Weekly Dharma Study Group on Monday mornings at 7:50 a.m. with Rev. Patrick Teverbaugh on Zoom.

We are reading Living by Vow. This is a commentary on our daily Zen chants by Shohaku Okumura. In a clear and engaging voice, Okumura roshi explains the historical side as well as the noumenal side of our core Zen teachings

Join here.

Sewing Buddha’s Robe

Led by Rev. Gene Bush

@ 1:00 to 3:00 pm

Anybody who is sewing a rakusu with the permission of their teacher is welcome to sew with us. Please come for instruction or community. Participation by those who need to sew an envelope, repair an old rakusu or robe, or wish to sew a robe as a gift, is also encouraged.

More Information

Contact Rev. Gene Bush

All are welcome to join us for this introductory class which is usually held on the third Saturday of each month. Feel free to join and invite your friends to learn about the world of Zen Buddhism.

You will receive an introduction to the body and mind of Zen meditation and the forms of practice at Santa Cruz Zen Center. This includes instruction in sitting and walking meditation forms as well as an open discussion.

There is no charge for this class.

Please join us in person at the Santa Cruz Zen Center.

Hi Earth Care Friends,

Good news! We have been given time to do a simple ceremony at the Earth Day stage at 12:45-12:55 at Abbot Square. (I just found out-my contact at the City was out sick all week).

So let's plan to meet at 11:30 am at SCZC tomorrow, so we can go over our ceremony and then head downtown.

We will need to be down at Cooper Street by 12:15 to scope out our spot and set up, and then be at the Stage at 12:35. 

Here is a ceremony that we can do in 10 minutes, and would love your help and participation with it! 

Attached are participant guidelines, which we will share with the people we listen to, and also volunteer guidelines for ourselves as a quick reminder of the training we have done. I'll bring copies of this and chant cards.

We're really looking forward to seeing you all there!

Since we have these activities, we will skip our regular Earth Care meeting in April, and will meet on May 14, at 12 noon in the Sangha House. 

I look forward to engaging in our Earth Care practice with you!

Deep bows,

Steve 

@ 6:40 pm

In person at SCZC or on Zoom.

We usually meet the first Thursday evening of each month, 6:40 in-person and on Zoom to study some of the foundational teachings of our Buddhist lineage.

We are studying "the heart sutra," a translation by Red Pine.

At 6:35 pm on Wednesday evening, join us for our weekly, live dharma talk following by an open question and answer period at the Santa Cruz Zen Center. You may also participate via Zoom. All are welcome.

You are also invited to join us for zazen at 6 pm., just prior to the dharma talk.

Monthly Board of Trustees Meeting

@ 6:45 pm

in person at SCZC or join on Zoom here.

UPDATE: 4/12/23 CANCELLED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER

This is an event of the Coastal Watershed Council that supported by the SCZC Service Committee.

From the Coastal Watershed Council Website:

Join us for our River Health Day and plant and maintain native seedlings along the banks of the San Lorenzo River to increase biodiversity and revitalize the river ecosystem.

We will meet on the east riverbank between the Soquel Ave and Laurel Street bridges. Free parking is available in the CWC parking lot at 107 Dakota Ave. Paid parking is also available on Dakota Avenue or across the river in downtown Santa Cruz. The closest parking garage is at 601 Front Street.

We recommend that all volunteers dress in comfortable gardening clothes, including long pants, socks and sturdy closed-toe shoes. Bring layers, sun protection and a reusable water bottle. Gloves, tools and light refreshments will be provided.

All ages and abilities are welcome. Volunteers under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Call (831) 464 9200 x104, or email CWC River Ecologist Kaiya Giuliano-Monroy with any questions before the event. RSVP for this and other Coastal Watershed here.

Dear Earth Care Friends,

At our last meeting, we decided to do these events:

• Cancelled due to Inclement Weather - On April 13 at 8:30-9:45 am, we will meet at the West Side Farmers Market to do our first round of listening stations!  After that, people can go to the River Health Day at 10am and care for our beloved river.

• On April 20, 12-4pm (exact time to be determined).  We will offer Listening Stations at Earth Day, downtown Santa Cruz at Abbott Square. There may also be a brief ceremony to honor the Earth led by SCZC and others. 

Please let us know if you'd like to participate in the Listening Stations with this Sign Up Sheet. If you have missed the meetings to prepare, no worries, we can get you up to speed quickly. Please join in if you are interested! It is a wonderful gift to our community. 

