Nothing Lacking, Continuous Practice
Use this page to register for Online/Commuter participation (participation by Zoom or by visiting City Center). To visit the Residential Practice Period page and apply, click here.
Invitation to An Inquiry
This five-week practice period invites you into the heart of Zen through the legendary poetic contest between Masters Shenxiu and Huineng of Tang Dynasty China. Their verses frame a living koan that has resonated for centuries: Is awakening something we cultivate through effort, or something already complete?
We will engage this inquiry not as a philosophical debate, but as a lived experience—listening closely to how these teachings show up in our sitting, our relationships, and the ordinary activities of daily life. Through sustained practice, shared reflection, and the living texture of Zen stories and inquiry, we will let this koan illuminate our own experience of the path.
The Guiding Poems
The body is the bodhi tree
The mind is like a bright mirror’s stand.
Time and again, polish it diligently—
Do not let dust alight.
— Master Shenxiu (606–706)
Bodhi is fundamentally without any tree;
The bright mirror also has no stand.
Originally, there is not a single thing—
Where could dust alight?
— Master Huineng (638–713)
Are these two opposite views, or different expressions of the same truth, spoken from different vantage points?
The Arc of Exploration
The practice period is designed as a deepening arc, moving from foundation to integration. Weekly classes and Dharma talks will offer guidance and support along the way.
Topics include:
- The historical landscape: the split between the Northern School of gradual cultivation and the Southern School of sudden awakening.
- Continuous practice: Cultivating moment-to-moment awareness and working with habit energy.
- Nothing lacking: Practicing from the ground of original completeness.
- Ordinary mind Is the Way: Integrating realization into everyday life.
The Container of Practice
The practice period includes:
- Daily sitting practice (at SFZC City Center or at home)
- Weekly classes and dharma talks
- Check-ins with practice leaders and small groups
- A one-day online sitting to begin and an 5-day online sesshin to conclude the practice period
- Commuter/Online registration includes the ONLINE versions of the one-day and 5-day sitting retreats. If you are a commuter student and wish to sit these retreats in-person at City Center, you must register separately for the in-person sittings. (Onsite One-Day Sitting, May 2 and Onsite 5-Day Sesshin, May 26-30 [LINK])
Practice Period Schedule
Orientation: Monday, 4/27 7:30 pm (part of the first class)
Classes: 4 Mondays (4/27, 5/4, 5/11 and 5/18) 7:30-8:45pm
Dharma talks: Wednesdays 7:30-8:30pm and Saturdays 10:00-11:30am
1-Day Sitting: 5/2
5-Day Sitting: 5/26-5/30
Registration Deadline: Sunday, May 3rd 2026
- General: $615
- Current SFZC Members: $553
- Sliding scale 1: $369
Registration deadline is Sunday, May 3, 2026.
Or call 415-354-0360.