Zen Studies Society

NYZ: Day of Zen

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For newcomers and experienced practitioners alike, the Day of Zen at New York Zendo Shobo-ji is an opportunity to discover or reacquaint yourself with the essentials of Rinzai Zen Buddhist practice. This one-day session will include an introduction to zazen (seated meditation with attention to breath and posture), choka (morning chanting service), and samu (work practice). Participants will also learn how to use jihatsu (nested meal bowls) in a formal silent lunch. The afternoon will conclude with a Dharma talk by a resident teacher, followed by informal tea and a Q&A period.

The fee for the day is $40 for Supporting Members and $50 for nonmembers. Please consider becoming a Supporting Member of ZSS.  If you are a current Sangha member and would like to volunteer for the day in exchange for admission; please contact office@newyorkzendo.org.  ZSS Health Protocols apply.

 

Typical schedule (subject to change):

9:00 Doors open, check in
9:30 Welcome, orientation, chanting instruction
10:00 Choka (morning chanting service), short break
11:00 Instruction on zazen (seated meditation) and kinhin (walking meditation)
Noon Zazen, kinhin, zazen
1:00 Jihastu lunch with instruction
2:00 Nittensoji (cleaning), short break
2:50 Shinrei (warning bell)
3:00 Dharma talk
3:30 Zazen
4:00 Closing, tea, informal Q&A
5:00 Departure

 

NYZ: Day of Zen

by

For newcomers and experienced practitioners alike, the Day of Zen at New York Zendo Shobo-ji is an opportunity to discover or reacquaint yourself with the essentials of Rinzai Zen Buddhist practice. This one-day session will include an introduction to zazen (seated meditation with attention to breath and posture); choka (morning chanting service); and samu (work practice). Participants will also learn how to use jihatsu (nested meal bowls) in a formal silent lunch. The afternoon will conclude with a Dharma talk by a resident teacher, followed by informal tea and a Q&A period.

This is the tentative schedule of the day’s activities

9 a.m.            Doors open, check in
9:30 a.m.       Welcome, overview of the day,  chanting instruction
10 a.m.          Morning chanting service (choka); short break
11 a.m.          Instruction on zazen (sitting meditation) and kinhin (walking meditation)
Noon             Zazen, kinhin, zazen
1 p.m.           Jihatsu lunch with instruction
2 p.m.           Nittensoji (cleaning), including lunch clean-up; short break
2:50 p.m.      Shinrei (warning bell)
3 p.m.           Dharma talk
3:30 p.m.      Zazen
4 p.m.           Closing,  informal Q&A, tea and conversation
5 p.m.           Departure

The fee for the day is $40 for Supporting Members and $50 for nonmembers. Please consider becoming a Supporting Member of ZSS.  If you are a current sangha member and can volunteer to assist for the day the fee will be waived; please contact office@newyorkzendo.org.  ZSS Health Protocols apply.

Engaged at ZSS – Awakening with the Spring

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By Kyotai Amanda Hill

“The purpose of a Zen community, to embody fully the reality of buddha nature, is not at all separate from achieving harmony with the natural environment and its rhythms. The community practice forms reflect the ecological Buddhist worldview of mutual interdependence.”

– Dogen, Pure Standards for a Zen Community

The days grow longer, the sun appears higher in the sky, and a tiny crocus peeks through the snow – the first breaths of spring come to our attention. Being engaged with ourselves and the environment, the separateness disappears.

Observing the Winter Sky

Orion, the hunter, has long been a favorite constellation of the winter sky as it’s easily identifiable with the three bright stars of his belt: Alnilam, Mintaka, and Alnitak. Even as we name these stars, imagining a picture and myth to explain our place in this universe, other cultures make alternate inferences. Lakota Native Americans viewed these same three stars as the back of a bison, with neighboring stars creating the remainder of the mammal.

Following the line of Orion’s belt to the north, you will find Pleiades, a star cluster also known as the Seven Sisters because of its seven main visible stars. Subaru, the Japanese word for Pleiades, means “united” or “gather together.” For fans of The Lord of the Rings, this star cluster is thought to be the inspiration for Remmirath, rem (mesh) and mir (jewel), or the Netted Stars.

Awakening of the Forest

Male bears are beginning to emerge from hibernation, while their female counterparts will remain longer. We may begin to see the woodcocks as an initial sign of the spring migration, soon the warblers and songbirds will follow. The daffodils, snowdrops, and crocus begin to bloom, and minute red buds can be seen on the maple trees. The earth is opening before our eyes.

Below the Frozen Waters

As the ice begins to melt, the dripping sound of water permeates the air. The nutrients that have settled on the bottom of lakes and ponds over the winter stir, offering an opportunity for growth. All the dormant life, being nourished, slowly awakens to the spring. Soon the frogs’ resounding croaks will be evident.

