On Sundays with a teisho or Dharma talk, we begin sitting one extended round (usually 50 minutes) with a bell at the half-way point for a posture change. The round is followed by kinhin, a short chanting service, and the teisho or talk.

We gather to provide support and discuss the issues of life, death, and sickness from a Buddhist perspective. We meet every 2-3 weeks, following Sunday zazen and brunch. All are welcomed and encouraged to join. Contact Wayman Kubicka (lou.kubicka@gmail.com) for more information.

Acceptances are emailed the day after the deadline. You can still apply after the deadline, and there will usually still be room.

Any member who can't make it to the regular dokusans held during the week can come to this informal Saturday dokusan. Take a seat in the zendo on the left side near the Kannon room and the back stairs any time before 10:00 a.m. There will be an announcement made before dokusan begins, some time between 10:00 and 10:15. Call us if you have questions.

On November 18, the Sunday before Thanksgiving, the Center will hold our annual Ceremony of Gratitude, beginning with zazen at 8:30 am. In some ways, Thanksgiving is the most Buddhist of national holidays – a time when we pause to contemplate all the things we are grateful for. During the ceremony, offerings will be made by and on behalf of the Sangha, and participants are invited to write statements of gratitude that will be read aloud during the ceremony. Family, friends, and children are all welcome to come!

During Temple Night, we transform the Buddha Hall into a space for free-form devotions and sitting meditation, buoyed by exquisitely appointed altars bathed in soft light. Beginning around 7:00 pm, you’re invited to join in our twice-a-year informal sitting in the Buddha Hall (right behind 5 Arnold Park). All are welcome, both members and non-members. You are free to sit anywhere, to join in chanting or to remain silent, and to make prostrations and offer incense at any of the altars, as you wish. You can sit late into the night, if you like, after the formal end of Temple Night. Many people have found these late hours of Temple Night to be an especially fine time for zazen.

This annual ceremony, second in importance only to ordination, gives us the opportunity to further ground our practice by pledging to do our best to live up to the basic sixteen precepts of Buddhism: the Three Treasures, the Three General Resolutions, and the Ten Cardinal Precepts. All are welcome, whether you’re a member of the Zen Center or not: don’t shy away from this ceremony because you think you’re not “ready” for it. You won’t be held accountable by anyone other than yourself. The power this ceremony has to support our spiritual aspirations is boosted by joining with some 50-100 others who also want to renew theirs. This ceremony really is not about navigating right and wrong, but about fortifying our natural desire not to cause harm. We do that by actually voicing these precepts, bringing us closer to embodying them. If this year will be your first time receiving the precepts, or if it’s been a while, here’s a rough outline of what to expect: The ceremony begins around 5 pm in the Buddha Hall, but you’re welcome to come early if you like and sit in the Arnold Park zendo (anything you’re able to do ahead of time to slow down and clear the mind will help make Jukai more meaningful). A bit ahead of time, we’ll begin sending people out to the Buddha Hall, and once there you’ll be directed down the center aisle to make an optional donation to the teacher (a token amount is fine), do a prostration at the altar, and take your seat. When everyone is seated, Roshi will enter, we’ll chant the Prajna Paramita, and then Roshi will lead everyone through the Sixteen Precepts. The ceremony itself takes about half an hour, and afterwards we’ll have refreshments in the Link.