City Center Talks

07/05/2025, Mark Lesser, dharma talk at City Center.
Marc Lesser discusses a teaching from Vietnamese Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh: Breathing, smiling and living are three...

06/21/2025, Esho Sudan, dharma talk at City Center.
Esho Sudan explores the life-story and great legacy of Sozen Nagasawa Roshi, a Soto Zen abbess and teacher, founder of...

06/18/2025, Jisan Tova Green, dharma talk at City Center.
Jisan Tova Green shares how Zen practice has influenced her long engagement with peace and justice issues, and...

06/11/2025, Rebecca Li, dharma talk at City Center.
Dr. Rebecca Li explains how the practice of Silent Illumination is to actualize the Buddha’s teachings to be free from...

05/31/2025, Teah Strozer, dharma talk at City Center.
Teah Strozer explores the ways that our assumptions and fixed ideas about people or situations can blind us to...

05/24/2025, Monitsu Pamela Weiss, dharma talk at City Center. Monitsu Pamela Weiss explores the twin themes of refuge and compassion in Cases 4 and 54 of the Book of Serenity...

05/17/2025, Zentatsu Richard Baker Roshi, dharma talk at City Center.
Former Abbot Zentatsu Richard Baker Roshi discusses lessons from a life of practice, and from close...

05/14/2025, Tatsudo Nicole Baden, dharma talk at City Center.
Tatsudo Nicole Baden explores two foundational Buddhist perspectives: that everything changes (impermanence...

05/10/2025, Tenzen David Zimmerman, dharma talk at City Center.
Central Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman takes up Case 12 from the Book of Serenity, titled ‘Dizang Planting...

04/30/2025, Gengyoko Tim Wicks , dharma talk at City Center.
Gengyoko Tim Wicks speaks about the cultivation of dana paramita (giving) in our zazen practice and Eihei...

04/23/2025, Shosan Victoria Austin, dharma talk at City Center. Shosan Victoria Austin uses Keizan Zenji’s teachings to explore the questions: What is intentional service? And...

Talk by Shundo David Haye at City Center on 2025-04-15

04/12/2025, Ryuko Laura Burges, dharma talk at City Center.
Ryuko Laura Burges, a lay entrusted teacher, talks about the timeless power of story and shares her recent...

Talk by Hiro Ikushima at City Center on 2025-04-09

04/02/2025, So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson, dharma talk at City Center.
So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson examines the rich intersection between Zen practice and artistic expression—...

03/29/2025, Abbot Dōshin Mako Voelkel, dharma talk at City Center.
Abiding Abbot Dōshin Mako Voelkel explores how the spirit of Dogen’s “Tenzo Kyokun” extends beyond...

03/28/2025, Doshin Dan Gudgel, dharma talk at City Center.
Doshin Dan Gudgel explores the idea of a ‘caretaker’ as it relates to the Parental Mind that Dogen encourages...

Talk by Doshin Mako Voelkel at City Center on 2025-03-27

Talk by Mary Stares at City Center on 2025-03-22

03/15/2025, Sozan Michael McCord, dharma talk at City Center. Sozan Michael McCord looks at Zen kitchen practice and work practice generally, connecting to the joy of activity...

03/08/2025, Zenki Mary Mocine, dharma talk at City Center.
Zenki Mary Mocine speaks about Eihei Dogen Zenji’s text “Tenzo Kyokun (Instruction to the Cook)” as part of the...

Talk by Teah Strozer at City Center on 2025-03-05

Talk by Edward Espe Brown at City Center on 2025-03-01

02/22/2025, Dōshin Mako Voelkel, dharma talk at City Center. Abiding Abbot Dōshin Mako Voelkel explores the dharma teachings of the past year-plus of renovation work, community...