Since we have these activities, we will skip our regular Earth Care meeting in April, and will meet on May 14, at 12 noon in the Sangha House. 

Finally, for those of you who can't be in our sesshin, please come to the Interfaith Climate Service on 4/5. It will be a wonderful event. 

I look forward to engaging in our Earth Care practice with you!

Deep bows,

Steve 

Dear Earth Care Friends,

At our last meeting, we decided to do these events:

• On April 13 at 8:30-9:45 am, we will meet at the West Side Farmers Market to do our first round of listening stations!  After that, people can go to the River Health Day at 10am and care for our beloved river.

• On April 20, 12-4pm (exact time to be determined).  We will offer Listening Stations at Earth Day, downtown Santa Cruz at Abbott Square. There may also be a brief ceremony to honor the Earth led by SCZC and others. 

Please let us know if you'd like to participate in the Listening Stations with this Sign Up Sheet. If you have missed the meetings to prepare, no worries, we can get you up to speed quickly. Please join in if you are interested! It is a wonderful gift to our community. 

Since we have these activities, we will skip our regular Earth Care meeting in April, and will meet on May 14, at 12 noon in the Sangha House. 

Finally, for those of you who can't be in our sesshin, please come to the Interfaith Climate Service on 4/5. It will be a wonderful event. 

I look forward to engaging in our Earth Care practice with you!

Deep bows,

Steve 

 

How can we engage in care for the Earth as an expression of our spiritual practice?

How might we weave together activism and our Bodhisattva Vows?

Please join us at 10:30 am

in the Sangha House

to explore ways we can engage in our practice to

address the environmental and climate crises.

“The purpose of a human being is to participate in the flourishing of life…Beholding earth as a being, a magnificent being, a gorgeous being, a sacred being, we fall ever deeper in love.” -Charles Eisenstein, How the Environmental Movement Can Find Its Way Again

May we bring the Warm Jewels of our practice out into the world:

Presence, Compassion, Interbeing, Service

For more information, please contact Steve:

Steve@stevepalmisano.com

Buddha's Birthday is an opportunity to celebrate Spring together in our garden, surrounded by flowers and friends. We start with a short and lively outdoor ceremony that includes the story of Buddha's birth and chanting. This is followed by snacks and good company! See you there!

Please join us as we come together in prayer and song to explore how our respective faiths encourage us to protect the earth and all its inhabitants.

Following the service, refreshments will be served. Representatives from local climate action groups will be available to talk about their activities and ways you can get involved.

Please join us at the Santa Cruz Zen Center for a Full Moon Bodhisattva Vow Renewal Ceremony in place of zazen/meditation. In person and on Zoom.

We will study this teaching from Dogen’s “Guidelines for Studying the Way”, as well as consider the second Bodhisattva vow: “Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them.”

There will be a Poetry Reading with Paula Jones on Saturday, March 23rd at 2 pm at the Zen Center.  Paula Jones is a teacher at Floating Zendo in San Jose.  Paula became a student of Kobun Chino’s the first night she attended Santa Cruz Zendo. Decades later was ordained and given Dharma Transmission by Angie Boissevain. She is a co-founder and teacher of Floating Zendo San Diego. After years of teaching writing and literature in colleges and universities, Paula continues to write poems, create hand-bound chapbooks of her work, and lead poetry workshops.

Meet fellow Zendo creatives and art lovers once a month to explore the intersection of Art & Zen. Let’s support our creative practices in art and life via prompts and exercises offered by Valéria (“Val”) Miranda, inspired by John Daido Loori’s book The Zen of Creativity and Julia Cameron’s The Artist Way.

Val is a long term SCZC practitioner and a local nonprofit arts administrator who practices dance and visual arts. Please bring a journal with unruled pages or a sketchbook, pencil, and/or pen, and, as an option, art materials such as colored pencils/watercolors/, and images and words cut out from magazines. 

Monthly on Saturdays - 1:30-3 pm in the Sangha Home

January 20

February 24

March 16

April 20

Warm Jewel Temple - Half-Day Sit

Saturday, March 16, 8:30 am start

At Santa Cruz Zen Center with Zoom Option

Sitting silently together all morning allows us to settle even deeper into our True Nature. The retreat consists of periods of zazen alternating with walking meditation and two short Dharma talks. People new to meditation are especially welcome to participate. Led by Rev. Patrick Teverbaugh and Rev. Rachel Grad.

