Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 7/20/25 - What is this we think of as ‘my body’? Hojin Sensei brings in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutra focusing on Buddha’s teaching to meditate on ‘the body in the body.’ Our culture already encourages a focus on the mind and the intellect, and because we’re educated to be in our heads, it can be really hard to include the body in our awareness as we’re developing the capacity for more presence. Hojin offers this talk as a tribute to poet and performance artist Andrea Gibson —who passed earlier this week— and delivers her poem, "I Sing the Body Electric, Especially When My Power’s Out."
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What’s Opening?
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei - ZCNYC - 7/12/25 - The Bright, Boundless Field is a practice instruction of Chan Master Hongzhi, found in the text Cultivating the Empty Field. Join Hojin in an exploration of this teaching of the great way to closely observe delusions using these ‘habits or seeming obstructions’ themselves to clarify and illuminate the field of awakening—opening to the truth body, the truth of our embodiment.
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Compassionate Interdependence
Danica Shoan Ankele, Osho - ZMM - 7/6/25 - The teachings of dependent origination tell us that all that arises does so with all of reality: "because of this, that, and because of that, this." In studying what we call “the self,” Shoan Osho reminds us that we are not a fixed, unchanging element among all the other aspects of life. Rather, we are the manifestation of causes and conditions, interdependent with all of reality, full of innate wisdom and compassion. This is the benefit of our practice; it is our true interdependence.
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Offerings to the Land Deity
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 6/29/25 - Shugen Roshi asks, “If all things are empty with no inherent existence, then how do things come into being?” In other words, how are we creating our world, moment by moment? How do we do this consciously, intentionally, bringing our vows to life? Every occurrence is handed to us fresh, and in practice we can learn to bring our best selves forward, without grasping or clinging to anything extra. - From the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye - Case 18 - "Nanquan and the Land Deity."
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Abiding Well In The Mountains
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - Saturday 6/28/25 - How do we make the dharma our own? In Zen training, we have to fully let go of the expectations and ideas of what it will look like once we realize ourselves. And importantly, we need to let go of our self-criticism and other kinds of self-centered preoccupation. As we continue to build confidence in our abilities and the practice itself, we learn to abide well anywhere we go, in all aspects of our lives. - From the Koans of the Way of Reality - Yunju's "Abiding in the Mountains"
The Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO) is a Western Zen Buddhist lineage established by the late John Daido Loori Roshi and dedicated to sharing the dharma as it has been passed down, generation to generation, since the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. Zen Mountain Monastery, the main house of the Mountains and Rivers Order, is one of the West’s most respected Zen Buddhist monasteries and training centers. Nestled in New York’s beautiful Catskill Mountains, the Monastery draws its strength from the ancient tradition of Buddhist monasticism. Since 1980, the Monastery has offered spiritual practitioners traditional and innovative ways to engage the dharma through a wide range of retreats and residential programs that unfold within the context of authentic, full-time Zen monastic training. The Zen Center of New York City: Fire Lotus Temple is the city branch of Zen Mountain Monastery. Supporting home practitioners in the metropolitan area, ZCNYC offers varied practice opportunities within the Eight Gates training matrix.
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