Sewing Buddha’s Robe

Led by Rev. Gene Bush

@ 1:00-3:00 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

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 who is an arts administrator and 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

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.

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 Training in Compassion Zen Teachings On The Practice of Lojong by Norman Fischer.

Join here.

The Aging Group will meet 4:30pm-5:30pm on the third Sunday of each month, starting February 16.

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.

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.

A half-day sit lead by
Patrice Monsour and Rachel Grad

Title: Practice is Enlightenment — The Color of Water; The Taste of Plain
When: Saturday, November 15, 2025, 8:30 a.m.-Noon
Location: In person and via SCZC Zoom
Leaders: See image
Signups: Online or on paper at the zendo, or just show up.
Details and Fees Text: 
A morning of sitting meditation, suitable for all.  Come for all or any part, in person or via SCZC Zoom. Santa Cruz Zen Center relies on fees and donations to continue its mission. Please pay what you can and talk to the coordinators if you have questions. Suggested donation: $12 for sustaining members, $15 for contributing members and others.

Schedule:

8:30-9:10 Zazen
9:10-9:20 Service
9:20-9:30 Kinhin
9:30-10:00 Zazen
10:00-10:15 Kinhin
10:15-10:30 Talk
10:30-11:00 Zazen
11:00-11:10 Kinhin
11:10-11:25 Talk
11:25-11:55 Zazen
11:55-12:00 Refuges

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

In our Zen Meditation, we practice listening without judgment to our own sometimes diverging thoughts and feelings. Given our new government in the White House, these listening skills come in handy and can be put to good use in order for us and others to not succumb to feelings of isolation and hopelessness. Holding up common values, such as treating each other humanely and with dignity and goodwill, are the voices that need to be heard more than ever.

Therefore, we are creating a space for people to be heard, and to listen to others--hoping that more clear, powerful and effective communication and action will arise.

 As Zen practitioners, it is important to acknowledge that nobody is left out and that nobody is outside the system. We are all part of the same wonderful universe and planet, even though right now, it very much seems like we represent different sides of one coin.

The listening Circles are happening begin at 5 pm. People are encouraged to stay for Zazen, which it starts at 6 pm. The format will consist of both small group and larger group non-judgemental listening sessions. In the Sangha Home, 2nd Thursdays - confirm on calendar.

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.

The Sutra reading group is on the second Wednesday of each month from 5-5:45 pm. We will begin with the Lotus Sutra translation & introduction by Gene Reeves. We will read the Sutra out loud together in the Sangha House.

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

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

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 Training in Compassion Zen Teachings On The Practice of Lojong by Norman Fischer.

Join here.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone at our annual ALL SANGHA MEETING at the Zen Center on Saturday, November 8 from 1:30 - 3 pm. We will also be joining together at 12 noon before the meeting for a plant-based potluck (all are welcome).

We welcome and look forward to hearing ideas from the Sangha on how to help Santa Cruz Zen Center thrive and fulfill its Mission of integrating Zen practice and everyday life and its Vision of keeping alive the Buddha’s open-hearted way, compassionately engaging with ourselves, our community and our world.

We also welcome those who can’t attend in person, to join us by Zoom.

@ 6:40 pm In person at SCZC or on Zoom.

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

We are studying the Diamond Sutra this year. We'll examine Thich Nhat Hanh's commentary, the Diamond that Cuts Through Delusion. Katherine Roshi used this book in a class she taught in the mid '90s. I still have my underlined copy! On the internet I see many used book sites that sell it for less than $10 and here is a pdf version online as well.

The Sutra is divided into 32 short chapters, some of the chapters are just a few sentences long.

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.

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.

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 Training in Compassion Zen Teachings On The Practice of Lojong by Norman Fischer.

Join here.

@ 9:30 am to 12:00 pm

Work practice, samu, is naturally a part of community life, giving us the chance to interact informally. Come to School Street and enjoy the company of dharma companions as we care for the grounds and the zendo.

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 Training in Compassion Zen Teachings On The Practice of Lojong by Norman Fischer.

Join here.

Three Part Class: Sunday evenings Sept 28, Oct 26, Nov 30, 6:45-8 pm

Reverend Cathy Toldi will teach a three-part class this Fall. Reverend Toldi says, " We will explore how to go beyond the person self, to be actualize by myriad things. This class will include personal inquiry and practice activities to do between classes. " Sunday evenings September 28th, October 26th, and November 30th (the last Sundays of the month), 6:45 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.