Young Urban Zen is a group under the auspices of the San Francisco Zen Center, with a particular focus on those between 20 and 40. It meets on Tuesday evenings for meditation and discussion about Zen practice. People of all experience levels are welcome.
Reading the feed…
Michael McCord leads the YUZ Sangha through a talk about one of the ten grave precepts: “I vow to refrain from false speech.” This precept asks us to look closely at the space between what is true and what we say — not only outright falsehoods, but exaggeration, spin, flattery, and the small ways we shade our words to manage how others see us or how we feel about ourselves. Practicing with it means learning to notice the impulse to speak before we've checked whether what we're about to say is accurate, kind, and necessary. It's less a rule about lying and more an invitation to bring honesty —
This is a reupload of Michael’s talk a couple weeks ago, both with improved quality and to let you know about his workshop happening this month on AI and what it means to be human. Please see below for the original description: Tomorrow evening I'll be leading the Young Urban Zen gathering, and it will be a preview of this online workshop that I'm teaching in August: Being Human in the Age of AI. Please feel free to sign up or ask me any questions about this online offering. This is a course that I've been teaching for about three years, and it is constantly being updated, as you can imagine.
Eli explores Attention in an Age of Distraction. Before asking what distracts us, we’ll look at what captures our attention in the first place particularly the subtle ways our preferences, what we like and don’t like, shape where our attention goes and how we experience the world. Attention in an Age of Distraction Young Urban Zen
This week's theme is "The heart of Zen teachings - Grandmotherly Mind". Zen practice isn't about becoming a better version of yourself—it's about learning a radically different way of relating to the person you already are. This talk explores the Zen teaching of Grandmotherly Mind: a compassionate, clear, and courageous way of meeting ourselves and others that transforms how we navigate work, relationships, and everyday life. Drawing on the teachings of the great Zen master Eihei Dōgen, we'll explore how this ancient practice speaks directly to the challenges of modern life. Grandmotherly Mind
Tonight Tim Wicks will speak about accumulation. We collect lots and lots of stuff. For some of us shopping can be an addiction. A lot of it gets thrown away. Greed is one of the three poisons that we work with in Zen, it is an obstacle to our awakening. Here we discuss… Accumulation Young Urban Zen
In a culture that often measures human worth by productivity and output, this talk explores what is distinctly and irreducibly human—our capacity for empathy, our unique perspective, our ability to be present with difficulty, and our power to connect. Drawing on Zen practice, neuroscience, and contemplative wisdom, Sozan Michael McCord examines our relationships with technology, with each other, and with the processes that fill our days. Being Human in the Age of AI Michael McCord
Let's get real. Life can be messy. Relationships become complicated. Work is uncertain. We lose our way. Our bodies change. The people we love get older. We lose faith in everything. Sometimes everything seems to happen at once. Now what? Buddhism and meditation practice doesn't promise that life will become easy or that somehow we'll rise above it all. It does offer practical ways to meet whatever arises with a little more awareness, honesty, kindness, and freedom. It's-a-Mess-Now-What? Young Urban Zen
Heather Iarusso leads us through a talk on the "origin of conflict" and "mindfulness of mind." How does our thought-world affect how we think, act, and speak? How can we transform harmful "verbal action" into beneficial "internal speech"? The more we pay close attention to what arises in the mind, the more we can respond to what's happening in the moment with compassion and care. There is a slightly guided meditation at the end as well! Origin of Conflict and Mindfulness of Mind Young Urban Zen
Kodo Conlin and Mei Elliott each reflect on the topic of romance, relationship, and sexuality. How can we be free in the midst of romance, dating, and attraction? What is the relationship between practice and sexuality? American culture has a notable lack of education about what authentic and awake relationships can look like. This session explores how self-study provides a gateway to greater freedom in romance. Romance, Relationship, and Sexuality Young Urban Zen
Eli will conclude our exploration of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness with the Fourth Foundation: Mindfulness of Phenomena (dhammas). This foundation invites us to look beyond individual experiences and begin noticing the patterns and conditions that shape them. Rather than asking, “What’s wrong with me?” we begin asking, “What conditions are present?” Together we’ll explore how the Buddha’s teachings including the Five Hindrances serve not as abstract concepts, but as practical maps that help us recognize the habits of mind that lead toward suffering and those that lead toward freedom. 202
