This Soto Zen temple is a wonderful intimate place for contemplation and to practice Zen Buddhism. Tucked away on a side street in the Castro, it has a beautiful garden in the back and a quiet zendo in the basement. I enjoy Saturday zazen at 9:25 am usually stay for the short dharma talk at 10:15 am and tea and cookies with the group. The place has an amazing history. Hartford Street Zen Center was founded by Issan Tommy Dorsey whose life story is told in the book "Street Zen" by David Schneider (winner of the Tricycle Prize for Best Book on Buddhism in America). Issan, who served as the temple's first abbot, founded Maitri Hospice at Hartford Street Zen Center. The beat poet Zenshin Philip Whalen was the temple's third abbot. He read at the famous Six Gallery reading in 1955 that marked the launch of the West Coast Beats into the public eye. Whalen appears, in barely fictionalized form, as the character "Warren Coughlin" in Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums, which includes an account of that reading.

Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF) is a leader in socially engaged Buddhism with a long and groundbreaking history of implementing projects that work toward ending suffering in the world. With all of the conflict, injustice and inequality swirling too quickly around us I feel its critical to support organizations guided by generosity, compassion, mindfulness, and deep listening. Check out Turning Wheel Media -- BPF's online forum.

A wonderful program. Helping urban kids make connections between the environment, nutrition, exercise, and their health is so important. We need hundreds of small community-based groups like this in neigbhborhoods across the county.

I visited a lot of churches and groups looking for a a place to explore and deepen my spirituality. Once I really made the commitment to show up and have a spiritual practice, I was able to find a real community of support at Zen Center. The people I've met have been kind, patient, and not too serious about themselves.

Every Saturday morning at 8:30am they offer free meditation instruction. Each week a different teacher leads the group and each time its different so you can go back more than once and get a different perspective. You can stay for the dharma talk which is followed by tea, visit the bookstore or check out some of the art. The building was designed by Julie Morgan (who also designed Hearst Castle) and has a small courtyard with a fountain and garden.

In my experience, Zen practice at San Francisco Zen Center requires a degree of patience and perseverance. People don't rush up and urging you to get more involved. They are more likely to meet you where your at, respond generously to a request, and quietly support your zazen (meditation) practice. For me the benefits didn't happen overnight but required sustained and regular effort. Over time I learned to value stillness and silence -- too qualities I never really understood before coming to Zen Center.

They have a library and great little bookstore where the staff are really knowledgeable. I have taken classes and retreats at all three of their centers -- Beginners Mind Temple in San Francisco, Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in Marin and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in Carmel Valley -- and each has its on personality and attractions.

The Alcoholics Rehabilitation Association of San Francisco runs a residence for 50 men and women in recovery from alcoholism called First Step Home. Their approach is based in the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and they host three AA meetings a week. The organization dates back to 1954 when eleven members of Alcoholics Anonymous met to discuss ways of helping the alcoholic by creating a home where the recovering alcoholic could safely live and find mutual support from people with the same problem. It was one of the first residential programs of its kind in San Francisco. The major of ARA's Board of Directors are recovered alcoholics -- which helps keep the organization honest and true to its mission. There is a tremendous need in San Francisco for more supportive housing for individual in recovery. ARA depends on support from its members and the puhlic.