An Interview with Tanto Tim of SF Zen CenterNew

I’m sitting in Cafe International on Haight Street waiting for Tanto Tim Wicks of the SF Zen Center. I remember him as my favorite monk from my semi-regular attendance at SFZC meditations; he’s unpretentious and animated in discussions. He breezes in wearing his signature look– pinstripe overalls and a well-worn denim jacket, smiling warmly and seeming generally unbothered despite arriving nearly 30 minutes late. He apologizes graciously, but I’m a little disappointed. The evil part of my brain wonders what it would be like to see a flustered Zen monk.

What is SFZC?

The SF Zen Center (SFZC) is the pretty brick building on the corner of Page St and Laguna St. I’ve noticed that no one employed by the Zen Center can talk about the Zen Center without mentioning its founder, Shunryū Suzuki (also known as Suzuki Roshi). Tim is no exception. He describes how Suzuki Roshi spread Zen Buddhism in the Bay Area in the 1960s to his devout beatniks, which I understand was one of the catalysts for Zen Buddhism popularizing throughout the USA. Today, the Zen Center hosts meetings and meditations, runs businesses (Greens Restaurant is one of them!), and accommodates some live-in monks like Tim.

What is Tanto?

Tim begins detailing the pyramid structure of SFZC leadership. At the top: the Abbot or Abbess. Then, the Tanto, Tim, who supervises the Ino (meditation manager) and the Doan Ryo (bell ringers). Tim explains that the Tanto is the spiritual second-in-command next to the Abbot/Abbess; which is an important distinction because also underneath the Abbess sit various administrative posts such as the president and CFO. Tim mentions that ‘monk’ loosely refers to anyone that lives in a Zen Monastery, meaning while Tanto Tim is technically a live-in monk, that’s actually one of the least relevant descriptors for his current role.

What is Zen Buddhism?

Tim describes how Zen Buddhism was formed: Indian Buddhism arrived in Japan by way of China and mixed with Japanese Shinto to become Zen, resulting in some concepts and frameworks that are both Buddhist and uniquely Zen. The author is flawed and cannot provide more detail than that, but surely there are some online resources available to the reader. Tim explains that Zen Buddhism in the USA is also a product of mixing cultures, and therefore has a distinct flavor; here it’s been mixed with psychotherapy and the average American Zen Buddhist is skeptical of the deist practices, despite Zen being a religion at its core. I, moronically, asked the spiritual second-in-command of the SFZC what he believes. Tim: “It’s definitely a religion to me.”

What do you spend your time thinking about?

Tim’s face lights up. He’s recently been reading about Zen aesthetics. Before finding Buddhism, Tim graduated with an MFA from California College of Arts (Formerly CCAC) and you can see vestiges of his art degree in moments like this; he relishes in the details of Zen ceremonial forms (like the tea ceremony) and how its elements convey the Zen idea of interconnectedness. Tim mentions the Japanese aesthetic concept of ‘wabi-sabi’ as an outgrowth of Zen practice, but is unfamiliar with the way that word has worked its way into TikTok vernacular; confirming my suspicion that TikTok is likely not Zen.

How can a beginner get involved with SFZC?

The Zen Center hosts the Young Urban Zen group from 7:15-9 every Tuesday night; where local 20-40ish year olds gather for group meditation and listen to a speaker, sometimes Tanto Tim. The Zen Center also hosts longer meditations daily with instruction every other Saturday morning, as well as monthly half-day (4 hour) meditations. Check out sfzc.org for more information.