Tuesday Evening Study
Class is from 8-9pm Pacific Time, after zazen and a short break (you can arrive or leave any time). Click here to view the practice schedule. You are welcome to join our class series for free at any time, at any point in the series, and there is no need to register. Each class can be accessible and enjoyable even if you haven’t attended previous classes in a series. Missed a Class? Classes and Dharma Talks are almost always recorded; click here for recordings.
2026 Annual Precept Study
Every year, we study the Bodhisattva Precepts. Please join us! This series occurs every Tuesday (except for Sesshin, on April 21st) between March 10 and June 2nd, concluding with our June 7th Jukai ceremony (12 classes total) and is led by Sangha members who have received Jukai.
Click here for our Bodhisattva Precepts resource page, including the main precepts text, supplemental references, and suggested books. We don’t have any assigned reading but recommend that people chose one or more of the books on the precepts resource page to read.
Upcoming Study Schedule:
- Tuesday, March 10th – Precepts 1: Precepts as Practice in Our Lineage, Three Refuges, Karma Verse ~ Coral
- Tuesday, March 17th – Precepts 2: Three Pure Precepts ~ Eric
- Tuesday, March 24th – Precepts 3: Do Not Kill – cultivate and encourage life ~ Erica
- Tuesday, March 31st – Precepts 4: Do Not Steal – honor the gift not yet given ~ Dan
- Tuesday, April 7th – Precepts 5: Do Not Misuse Sexuality – remain faithful in relationships ~ Gathel
- Tuesday, April 14th – Precepts 6: Do Not Speak Dishonestly – communicate truthfully ~ Drew
- Tuesday, April 28th – Precepts 7: Do Not Become Intoxicated – polish clarity, dispel delusion ~ Leah
- Tuesday, May 5th – Precepts 8: Do Not Dwell on Past Mistakes – create wisdom from ignorance ~ Mick
- Tuesday, May 12th – Precepts 9: Do Not Praise Self or Blame Others – maintain modesty, extol virtue ~ Yoly ~ In the realm of the equitable dharma, not dwelling upon I versus you is the precept of not praising self or blaming others. All buddhas and ancestors realize the empty sky and the great earth. When they manifest the noble body, there is neither inside nor outside in emptiness. When they manifest the dharma body, not even a speck of dust is seen upon the ground.
- Tuesday, May 19th – Precepts 10: Do Not Be Mean With Dharma or Wealth – share understanding, give freely of self ~ Rachel ~ In the genuine, all-pervading dharma, being jealous of nothing is the precept of not being mean with dharma or wealth. One phrase, one verse – that is the ten thousand things and one hundred grasses; one dharma, one realization – that is all buddhas and dharma ancestors. From the beginning, not one thing has been begrudged.
- Tuesday, May 26th – Precepts 11: Do Not Indulge Anger – cultivate equanimity ~ Jen ~ In the realm of the selfless dharma, not contriving reality for the self is the precept of not indulging anger. Not advancing, not retreating, not real, not empty. There is a brilliant sea of clouds. There is a dignified sea of clouds.
- Tuesday, June 2nd – Precepts 12: Do Not Defame the Three Treasures – respect the buddha, unfold the dharma, nourish the sangha ~ Tyler ~ In the realm of the One, holding no concept of ordinary beings and sages is the precept of not defaming the three treasures. To do something by ourselves, without copying others, is to become an example to the world, and the merit of this becomes the source of all wisdom. Criticize nothing; accept everything.
Summer 2026 Study Series:
The Sandokai, or Harmony of Difference and Sameness
Led by Domyo, with plenty of opportuities for discussion
Sandokai is an ancient teaching poem composed by Chinese Zen master Sekito Kisen (Shitou Xiqian, 700-790). It’s recited daily in Soto Zen temples throughout the world and deals with an issue of paramount importance in Zen: the relationship between the relative and absolute dimensions of reality.
Absolute and relative are terms that describe two profoundly different aspects of reality – the relative aspect, in which everything is defined by difference and particularity, and the absolute aspect, in which everything is part of a seamless whole. Both aspects are simultaneously true, even though they may appear contradictory, just as a finger is a thing unto itself, defined by its separateness from other fingers, but is also simply part of a hand.
The relationship between absolute and relative isn’t just a topic for philosophical debate, it’s something we human beings care about a great deal. We get a sense there’s a whole lot more to life than our ordinary, limited, self-centered perception of it. When meditating, praying, listening to wonderful music, hiking in the wilderness, or just drinking a cup of tea, we may perceive how everything is precious just as it is, how there’s order in the universe, how God is within, how all human beings are fundamentally the same and therefore naturally inclined to compassion, or how nothing is inherently separate from anything else. Oh, how inspiring and glorious!
And then the moment passes and we’re back in the world of good and bad, right and wrong, dirty houses, afflictive emotions, passionate disagreements, and traffic jams – not to mention injustice, war, and environmental destruction. How are we supposed to reconcile these two aspects of reality? For many of us, the absolute aspect seems preferable but frustratingly elusive, setting up a sad tension in our spiritual lives.
Study Materials
Feel free to join the class at any time, it isn’t necessary to have attended previous classes or to have done any listening/reading outside of class – although such study will increase your appreciation of the study.
- Domyo’s Podcast (two episodes, audio and text): Sekito Kisen’s Sandokai: The Identity of Relative and Absolute – In the podcast episode, Domyo comments on the Sandokai line by line.
- Domyo’s Explanation of the Sandokai Line by Line (a chart)
- Domyo’s Handy Dandy Chart of Relative and Absolute (The Two Aspects or Sides of Reality from a Chan/Zen Perspective)
- Shunryu Suzuki’s book Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness. (Amazon link provided for reference, not as an endorsement)
Schedule (flexible, we may take longer to move through the material than this):
The mind of the great sage of India is intimately transmitted from west to east.
While human faculties are sharp or dull, the Way has no northern or southern ancestors.
The spiritual source shines clear in the light; the branching streams flow on in the dark.
Grasping at things is surely delusion; according with sameness is still not enlightenment.
All the objects of the senses interact and yet do not.
Interacting brings involvement. Otherwise, each keeps its place.
Sights vary in quality and form, sounds differ as pleasing or harsh. Refined and common speech come together in the dark, clear and murky phrases are distinguished in the light.
The four elements return to their natures just as a child turns to its mother; Fire heats, wind moves, water wets, earth is solid.
Eye and sights, ear and sounds, nose and smells, tongue and tastes; Thus with each and every thing, depending on these roots, the leaves spread forth.
Trunk and branches share the essence; revered and common, each has its speech.
In the light there is darkness, but don’t take it as darkness; In the dark there is light, but don’t see it as light.
Light and dark oppose one another like the front and back foot in walking.
Each of the myriad things has its merit, expressed according to function and place.
Phenomena exist; box and lid fit. Principle responds; arrow points meet.
Hearing the words, understand the meaning; don’t set up standards of your own.
If you don’t understand the Way right before you, how will you know the path as you walk?
Progress is not a matter of far or near, but if you are confused, mountains and rivers block your way.
I respectfully urge you who study the mystery, do not pass your days and nights in vain.
