Imagination Shapes Reality

My first Zen teacher was Dainin Katagiri Roshi in 1972 when I did a 7 day sesshin (an intense period of meditation) at the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC). In the 80’s, when I regularly attended Monday night sitting practice, my teacher was Myogen Steve Stucky. At the  SFZC in Green Gulch Farm in Sausalito […]

Thanksgiving Day Reflections from Myogen Steve Stucky

These Thanksgiving day reflections from Myogen Steve Stucky were shared by OI brother Gary Gach. Little did he know that in 1987 and 1988, I used to attend Steve’s Monday evening sitting group in Mill Valley. I stopped coming the week after my father died. My knees were bothering me and I had a disappointing […]

See The World In A Moment

Dainin Katagiri Roshi was a Soto Zen Master who died at the young age of 62 in 1990. This quote, “See The World In A Moment,” is from his treatment of time in the Zen tradition in his book, “Each Moment Is the Universe.” Katagiri Roshi was the leader of a sesshin (a Zen retreat […]

Believe In Nothing!

Shunryu Suzuki Roshi was the founder and abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center beginning in 1962. He practiced in the Soto Zen tradition, which teaches that direct understanding comes from just sitting zazen (zen meditation) and does not rely on doctrine or sutras (scriptures). Under his guidance, additional properties were acquired: the Green Gulch […]

Zen Meditation Practices Instructions

I did my first Zen meditation sesshin in 1972 at the San Francisco Zen Center with Zen Master Dainin Katagiri Roshi. A sesshin is a seven to ten day intense immersion in Zen meditation practices with instructions. Every now and then, you get to have a face to face meeting, called dokusan, with the Zen […]