Dharma Talks @ SBZC

Glad you found us! Please enjoy these talks!

Deep gratitude to all our teachers who made these offerings!

Bill Powell continues our exploration of The Platform Sutra, with a focus on the Vows.

Part 2 of Kaizan Doug Jacobson’s Dharma Talk: Refining Practice 8.21.21

Part 1 of Kaizan Doug Jacobson’s Dharma Talk: Refining Practice 8.21.21

Bill Powell continues leading SBZC in examination and discussion of: Red Pine, The Platform Sutra, The Zen Teaching of Hui-neng, Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2006; Taigen Dan Leighton, Just This is It, Dongshan and the Practice of Suchness, Boston: Shambala, 2015 ; and William Powell (trans.), The Record of Tung-shan, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986. https://terebess.hu/zen/Tung-shanPowe..

Bill is a retired professor of Chinese religions, having spent his 30-year professional career at the University of California Santa Barbara. He earned a B.A. in Philosophy at the University of the Pacific, an M.A. in Chinese language at the University of Hawaii and his PhD in Buddhist Studies at the University of California Berkeley. He spent three years affiliated with Kyoto University as a research scholar, studying early Chan Buddhism and Song period discourse records under the generous and infinitely patient tutelage of Professor Seizan Yanagida. He began Zen practice in 1965 at the Diamond Sangha in Honolulu under Robert Aitken, Katsuki Sekida and Yasutani Roshi.

The Venerable Miaozang is currently the Superintendent of Hsi Fang Temple and the President of San Diego Buddhist Association. She started her service in San Diego since October 2014. She is born and raised in Malaysia. She joined Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order, based in Kaohsiung Taiwan in 2003 and made lifetime vow in renouncing as a Buddhist Monastic in Jan. 2006. She was given the renounced name of Venerable Miaozang (Chinese name which means auspicious treasures). After four years’ Buddhist training, she graduated with distinction in Master of Arts in Buddhist Studies in Fo Guang Shan Tsung Lin University. After graduation, she was assigned in different Buddhist temples in Taiwan, serving the community by leading meditation and Buddhist practices. Then, she was assigned to serve at Hsi Lai Temple, Hacienda Heights, in 2009 to 2014 in teaching Buddhist studies and leading meditation retreats there. Also, there were consistent outreach to different educational institutions in sharing a few significant Buddhist celebrations, like Chinese New Year, Buddha’s Birthday, Sangha Day and etc. At the same time, she also volunteered in administration at the University of the West, located in Rosemead, Los Angeles, which is an affiliated higher education institution of Fo Guang Shan.

No Trace of Realization Exists

Dharma Talk by Guiding Teacher Kaizan Doug Jacobson 7.17.21

Kaizan Doug Jacobson began practicing Zen in 1974 with Dainin Katagiri Roshi in Minneapolis; he had Jukai in 1977. A householder, father, contractor, and civil/tunnel engineer, following his retirement, he became a full-time resident at Jikoji Zen Center* near Los Gatos. He received priest ordination in 2010 and Dharma transmission from Shoho Michael Newhall in 2015. He has led many sesshins, monthly zazenkais, periodic seasonal nature sesshins, and weekly dharma discussion groups. He also helps to maintain and develop infrastructure at Jikoji, getting his hands dirty as a form of Zen practice. In addition, he assists prisoners with Buddhist practice.

*Founded by Kobun Chino, Jikoji Zen Center, like SBZC, practices Soto Zen.

 
 

SBZC Summer Sutra Study Session. Class #1 : 7.10.21

On July 10, 24, August 14, 28 and September 11, and 25, Bill will lead us in examination and discussion of:

Red Pine, The Platform Sutra, The Zen Teaching of Hui-neng, Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2006;

Taigen Dan Leighton, Just This is It, Dongshan and the Practice of Suchness, Boston: Shambala, 2015 ; and

William Powell (trans.), The Record of Tung-shan, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986. https://terebess.hu/zen/Tung-shanPowell.pdf

Bill Powell is a retired professor of Chinese religions, having spent his 30-year professional career at the University of California Santa Barbara. He earned a B.A. in Philosophy at the University of the Pacific, an M.A. in Chinese language at the University of Hawaii and his PhD in Buddhist Studies at the University of California Berkeley. He spent three years affiliated with Kyoto University as a research scholar, studying early Chan Buddhism and Song period discourse records under the generous and infinitely patient tutelage of Professor Seizan Yanagida. He began Zen practice in 1965 at the Diamond Sangha in Honolulu under Robert Aitken, Katsuki Sekida and Yasutani Roshi.