We're taking signups, but you may also just show up the day of the event.

See the schedule and register to attend below.

• Calendar

• How To Connect

• Join The Zendo Now Via Zoom

Registration Form

The suggested donation for both Zoom and Zendo participants is $12 per day for Sustaining Members and $15 contributing members and others. Santa Cruz Zen Center relies on fees and donations to continue its mission. If you can pay more, please consider doing so. If you cannot pay the fee listed, please pay what you can. Please speak with the coordinators if you have questions about fees.

Sewing Buddha’s Robe

Led by Rev. Gene Bush

@ 6:45 to 8:00 pm

Anybody who is sewing a rakusu with the permission of their teacher is welcome to sew with us. Please come for instruction or community. Participation by those who need to sew an envelope, repair an old rakusu or robe, or wish to sew a robe as a gift, is also encouraged.

More Information

Contact Rev. Gene Bush

Weekly Dharma Study Group on Monday mornings at 7:50 a.m. with Rev. Patrick Teverbaugh in person in the Sangha Home or on Zoom.

We are reading Living by Vow. This is a commentary on our daily Zen chants by Shohaku Okumura. In a clear and engaging voice, Okumura roshi explains the historical side as well as the noumenal side of our core Zen teachings

Join here.

For those who are practicing with aging. In this group we will talk about how we are practicing with our aging bodies and minds.

We will use the book “this is getting old,” by Susan Moon, as our template for discussion. Click on the book image below for a link to the publisher’s info. The Aging Group will be meeting monthly on the 2nd Sunday, 7 - 8 pm, starting December 10.

You are invited to join us.

Sunday Suppers for a Sustainable Planet

Sunday March 3

5 - 6 pm Cooking and 6 pm Meal

2/29/24 WAITING LIST ONLY - please write to contact@sczc.org if you would like to be added to the waiting list. We will contact you on Saturday to let you know about the dinner.

Cooking lesson and 6 pm meal (come for one or both)

The meal will be an Indian dal with vegetables and dessert.

All food will be plant-based, and gluten-free options can be made available

Join Sangha members for a plant-based meal together, learning new cooking techniques, sharing recipes, and socializing. A plant-based diet is an easy and nutritious way to reduce one’s carbon footprint. This event springs out of dialogue in our monthly EarthCare group.

The first hour will be a cooking lesson and demo. But feel free to come just for the meal at 6 pm. Please be sure to sign up either online or on the bulletin board so we’ll know how much to cook. A donation of any size will be gratefully accepted.

We will study this teaching from Dogen’s “Guidelines for Studying the Way”, as well as consider the second Bodhisattva vow: “Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to end them.”

Weekly Dharma Study Group on Monday mornings at 7:50 a.m. with Rev. Patrick Teverbaugh in the Sangha Home and on Zoom.

We are reading Living by Vow. This is a commentary on our daily Zen chants by Shohaku Okumura. In a clear and engaging voice, Okumura roshi explains the historical side as well as the noumenal side of our core Zen teachings

Join here.

Meet fellow Zendo creatives and art lovers once a month to explore the intersection of Art & Zen. Let’s support our creative practices in art and life via prompts and exercises offered by Valéria (“Val”) Miranda, inspired by John Daido Loori’s book The Zen of Creativity and Julia Cameron’s The Artist Way.

Val is a long term SCZC practitioner and a local nonprofit arts administrator who practices dance and visual arts. Please bring a journal with unruled pages or a sketchbook, pencil, and/or pen, and, as an option, art materials such as colored pencils/watercolors/, and images and words cut out from magazines. 

Monthly on Saturdays - 1:30-3 pm in the Sangha Home

January 20

February 24

March 16

April 20

All are welcome to join us for this introductory class which is usually held on the third Saturday of each month. Feel free to join and invite your friends to learn about the world of Zen Buddhism.

You will receive an introduction to the body and mind of Zen meditation and the forms of practice at Santa Cruz Zen Center. This includes instruction in sitting and walking meditation forms as well as an open discussion.

There is no charge for this class.

Please join us in person at the Santa Cruz Zen Center.

Weekly Dharma Study Group on Monday mornings at 7:50 a.m. with Rev. Patrick Teverbaugh in the Sangha Home and on Zoom.

We are reading Living by Vow. This is a commentary on our daily Zen chants by Shohaku Okumura. In a clear and engaging voice, Okumura roshi explains the historical side as well as the noumenal side of our core Zen teachings

Join here.