About SFZCCity CenterGreen GulchTassajara

 
Support Zen Center
Become a Member
HomeSFZCAlumni

Calling All Zen Center Alums

For the first time ever, the San Francisco Zen Center is making an effort to reconnect with our unique version of alumni through the formation of a group dedicated to this important branch of our wider sangha. A deep connection with Zen is a connection that lasts a lifetime, and although until now Zen Center has lacked an official alumni association, hundreds of alumni have maintained their ties to the community. We are deeply grateful for their participation. Our goal in the coming months is to widen this circle even further and in the process create a way for our many alumni to reconnect and share their lives, memories, and practice with each other.

We hope you will join us and other “Zen alums” to co-create a dynamic organization that encourages connections old and new and enlivens practice in the ten directions. What is the meaning of its reaching everywhere?

Because what constitutes an “alum” is not as clear-cut for a Zen group as it is for a college one, we offer this definition, which aims to cast a wide, inclusive net for our venerable sangha:

  • A Zen Center alum is any non-SFZC resident who has completed at least one full practice period at City Center, Green Gulch, or Tassajara and/or has received the precepts from an established teacher at San Francisco Zen Center.
     
  • As one of the primary aims of this group is to be a support for those leaving Zen Center, we invite current residents who are in the midst of transitioning back to the marketplace to begin participation in our alumni sangha.

Our goal is to build an association rich in resources for our alumni. In response to great feedback from our survey, we are working on developing the content of our website page and newsletter as well as beginning to structure plans for events and practice offerings. Stay tuned!

If you’re on Facebook, please join our SFZC Alumni page.

If you haven’t yet signed up for our newsletter, please provide your contact information on this page and send the link to other alumni you know who may be interested. We greatly appreciate the help in ensuring the accuracy of our incomplete records—it’s a challenge to track down contact information for the City Center Ino from 1977 or the Tassajara baker from 1992, as you can imagine.

The Steering Committee encourages anyone who would like to help with the formation of the association, the production of the newsletter, the creation of the website, or event planning to join us. Please contact Nancy Petrin at alumni@sfzc.org or 415.354.0355.

We look forward to your feedback and to building a robust organization over the coming months and years.

Best wishes,

The Alumni Steering Committee: Siobhan Cassidy  Anne Connolly  Bruce Fortin  Karin Gjording  Marc Lesser  Scott McDougall  Jane Norbeck  Nancy Petrin  David Woolman


Practice Period photo
Jukai photo at Green Gulch Farm

50th Anniversary Events

Alumni Celebration Retreat

Great Assembly Anniversary Sesshin

Alumni Mailing List

Subscribe

Newsletter Archives

Contact

Alumni Coordinator:
Nancy Petrin
415.354.0355