Dharma Talk by Voker Kenko Ecke 7.3.21

Volker Kenko Ecke started his Zen practice in 2001 at Zen on Main in Northampton, MA, where he continues to live — and where he now practices with the Oxbow Zen Sangha (oxbowzen.org). In 2005 he received Jukai from Pat Enkyo O’Hara Roshi. After serving as Shuso in 2011 he continues to deepen his Zen studies as a Senior Student with Roshi Enkyo O’Hara and the teachers at the Village Zendo in Manhattan, NY. Kenko teaches mathematics and mathematics education at Westfield State University, where he also hosts a weekly sit for faculty and staff. Kenko and his partner Jo-Ei appreciate their ongoing connection with the Santa Barbara Zen Center after sabbaticals at UCSB in 2012 and 2019.

Dharma Talk by Emmy Yujo Bowser 6.26.21

Emmy Yujo Bowser has been sitting with Santa Barbara Zen Center since 2017 and currently serves on our Board of Directors. She received Jukai with Sensei Gary Koan Janka in 2019. She understands Buddhism to be more than an intellectual exercise and practices to continue to experience life with an inquisitive mind and open heart. She is deeply grateful to her teachers and her SBZC sangha.

Dharma Talk by Guiding Teacher Kaizan Doug Jacobson 6.19.21

Kaizan Doug Jacobson began practicing Zen in 1974 with Dainin Katagiri Roshi in Minneapolis; he had Jukai in 1977. A householder, father, contractor, and civil/tunnel engineer, following his retirement, he became a full-time resident at Jikoji Zen Center* near Los Gatos. He received priest ordination in 2010 and Dharma transmission from Shoho Michael Newhall in 2015. He has led many sesshins, monthly zazenkais, periodic seasonal nature sesshins, and weekly dharma discussion groups. He also helps to maintain and develop infrastructure at Jikoji, getting his hands dirty as a form of Zen practice. In addition, he assists prisoners with Buddhist practice.

*Founded by Kobun Chino, Jikoji Zen Center, like SBZC, practices Soto Zen.

Dharma Talk by Chōbun Nenzen Pamela Brown 6.13.21

Nenzen has been sitting with Santa Barbara Zen Center since January 2017. She is currently serving as Board President and Temple Manager. Nenzen took and received her Jukai vows from Sensei Gary Koan Janka of SBZC and Tokudo from Shoho Michael Newhall of Jikoji.

Pamela practiced law for 10 years before beginning a 15-year adventure homeschooling her two sons. Her family is still teaching her the art of listening deeply.

George L. Jacobson is Professor Emeritus of Biology, Ecology, and Climate Change at the University of Maine. Since his arrival in Maine in 1979, Dr. Jacobson has been a member of the Climate Change Institute, and he was Director of the Institute for nearly a decade. His scientific research has focused on long-term climate variability and specifically on forest responses to climate changes during the past 60,000 years. An important segment of his research has dealt with the implications of paleoecology for both present-day conservation biology and climate science. The research examines how communities and ecosystems have adapted to natural climate variability. Prof. Jacobson’s projects have included sites in North America, South America, and Europe. Among other things, he has served as an external advisor on climate to the European Science Foundation, and to the Finnish Academy of Sciences. From 2008 to 2014, he had the honorary designation of Maine State Climatologist.

Professor Jacobson joined the faculty of the University of Maine in 1979 after three years working in the United States Senate in Washington, D.C., first as a AAAS Congressional Science Fellow and then as a staff scientist for the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. He was born and raised in Rapid City, South Dakota, and earned a B.A. in 1968 from Carleton College, and a Ph.D. in 1975 from the University of Minnesota. From 1968-1970 he served as a medic in the United States Army.

Dharma Talk by Brad Warner 5.29.21.

