Sunday May 19 (Hybrid)
Daily sittings are great, but an extended sitting is a chance to wade further into the waters of zazen. You’ll get a break from stress, a taste of a sesshin day, and maybe even a new perspective on your mind and life. Besides the usual sitting that will run from 8:30 to around 10:30, there…
Sunday May 19 (Hybrid)
The next Coming to the Path talk will be delivered by Anna Belle Leiserson after the morning sitting on Sunday, May 19. In Coming to the Path talks, senior students share their journey to the Dharma and to the Rochester Zen Center. You’re invited to join us onsite in the Arnold Park zendo, on Zoom, or…
Sunday May 19 (Hybrid)
You’re invited to join this hour-long, hybrid meeting of Uprooting Racism. We begin at 11:15 am (Eastern) in the Garden Conference Room at Arnold Park and on Zoom . The mission of Uprooting Racism is to gain personal insight into racism in order to abandon it on an individual level, dismantle it on an institutional…
Sunday May 19 (Online)
A Sangha Engagement Online Program Dharma Reflections takes place the third Sunday of each month from 1:00 to 2:15pm Eastern on Zoom. Longtime RZC member Larry McSpadden leads friendly discussions, suitable for newcomers and established practitioners alike, on short selections of Buddhist writings and teachings. If you’re interested in attending DR meetings or need more…
Monday May 20 (Online)
Calling all those involved in parenting, including grandparents and chosen aunties and uncles! Once a month join Sangha member Susan Rakow on Zoom from 8:15 to 9:15 p.m. (Eastern), for a light-hearted, expert-led, educational, and supportive Parent Practice group. Click here to sign up.
June 1-8, 2024 (Hybrid)
Sesshins (Zen meditation retreats held in silence and seclusion) are offered about once a month at the Rochester Zen Center. They vary in length from two to seven days.
What to Know Before Applying to Sesshin
Sesshins are rigorous, demanding a great deal of the sitter….
Help with the Cost of Sesshin
Do you need financial help with sesshin or residential training? With the recent increase in sesshin costs, we’re guessing more people need this support. We want to get the word out that the Training Fund is here to help. If costs make the difference between your applying or not applying, please do ask for Training…
Saturday June 15 (In-person)
Dokusan is a one-to-one teaching encounter in private given at this center by a fully authorized Zen teacher — either Sensei John Pulleyn or Sensei Dhara Kowal. It is open to those who have become members of the Center. Dokusan is geared to matters of practice in the narrow sense of the word (e.g., zazen), but…
Sunday June 16 (Hybrid)
Teisho, (pronounced “TAY-show”), is a formal (though largely extemporaneous) commentary given at Rochester Zen Center by either Sensei Dhara Kowal or Sensei John Pulleyn while facing the altar. In sesshin it is usually on a koan or other Zen text, whereas outside sesshin it may be on a non-Zen article or book. A teisho is…
Sunday June 16 (Hybrid)
Friends, our next Sangha meeting (hybrid) will be on June 16. Come in-person after the Sunday morning sitting at Arnold Park or use the usual meeting codes to attend on Zoom. One day, Ananda, who had been thinking deeply about things for a while, turned to the Buddha and exclaimed: “Lord, I’ve been thinking –…
Saturday June 22 (Online)
Workshops at the Center: A Practical Introduction to Zen Throughout the year the Rochester Zen Center offers both in-person and online introductory meditation workshops taught either by Sensei John Pulleyn (pronounced “puh-leen“) or Sensei Dhara Kowal, along with senior students. Because getting started in Zen practice isn’t as simple as attending a new church on…
October 10 - 24 (Hybrid)
Our next Term Intensive (TI) runs October 10-24, 2024. The Term Intensive offers us a supportive structure in which to extend our practice efforts for a set period of time. Participants pledge to uphold a schedule of increased sitting and, if they wish, other aspects of discipline that relate directly or indirectly to their Zen…
An extensive list of emails to the community — from the present to 2018 — with news and details about many current and past events.