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Class: A head-full of birds: Zen in the Age of Twitter

Tuesdays, 7:30 - 9 pm
January 26 - March 16, 2010
with Zachary Smith

Dogen’s Bendowa starts with a proposition about the nature of practice and with the author’s own story, but by the time you get around to the Q&A at the end, it becomes clear that the central questions, or at least two of the central questions of the work, are, “Can this ancient practice be carried forward to this new land?" and "Who here can practice it/benefit from it?” It also becomes clear that, as befits a young man presenting his manifesto, Dogen’s answers to these question are, “Yes!” and “Everyone without exception.” What a radically modern proposition. How can we today dispense with the Wholehearted Way even in this undiscovered country we’ve somehow constructed for ourselves out of copper and glass?

The course will draw on the Bendowa both as direct reading and as a model for how to propose and answer questions about practice and life—any kind of life. We will also visit the literature that has arisen out of the academic study of technology, such as Sherry Turkle’s, “Life on the Screen.” As always, Suzuki Roshi with his descriptions of planting the tree of Zen practice on the rock of American culture has a great deal to teach us as well.

It will be helpful, but not a requirement, for the student to have a cell phone and a twitter account.

Class fees; eight class meetings: $96; $86 SFZC members; $77 limited income.

To Register: Please contact the City Center office at 415.863.3136.

Related Bio(s):

Zachary Smith - Anshi Daigi
Zachary Smith, Anshi Daigi, has been practicing since 1993, took jukai in 1995, and was shuso under Abbot Paul Haller in Fall of 2007. He currently directs North Mountain Zendo, a zazenkai group in North Beach. In addition to his involvement with Zen, Zachary is a husband and father (of 4), an engineer, a musician, a bike fanatic, and an avid but mediocre poet. He may be the only person in the history of Zen in the West to have interrupted a residential practice period to tour with a rock band.
Related Information
Zachary Smith - Anshi Daigi

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