Hiro Ikushima leads us through a talk about the 3rd foundation of Mindfulness: Mindfulness of Mind, or citta (Pāli). This practice invites us to notice the changing states of mind, such as calm or restless, contracted or open, clear or confused, without judgment. How can we meet the mind just as it is? And how does this awareness help us see our patterns? Four Foundations of Mindfulness: Mindfulness of Mind (citta) Young Urban Zen
This podcast will be the second part in our series on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness: Feelings as told by Michael. By noticing how feelings arise and pass, practitioners learn that feelings themselves are not self and that attachment or aversion to them causes suffering. This awareness interrupts habitual reactions and fosters equanimity. 2026-06-16-Michael-mindfulness Young Urban Zen
Kōgetsu Mok leads us through a very powerful breakdown of the first of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness: the breath. How does breathing help us to come home to our bodies, our lives, and ourselves? We can maybe see how something as ordinary as the breath can become a doorway to intimacy, humility, connection, and freedom. Not for enlightenment. Not to unravel emptiness. Not to grok some complicated philosophy. Just breathing. The Breath Young Urban Zen
Tim Wicks concludes our series on the Noble Eight-Fold Path with Right Intention. How does our practice direct our intention on the spiritual path, and how does that intention direct the practice? Right Intention Young Urban Zen
This week's theme is "Right View" of the Eightfold Path. How do our views shape the way we meet ourselves, each other, and the world? Right View invites us to see suffering, its causes, and the possibility of freedom more clearly. Join us with Hiro in exploring these themes. Right View Young Urban Zen
This week’s Young Urban Zen broadcast is a little different than usual. Abbot David leads us through a meditation instruction, a short meditation, and finally a Dharma talk about Generosity (Dāna). “The path of true liberation begins with Generosity.” Generosity / Dāna Young Urban Zen
In today’s talk Michael will be continuing our series on the 8 Fold Noble Path that we started a few weeks ago. This week it will be on "Right Livelihood". We spend much of our life working. How do we determine if how we are spending our time is in alignment with our values in regards to how we support ourselves, pay our bills and save for the future? Please come and turn this subject over in this podcast! Right Livelihood Young Urban Zen
Kodo Conlin guides us through the topic of Right Samādhi: Sitting Buddha. We explore samādhi/concentration as part of Zen's rich heritage. This final factor of the Eightfold Path can be understood as the fruit of our wholehearted presence. Right Samadhi Young Urban Zen
This week’s theme is Right Effort — Not Getting Anything, Not Causing Harm. We’ll touch on the simple but challenging guidelines of do no harm, do all good, and how our actions through body, speech, and mind shape our experience and those around us. Right Effort Young Urban Zen
Tonight Eli continues in the series on the 8 Fold Path. Tonight we will practice and talk about Right Mindfulness. Right Mindfulness Young Urban Zen
Tim Wicks leads this weekly YUZ talk with an overview of The Four Noble Truths and a further focus on 2 folds of The Eight Fold Path: Right Speech & Right Action. Unfortunately, a fire occurred in late March which burned down the Zendo at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. No one was injured, but the damage is extensive. See below link for more details about donating and also another link about the latest info on the matter: Tassajara Fire Donation Tassajara Fire blog Content Link Block Select a page and create a visual link to it. Learn more Blog Four Noble Truths - Right Speech & Action Young Ur
As many of you may have heard, we did have a fire at our Tassajara monastery, and the meditation hall burned down. I'll talk a little bit about what's going on there at the beginning of the meeting tonight. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and the fire was contained and did not spread beyond the meditation hall. Tonight's topic will be the second half of the Brahma Viharas: empathetic joy and equanimity. Tassajara Zendo Fire Late at night on March 26, a fire broke out in the Tassajara zendo. While no one was hurt, the entire building burned to the ground. To help keep the community informed, a blo
Michael McCord leads tonight’s talk about The Four Brahmavihārās. This is part 1 of a 2 part series which focuses on the Brahmavihārās “Loving Kindness” & “Compassion.” In a world that can be aggressive, combative, competitive, how do these traits work not only with those we love and trust but towards the world in general? And how do they manifest in us, through a decision? Cultivation? Simple awareness? The Four Brahmavihārās - pt 1 (of 2) - Loving Kindness & Compassion Young Urban Zen
In Zen and traditional Buddhism there are a number of tools that can be cultivated to help us in these relationships and some of you may have wisdom to share in the practice of relationships and work. Relationship With Work Young Urban Zen
Eli opens a conversation on how to be in relationship with “people we don’t like”. He discusses how sitting zazen might help us practice with unpleasant feelings that come up in conflict—anger, frustration, judgement, resentment, and so on. What if we looked at relationships with “people we don’t like” not as imperfections in practice but as the practice itself? Relationships With "People We Don't Like" Young Urban Zen