Brad Warner is the author of Letters to a Dead Friend About Zen, Hardcore Zen, Sit Down and Shut Up, Don’t Be a Jerk, and several other books. He was ordained a Zen Buddhist monk by Gudo Nishijima Roshi. He grew up in Akron, Ohio and Nairobi, Kenya. He has practiced Zen for over 30 years. He plays bass in the hardcore punk band Zero Defex. For 11 years, he worked in Japan for the company founded by creator of Godzilla. He’s appeared in the film Zombie Bounty Hunter M.D. and there is a documentary about him titled Brad Warner’s Hardcore Zen.

Dharma Talk by Guiding Teacher Kaizan Dough Jacobson 5.16.21

Kaizan Doug Jacobson began practicing Zen in 1974 with Dainin Katagiri Roshi in Minneapolis; he had Jukai in 1977. A householder, father, contractor, and civil/tunnel engineer, following his retirement, he became a full-time resident at Jikoji Zen Center near Los Gatos. He received priest ordination in 2010 and Dharma transmission from Shoho Michael Newhall in 2015. He has led many sesshins, monthly zazenkais, periodic seasonal nature sesshins, and weekly dharma discussion groups. He also helps to maintain and develop infrastructure at Jikoji, getting his hands dirty as a form of Zen practice. In addition, he assists prisoners with Buddhist practice.

Dharma Talk by Josho Pat Phelan Roshi 5.10.21

Taitaku Josho Patricia Phelan moved to North Carolina in 1991 to lead the Chapel Hill Zen Group, where she leads practice and teaches.

She practiced at the San Francisco Zen Center from 1971-1991, with three of those years at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Josho was ordained in 1977 by the former Abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center, Zentatsu Richard Baker. She has also studied with two of Suzuki Rōshi's other disciples, Sojun Mel Weitsman and Tenshin Reb Anderson.

In the Fall of 1995, she returned to Tassajara and completed her training by receiving Dharma Transmission from Abbot Sojun Weitsman. In October, 2000, Josho Sensei was officially installed as Abbess of the Chapel Hill Zen Center. In December, 2008, Josho Sensei traveled to Japan to participate in Zuise ceremonies at Eihei-ji and Soji-ji temples. She is married and has a daughter.

Dharma Talk by Guiding Teacher Kaizan Doug Jacobson 4.27.21

Kaizan Doug Jacobson began practicing Zen in 1974 with Dainin Katagiri Roshi in Minneapolis; he had Jukai in 1977. A householder, father, contractor, and civil/tunnel engineer, following his retirement, he became a full-time resident at Jikoji Zen Center near Los Gatos. He received priest ordination in 2010 and Dharma transmission from Shoho Michael Newhall in 2015. He has led many sesshins, monthly zazenkais, periodic seasonal nature sesshins, and weekly dharma discussion groups. He also helps to maintain and develop infrastructure at Jikoji, getting his hands dirty as a form of Zen practice. In addition, he assists prisoners with Buddhist practice.

Dharma Talk by Shoho Michael Newhall 4.5.21

Shoho Mike Newhall began practicing and studying with Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in the early seventies, and was ordained by Kobun in the mid-eighties. In the early nineties he became director at Jikoji Zen Center. Throughout this time he taught art and Buddhism at Naropa University, the Art Institute of Chicago, and other universities in the midwest. Mike has led sesshins and meditation workshops at Zen centers in the U.S. and Europe. Shoho has also practiced and studied with Keibun Otogawa in Japan, Dainin Katagiri Roshi, and Tenshin Reb Anderson. Mike lives at Jikoji, serving as the Resident Teacher and Chief Priest.

Dharma Talk by Guiding Teacher Kaizan Doug Jacobson 3.22.21

Kaizan Doug Jacobson began practicing Zen in 1974 with Dainin Katagiri Roshi in Minneapolis; he had Jukai in 1977. A householder, father, contractor, and civil/tunnel engineer, following his retirement, he became a full-time resident at Jikoji Zen Center near Los Gatos. He received priest ordination in 2010 and Dharma transmission from Shoho Michael Newhall in 2015. He has led many sesshins, monthly zazenkais, periodic seasonal nature sesshins, and weekly dharma discussion groups. He also helps to maintain and develop infrastructure at Jikoji, getting his hands dirty as a form of Zen practice. In addition, he assists prisoners with Buddhist practice.