I am reminded of Indra’s Net, which metaphorically represents dependent origination, depicting the universe as a network of interconnected jewels, each reflecting the light of others. Francis Cook wrote, “The Hua-yen school has been fond of this image, mentioned many times in literature because it symbolizes a cosmos in which there is an infinitely repeated interrelationship among all members of the cosmos.” I often consider this, acknowledging that all of my speech and actions affect things seen and unseen in my immediate and distant environments. Each of us reflects the other as jewels in a net or the moon on the ocean.

“Not a thing in the entire universe is missing from the present time. Observe and meditate on it deeply.” As we move into spring, Dogen’s words inspire us to take in everything, observe it deeply, feeling the unity of the internal and external.

Article – Interim at Dai Bosatsu Zendo

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By Daishin Pawel Wojtasik

Recently, I found myself blessed with a week free of obligations. The idea of going somewhere radically different from my home in Brooklyn took root, and Dai Bosatsu Zendo monastery in the Catskill Mountains emerged as the perfect destination. I used to be a resident there from 1998 to 2000 — the magnificence of the setting and the profound intensity of practice left an indelible mark on my memory. Since it was February, the monastery was in the Interim period. Being mostly familiar with sesshin (intensive retreats of 5 to 7 days) and kessei (a training period of up to 3 months), I was not sure what to expect. I wrote to Chigan Roshi to ask if I could join the community for a week. Roshi responded that the residents would be happy to have me and that I could come for as many days as I wished.

To get to DBZ I was advised to take a bus to Monticello, NY, a ride which took about 1 1/2 hours from New York City. Upon my arrival in Monticello, I was picked up by two of the residents, Hanqing Zhou and Bryan Alonso. Once at DBZ, I was welcomed by the third resident, Jim McIntire and later I was happy to see Kanchi Lucía Oliva Hennelly, who lives nearby and joins the residents for zazen and meals, whenever her schedule allows.

When I woke up the first morning at 5:50 a.m. and rushed to Kaisando chanting, I realized that this would not exactly be a vacation. I soon found out that the Interim schedule, although much more relaxed than sesshin or kessei, still provides an opportunity for serious practice.

During interim, residents get to perform many tasks normally reserved for senior monastics. We started the day with a short morning service, followed by a period of zazen. This took place in the dining hall which is used as the Zendo during Interim to save energy. Read More

2023 Annual Report

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By Jifu Devyani Sadh

As we reflect on the past year, we express deep gratitude for your steadfast support of the Zen Studies Society. Our monumental $1.5 million Dai Bosatsu Zendo Monastery Restoration campaign surpassed the halfway point. Your contributions enabled vital upgrades to reduce our energy expenditures and environmental footprint. Despite the concurrent capital campaign, our general fund donations remained strong, and we achieved a remarkable 34% surge in unrestricted revenue. This growth was largely attributable to increased rental income from the newly renovated Beecher House and earnings from our three-year-old Endowment Fund.

Beyond financial success, 2023 marked the highest in-person attendance in the last five years, driven by heightened energy at New York Zendo. We welcomed over 5,000 visitors across 500+ events at our two temples. The year also brought significant Dharma transitions, honoring our former abbot as Abbess Emerita, welcoming the new abbot, and launching a Dharma teacher training program with nine Junior Dharma Teachers.

Explore our 2023 Annual Report for insights from our new abbot, updates on the Monastery Restoration campaign, and details on pivotal transitions. The report offers an overview of our programming, activities, and financial health, and recognizes major donors and supporters who made it all possible.

Thank you for being a valued member of our sangha. May we continue to practice together and make our shared vision of living with insight and compassion a reality.

Engaged at ZSS – Please Call Me By True Names

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By Jikyo Bonnie Shoultz Sensei

In today’s world, where there is so much war and suffering, we yearn for peace. In November 2023, Jifu Devyani Sadh, the originator of the ZSS Engaged Buddhism initiative, held a workshop that explored the delusion of separateness, the root cause of conflict and strife. This workshop examined Buddhist Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s famous poem, Please Call Me by My True Names, and I invite you to experience this poem today as we contemplate the possibility of peace.

This poem was written soon after the Vietnam war ended, and it provides us with insight into how we cannot separate ourselves from the world around us, even from those who cause harm. I find that each time I read this poem, its meaning deepens and sheds new light on my questions about peace.

“Please Call Me by My True Names” by Thich Nhat Hanh

Don’t say that I will depart tomorrow —
even today I am still arriving.

Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.

The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay
his “debt of blood” to my people
dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.

My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart
can be left open,
the door of compassion.

To me, this poem exemplifies that peace cannot come as long as we separate ourselves as “us” vs “them;” peace will only come when we truly realize our oneness. Can we look at each other and recognize ourselves in each other? Can we generate peace?

Locations

Dai Bosatsu Zendo
223 Beecher Lake Road
Livingston Manor, NY 12758

New York Zendo
223 East 67th Street
New York, NY 10065


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Contact Us

Dai Bosatsu Zendo
office@daibosatsu.org
(845) 439-4566

New York Zendo
office@newyorkzendo.org
(212) 861-3333