So I have to retract what I wrote before about SF Zen Center, in particular about the chanting in Japanese when very few people attending now, if any, are native Japanese speakers. It occured to me at the last Dharma Talk that the opening and closing chanting, or liturgy some call it, parts of which are in Japanese, is not just ritual tradition or granola exotification, but for the entire spiritual lineage of the school. It's a practical point of belief that they're all there. I'm glad I caught myself. My bad. I'll memorize it for next time, although I have been enjoying just listening, because when you have all these voices in unison, chanting at their lowest fundamental root tone, you can totally hear overtones an octave or more lower.