Self, No-Self, and the Field of All Beings, Online 7/11–7/18

Teachers
Practice Center
Date / Time
Jul 11, 2026 / 9:00am - Jul 18, 2026 / 11:00am
Event Type
Classes & Extended Courses
Description

Two Saturdays, 9–11 am PT / 6–8 pm CEST

Dōgen Zenji famously said:

“To study the self is to forget the self; to forget the self is to be actualized by all beings and all things.”

How can we study and realize this teaching in our practice?

We can begin to notice two different ways the sense of self operates in our experience. At times it appears separate, solid, and defensive. At other times it reveals itself as relational, fluid, and inseparable from the world around us.

In practice, we gradually release our fixation on a separate and fixed self, and become intimate with the dynamic, interdependent nature of experience itself. Rather than trying to eliminate one self and cultivate another, we learn to see how the sense of self arises moment by moment—shaped by conditions, sustained by habit, and already embraced within the field of all beings.

As we sit, walk, and live with this inquiry, a quiet freedom may begin to emerge, along with a deeper capacity to respond with clarity and compassion.

The workshop will be grounded in direct experience. It will include guided experimental meditations on the self, brief talks by Bernd, and shared reflection from our lives and practice.

Everyone is welcome. Prior meditation experience is not required.
 

Recordings:
All course sessions will be recorded, and registered participants will receive temporary access to the recordings for later viewing.

Fee Information
  • Benefactor Ticket Price: $140
  • General ticket price: $112
  • Member (Become an SFZC Member): $101
  • Sliding Scale 1: $67
  • Sliding Scale 2: $28
  • 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.

Register Online

Or call 415-354-0360.

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