Various Dates
7 pm -9 pm

In this 2-hour workshop, you receive all the tools you need to get started on your personal journey in Zen practice.

Instruction will be given in zazen meditation, basic Buddhist philosophy, developing a home practice, as well as practicing as part of a community.

There will be plenty of time for questions and conversation!

Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024,
8 pm through Midnight, January 1, 2025

A fun alternative New Year's Eve celebration. Sosan, Koji, and others will lead us as we reflect on the past year, release what's unwanted, and ring in the new. The evening will include an outdoor fire ceremony, delicious soba noodles (prepared by Koji), and meditation to the sound of bells.

Saturday, January 4th,
9 am - 3 pm
with Koji Acquaviva

Set the tone for the coming year! Instead of setting New Year’s Resolutions, this workshop is a chance to clarify our heart’s desire, and align our lives with our deepest intention. Join together with other sangha members on the morning of New Year's Eve to review the past year and explore future directions, while grounding ourselves in the present moment.

Tuesdays, January 7th -
February 25th
6: 30pm - 8:00pm
Zoom Only
with Flying Fish Barbara Murphy

Shantideva guides our reflections on impermanence to help us disentangle ourselves from distractions–developing our awareness of how foolish our attachments are.  Seeing through them we are left with a calm abiding practice.  We are left with the abundant joy that is our birthright and the genuine wish to serve all beings. 

Friday, January 17th, 5pm -
Sunday, January 19th, 4 pm
With Sosan Theresa Flynn and Shoken Winecoff

Ryumonji Monastery is designed from a blueprint of a classic Zen monastery in Japan. Built and operated in an environmentally sustainable way, its gorgeous buildings and temple grounds reflect the spirit of "peaceful dwelling." During this retreat you will learn about many of the Zen ritual objects and engage in some of the formal Zen practices. 

Saturday, January 25th,
2 pm - 6 pm
With Sosan Theresa Flynn and
The WURK group (White-practioners Unraveling Racial Karma)

The class is open to people who are beginning this journey, as well as those long on the path to exploring the white racial framework that shapes our world. We will explore how whiteness impacts our lives and hinders us from being present to the racialized world we live in and look deeply into how white racial conditioning affects our lives and the lives of people of color in our Sangha and beyond.

Thursdays, February 6th-20th
With Sosan Theresa Flynn

In this class, we will explore our complicated relationship with money through the lens of Buddhist practice and teachings. We may, at times, value money for security, control, status, enjoyment or benevolence. We will endeavor to talk candidly with one another as we explore our fears about not having enough and our desires to give freely.

Friday, February 7th, 5 pm -
Saturday, February 8th, 9 pm
With Sosan Theresa Flynn

Guided meditations on Loving-kindness will be offered periodically throughout this sesshin. We will practice completely loving ourselves and others in a way that is free from attachment. Please join us for this courageous practice in realizing wholeness in the face of suffering.

Saturday, February 15th,
7:30 - 9:00 pm
Marc Anderson

“Sound Bath Meditation is an immersive experience in which the listener is “bathed” in waves of soft tones and gentle rhythms. Combining the sounds of crystal singing bowls, gongs, hand drums and subtle drones, I create a rich and deeply therapeutic experience.”

Opening: Sunday, February 16th, 9 am - 10:30 am
Closing: Saturday, April 26th
7:30 - 9:00 pm
Sosan Theresa Flynn and
Jinzu Minna Jain

A Practice Period, or ango (安居), is a traditional Japanese term for a three-month period of intensified training for students of Zen Buddhism. This spring, our theme is “Living Zen, Living Liberation.” What is Zen Buddhism, actually? How is it the same and different from mindfulness or other forms of Buddhism we might be familiar with? Most importantly, can Zen really be practical and useful in our daily lives, communities, and liberation movements? Can it offer us a well of ease, wonder and awe to dip from so we don’t burn the heck out? (Yes!)

Saturday, February 22nd, 1 - 4 pm
With Heather Renkyo Fehst

In this three-hour exploration, we'll be using prompts and reflections to play with words. From three-minute bursts to longer stream-of-consciousness fragments, writers will have a chance to write from their  own somatic experience , from what's present and wants to be on the page, right here, right now. 

Tuesdays, March 4th -
April 15th
6:30 - 8:00 pm
Sosan Theresa Flynn and
Jinzu Minna Jain

Zen is also a word that’s been tossed around often in US and Western pop culture since the 1950's. Poetic, zeitgeisty shorthand for unflappable calm and detachment. But, what is Zen Buddhism, actually? How is it the same and different from mindfulness or other forms of Buddhism we might be familiar with? Most importantly, can Zen really be practical and useful in our daily lives, communities, and liberation movements? Can it offer us a well of ease, wonder and awe to dip from so we don’t burn the heck out? 

Saturday, March 1st,
9 am - 5pm
with Koji Acquaviva

The heart of meditation in the zen tradition is the recognition of our truest nature, the ever-present abiding awareness that underlies every possible experience. Recognition of our true nature, even briefly, is like discovering that there’s a river of ease and satisfaction moving through us in each moment.