The Zoom link to participate in this event will be provided at least 24 hours before it begins. Please call 415-354-0360 if you have any questions.
When Dharma eye looks at modern existence, things open up. Open Reality: Meeting the Polycrisis Together With All Beings, the newest book by Soto Zen priest and activist Shodo Spring, is a deep dive into that opening—exploring questions of human nature, our relationship with all sentient beings, and ways of living that allow the whole world to flourish.
Rather than a traditional book discussion, this online gathering is offered as a ceremony. We’ll begin by gathering intention and inviting all beings to join us. Through story, dialogue, and shared readings, we’ll explore the polycrisis—how systems are unraveling simultaneously—alongside the question of what human nature truly is.
We’ll look at how spiritual practice and Zen teaching interact with the vow to free all beings and the deep longing for protection in this ephemeral world.
The event will be co-led by Shodo Spring, founder of Mountains and Waters Alliance and long-time activist for ecological and spiritual resilience, and Seiho Qayyum Johnson, former Green Gulch Farm manager and Shuso, now a therapist-in-training and community ritualist. Together they bring decades of engaged Zen, earth-based practice, and poetic inquiry to this collective space.
Event Highlights:
- Invocation and gathering of intention
- Acknowledgment of ancestors
- Shodo’s personal journey with Zen, activism, and beyond-human beings
- Readings, dialogue with Qayyum Johnson, and open discussion
- Extended closing ceremony using the Dai Hi Shin Dharani and a group-created dedication
Recordings:
All course sessions will be recorded, and registered participants will receive temporary access to the recordings for later viewing.
- Sustaining Level: $56
- Member (Become an SFZC Member): $50
- Sliding Scale 1: $34
- Sliding Scale 2: $14
- Current SFZC residents and qualified SFZC retirees may attend this course for free. To register, please email onlineprograms@sfzc.org at least 72 hours before the program begins.
Or call 415-354-0360.