Zazen instruction is given each Saturday morning. Introductory classes and training are offered for new people, as well as weekly classes on Buddhist subjects during the fall, winter and spring. Each month there is an intensive meditation period of one or two days. Several times a year there are longer sittings, called sesshin, that last five or seven days. Each spring we have a six-week practice period, where students can intensify their daily meditation and join with others in community study and work.
Senior students are also available for practice discussion.
This is another way we share our inquiry and understanding, and deepen our relationship with a teacher. Our Teacher Sojun Mel Weitsman was born in Los Angeles in 1929. His broad life experience includes years of art study and abstract expressionist painting, work as a house painter, boat painter, cab driver, and music instructor. Mel lives in North Berkeley with his wife, Liz, and their son, Daniel. In 1964 Mel began to practice at San Francisco Zen Center on Bush Street, and in 1969 was ordained by Suzuki Roshi as resident priest at the Berkeley Zendo.