February 8-Day Zen Retreat Feb 17, 2025

Retreat is a time to look inward and investigate our experience. It is an opportunity to see through our habitual thinking and feeling, uncovering our natural wisdom and compassion. 

The retreat will be led by Zen Master Bon Soeng and co-led with Marshall White JDPSN. We are welcoming up to...

Continue Reading...
Everything is Changing teaching Feb 17, 2025
Everything is always changing. That’s the truth of our human world. The earth is spinning on its axis. That moves the wind, that moves time, that moves space and it creates change. We either like what we have and don’t want to lose it so we fight the change. Or we think our life...
Continue Reading...
Clear Intention teaching Dec 12, 2024

If we are not clear on our intention, then our life is haphazard and we just increase the suffering in the world. But if our intention is clear, it is possible in the moment of action, correct function can appear. Maybe in that moment, we put down our I, mine, me......our desire, anger, and...

Continue Reading...
1 Day Retreat October 26th Oct 10, 2024

Retreat is a time to look inside and investigate our life. It is an opportunity to clear our mind of habitual thinking and access our wisdom and compassion.

The retreat will be led by Zen Jason Quinn JDPSN. We are allowing up to 13 people to come sit with us in person at the Boise location and 15...

Continue Reading...
Purpose of Zen teaching Oct 10, 2024

That's Zen mind. It's not about being perfect. It's not about doing everything right in such a way that someone will tell a wonderful story about you, and people will still be talking about it a thousand years from now. It's simply paying attention, meeting the moment, and helping. Our teacher,...

Continue Reading...
Fundraiser 2024 news Aug 19, 2024

Dear Friends of Empty Gate Zen Center,

I would like to personally thank all of you for your participation in the practice at Empty Gate Zen Center. Over the past four years, our sangha has grown in many, many ways. Our root Zen Center in Berkeley was closed for a time and is now slowly increasing...

Continue Reading...
Clear Seeing, Clear Action teaching Aug 01, 2024
The Buddha talked about clear seeing. In order to clearly see, we have to let go of what's clouding our vision. What clouds our vision is this concept of "I". The concept of "I" fixes the world in a certain way. Let go of the concept of "I" and we can perceive the moment clearly. When we can...
Continue Reading...
The First Noble Truth teaching May 16, 2024

The First Noble Truth is "All things are suffering." Life is suffering. The word in Sanskrit is duḥkha. Sometimes it is translated as unsatisfactory." Situations in this world and our lives are not what we want them to be. There's almost always a gap between what we want and what is. As much as...

Continue Reading...
3 Day Hybrid Zen Retreat May 17th-19th news May 04, 2024

Retreat is a time to look inside and investigate our life. It is an opportunity to clear our mind of habitual thinking and access our wisdom and compassion.


The retreat will be led by Jason Quinn JDPSN. We are allowing up to 15 people to come sit with us in person at the Berkeley...

Continue Reading...
What Is Enough Mind? teaching Mar 07, 2024
"Enough mind" means you’ve got enough. You don’t need anything else. The First Noble Truth states that life is suffering. Sometimes we say life is unsatisfactory. Why is it unsatisfactory? It always needs to be a little bit different. But if life doesn’t need to be any different...
Continue Reading...
Why Be In This Moment? teaching Mar 05, 2024

The question always comes to, “Why do that?” So now we’re present, now what? Is it for our own enjoyment? That’s okay, that’s nice; we all want our own enjoyment. But that brings us back to suffering because we’re only happy as long as it brings us joy. As soon...

Continue Reading...
Struggle and Bliss teaching Feb 22, 2024

We think we understand what's good and what's bad, but we don't know. So just breathe! And then whatever happens, that's what happens. You learn from all of it. That struggle is powerful. That moment of bliss is also powerful. There is something to be gleaned from all of it. It's just the craving...

Continue Reading...
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8