"Becoming Yourself" with guest teacher Jiryu Rutschman-Byler

This daylong retreat will focus on Becoming Yourself, the new collection of Shunryu Suzuki roshi's informal talks. There will be morning and afternoon talks by our guest teacher, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, who co-edited this collection together with the late Sojun Mel Weitsman. Your registration offering supports our guest teacher and the ongoing activities of Valley Streams Zen Sangha. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Contact [email protected] to request a scholarship or if this will be your first retreat with us. Please bring a bag lunch.

Jiryu Rutschman-Byler is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest and teacher in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, with dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman. Jiryu has trained residentially in Zen temples since 1996, and currently serves as a co-Abbot of San Francisco Zen Center through his role as Abiding Abbot of Green Gulch Farm Zen Center.

In addition to , Jiryu is the author of the book , about his experiences in 2002 to 2004 as an American-trained monk practicing in Japanese Zen monasteries, and his writing has appeared in Buddhist periodicals in print and online.

Jiryu is a mentor and preceptor to the Montaña de Silencio Sangha in Medellín, Colombia, and for many years served as the head teacher of the Buddhadharma Sangha of San Quentin State Pr*son. He holds a master's degree in Asian Studies from UC Berkeley (2014), where he worked under the mentorship of the Group in Buddhist Studies on Buddhist texts in classical Chinese and modern Japanese, and completed thesis research on the development of Soto Zen in Japan during the Meiji Period (1868-1912).

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Valley Streams Zen @ Sacramento Dharma Center, 3111 Wissemann Drive, Sacramento, United States