Guest Student Stays at City Center

The City Center Renovation Project is entering its final stages and City Center is on schedule to reopen in January 2025. We are now accepting applications for residential practice opportunities; all stays will begin after January 1. See link below to apply.

Program Details

Guest students participate in the practice schedule and daily life of City Center. This includes morning zazen (sitting meditation), service (sutra chanting and bowing), work (often of a physical nature), and communal vegetarian meals. Zazen instruction, Dharma talks, daily Dharma discussion with the work crew, and meetings with teachers are also offered. Intensives and sesshins (silent retreats) may also be available to guest students with an additional registration fee.

Guest Student Daily Schedule

Length of Stay

Guest student stays are a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of six weeks. If you are interested in a longer stay, please contact the Guest Student Manager at ccstudent@sfzc.org.

Long Term Residency

Guest students who are interested in continuing at City Center for a long term stay may apply to be a Work Practice Apprentice. In order to apply as a WPA, students must have completed a minimum 2-week guest student stay.

Health and Safety

City Center is a congregate living facility which includes high risk individuals. While not required, we strongly encourage anyone coming to be a resident to be vaccinated and have boosters. If a guest student becomes sick, they will be asked to isolate in their room and take an antigen self-test onsite. Guest students who have been at City Center for one month or less who test positive for Covid-19 will be asked to depart City Center. If they cannot return home due to travel restrictions, we will support their quarantine to the best of our ability.

Please contact the Guest Student Manager to learn about the most current guidelines if you think this will impact your ability to participate in community life.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

At SFZC, we recognize that diversity practice and Dharma practice are deeply interconnected. DEIA work is an essential part of our practice, enabling us to study our own conditioned and discriminating minds, as well as the conditions that give rise to harm, suffering, and collective inequities. Through this work, we deepen our understanding of the causes of suffering and foster greater awareness of how harm occurs. SFZC is committed to engaging in practice, conversation, and study to further embody diversity, inclusion, equity, and cultural humility.

As students of the Dharma, we aspire to view all beings as Buddha, treating everyone with care and respect. City Center welcomes people of every gender, age, race, ethnicity, class/income level, sexual orientation, political belief, language spoken, and physical ability, and we will strive to accommodate the requests of the sangha.

SFZC has a designated fund to support BIPOC practitioners with guest student stay fees. Please indicate to the Guest Student Manager if this applies to you.

Planning Your Stay

Guest students arrive at City Center, 300 Page Street, at 9:45 am on Monday, and ring the bell at the main entrance. City Center does not provide parking so it is advisable to take some form of public transportation and leave your car elsewhere. Rooms may be shared with one or two other students. We will provide you with sheets, blankets, pillows, and a bath towel. A full packing list will be provided once your application has been accepted.

In the spirit of maintaining Buddhist precepts, guest students are asked to abstain from drug and alcohol use, and from initiating new sexual relationships during their guest student stay.

Contact

For inquiries, contact the Guest Student Manager/Work Leader at ccstudent@sfzc.org.