Buddha Body – Buddha Mind
Please use this page to register for the practice period as an ONLINE or COMMUTER attendee.
This human body has evolved over millions of years and is interconnected through its cells with everything. This human body is a means, a path, and a source of wisdom. This human body, from the moment of its conception, is a journey through gestation, birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age, and death, and it is completely inseparable from this one life we have, in all its aspects. It is also the archive of the whole range of our physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional experiences. It carries the scars and wounds, while it also has everything that is needed to heal these wounds.
The practice of the Buddha Way is a practice of embodiment, requiring us to inhabit our body completely, to be responsive to all aspects of our life, and to take full responsibility for them moment by moment. Whether or not we believe that there will be future lives for us, it is during this life, here and now, that we have the opportunity to wake up and live in peace and harmony with ourselves and with all beings – a capacity that is urgently needed in these times. With the support of the practice period structure, mindfulness, sensory awareness, yoga, texts from Zen and other traditions and each other, we will explore together:
- How we can settle and be present with our body, exactly as it is.
- How its limitations are not a hindrance for meditation but rather are helping us to be creative and find appropriate adaptations.
- How this body is enabling us to live and to practice, to connect and respond to what is arising in and around us.
- How it can take care of its wounds and hurts that may surface when we become quiet, still and pay attention,
- How we can open up to the wisdom of our body and meet it with kindness, patience, generosity, skillfulness and compassion.
This 10-week residential practice period includes one weekly class, and one one-day, one three-day, and one four-day online sitting, all structured in a way that offers space for adaptations. The practice period class meets eight times on Tuesdays at 7:15 pm PT (see dates below). Onryū Mary Stares will be guest teacher for two of these classes. Also included are weekly small discussion groups and group teas with the practice leader.
You can also register for RESIDENTIAL participation (living at 300 Page St. for the duration of the practice period).
Registration includes online attendance for all events, and your choice of online or in-person attendance at the Tuesday class.
- Orientation: Tuesday, January 20, 7:15 pm
- Classes: Eight Tuesdays at 7:15 pm: 1/27, 2/3, 2/10, 2/17, 2/24, 3/3, 3/10, and 3/17
- One-Day Sitting: 1/24
- Three-Day Sitting: 2/19-2/21
- Four-Day Session: 3/25-3/28
Registration Deadline: Tuesday, January 27th 2026
- General: $1,150
- Current SFZC Members: $1,035
- Sliding scale 1: $690
- Sliding scale 2: $287.50
Application deadline is Tuesday, January 27, 2026.
Or call 415-354-0360.