, and inhabit the immediacy and vibrance of lives that are radically different from our own. Bring lots of warm layers\, including under-layers\, hats\, scarves\, and gloves\, for standing mostly still on a cold coastal spring evening and morning. Binoculars are not at all required (we’ll be using both our ears and eyes)\, but feel free to bring them if you have access to a pair. Walking difficulty will be easy to moderate\, with distance of ½ to ¾ mile or less\, often on fire roads or dirt/gravel paths\, with a few short\, moderate inclines.
URL:https://www.sfzc.org/event/the-wonder-of-bird-song-ggf-5-27-5-30/
CATEGORIES:Workshops and Retreats
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260530T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260604T110000
DTSTAMP:20260511T010053Z
CREATED:20260510T214831Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260511T010053Z
UID:10000122-1780156800-1780570800@www.sfzc.org
SUMMARY:Radiant Awareness: Backpacking Journey to Tassajara\, ZMC 5/30–6/4
DESCRIPTION:The trek to Tassajara Zen Mountain Center is a beloved and time-honored journey. Rather than driving in—careening through the expansive Ventana Wilderness at a pace that inhibits meaningful contact—let us take days to walk to the monastery on foot\, arriving enriched through immersion in the wild. \nWhat does this wilderness immersion open or allow? Steeped in the demands and complexity of modern\, daily life\, it is easy for our attention to become fragmented\, our inner and outer lives constrained by habits of thought\, and our senses dulled. Backpacking in the wild returns us to simple\, natural rhythms: sleeping on the ground\, rising with the sun\, carrying all that we need on our backs\, walking peacefully in contact with the land for the majority of the day. \nOur senses come alive as our bodies\, minds\, and hearts encounter the beauty and wholesomeness of the wild earth: a chorus of birds at dawn\, the taste of cold spring water\, full inhalations of aromatic plants\, deep shade offered by an oak at midday\, starlight filling our eyes at night. In this way\, wilderness immersion mirrors the essence of Zen practice itself: recalibrating us to perceive the true vibrance of the world\, which transmits its own timeless wisdom. \nOur four-day backpacking journey into Tassajara moves through the ancestral lands of the Esselen People and the eastern heart of an expansive\, biodiverse wilderness—grounding us in a rich historical\, cultural\, and ecological context before we enter the gates of Zen Mountain Center. Walking in the spirit of pilgrimage\, our days are shaped by intention: mindful silence on the trail\, group check-ins and Dharma discussions that form us into a sangha (spiritual community)\, and awareness practices (including daily zazen meditation) that attune us with ourselves and this potent landscape. \nDrawing on their engaged\, respective backgrounds in Zen and Eco-Somatics\, leaders Mike Smith and Ariel Johnson guide us across both wild and perceptual thresholds\, offering simple practices and insights that support reconnection with the Earth\, our animal bodies\, our senses\, our hearts\, and our naturally calm and spacious minds. \nBy the time we arrive at the monastery gate\, we have been polished to a shine by our wild wanderings—alert\, radiant\, and ready to enter fully into the depth of practice offered in Tassajara’s enchanted valley. We then spend two nights at Tassajara dedicated to integration\, sinking into the monastery’s offerings of meditation\, serenity\, and community. When it is time to return home\, may we carry this radiant awareness with us\, meeting our ordinary lives and the challenges of our time with more clarity\, presence\, resilience\, and care. \nImportant Notes: \n\nThe full experience takes place over six days\, from Saturday\, May 30th to Thursday\, June 4th\, 2026.\nThe last two nights (June 2 and 3) will require booking accommodations at Tassajara.\nExperience with backpacking or Tassajara/Zen is not required; Wildtender provides support for physical and psychospiritual preparation\, and weaves wilderness skill-building\, Zen instruction\, and orientation to Tassajara into the program.
URL:https://www.sfzc.org/event/radiant-awareness-backpacking-journey-to-tassajara-zmc-5-30-6-4/
CATEGORIES:Workshops and Retreats
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