Online Programs

For the Health and Safety of All

With a deep breath of relief and remembrance, we are increasingly adding in-person events to our calendar. Please refer to this web page (see below) for regularly updated information on programs at ZMM at ZCNYC, as wells as webcasts, online retreats, and other ways to connect. Our daily zazen and Sunday programs are accessible through Livestream. You can also keep up with us through our blog at MountainRecord.org and our podcast as well as social media.  If you are not currently receiving our weekly newsletter, you can add your name to either of our mailing lists here. Thank you for your practice!

The monastics and residents of the Monastery and Fire Lotus Temple are continuing to maintain our Zen training schedule as usual. Each week we are livestreaming the Monastery's Sunday morning program in addition to daily zazen Tuesday evening through Saturday evening. Additionally, you'll find below a list of daily opportunities for group practice over Zoom.

In practicing Buddhadharma we turn inwards and find the calm and clear understanding that is within each of us. We turn outwards to offer lovingkindness, patience and compassion to every being. In times like this, many people will feel anxiety and uncertainty about the present and the future, and may express that in both inspiring and troubling ways. As practitioners, let's use our circumstances to take refuge in the Three Treasures, drawing on our trust in the Dharma and the essential desire in each of us for happiness and well-being. Each morning we chant the Four Immeasurables and we encourage you to join us by adding them to your morning liturgy. As each of us gives voice to these profound blessings, we come together through space and time, united by our shared intention.

May all beings be free from suffering and the root of suffering
May all beings know happiness and the root of happiness
May all beings live in sympathetic joy, rejoicing in the happiness of others
May all beings live in equanimity, free from passion, aggression and delusion.

Please feel free to contact us at (845) 688-2228 or registrar@dharma.net

All of the following programs are offered at low cost or without a fee requirement. If you would like to make a donation, you can do so through the registration process, or  via our donation page. Thank you for your support.

Zoom zazen with Shugen buddha hall featured image

Zazen & Liturgy Online

Connect with the Monastery and fellow home-dwelling practitioners for daily meditation, talks, and liturgy services.

Find out more >

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Sangha Practice Groups

Learn about practice, discussion, and affinity groups taking place regularly over Zoom. (Info meetings are also listed here.)

Join >

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Teachers & Seniors Online

Looking to make contact with the Monastery, teachers, and senior students? Click below to submit questions or schedule a meeting.

Connect >

Upcoming Programs

Spring Ango 2023

March 5 - May 28, 2023
Ango is a wonderful time to work toward making our lives more unified with practice. In addition to practicing moment-to-moment awareness in your daily activities, what other ways can you bring yourself into contact with the dharma during the day? Let this question guide you as you formulate your commitments for the training period...

One Continuous Thread: Home Practice Intensive—March 2023

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi and Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

March 27 - April 2, 2023
ONLINE
Welcome to One Continuous Thread, a way to bring elements of a formal zazen intensive into your daily life. You will be able to view and participate in parallel with ZMM's Sesshin via live webcast. We've designed this retreat keeping in mind the unique circumstances that each person finds themselves in...

Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

April 2, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
For now, this program is open only to those who have previously received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants must be fully vaccinated and boosted. Either take a rapid test in the parking lot before entering, or wear a mask while you are on the grounds. […]

Undivided Activity—Ango Art Practice

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

April 7 - May 19, 2023
ONLINE
Everything we encounter provides the opportunity to meet the creative source. It is right here in ourselves always standing at the gateway of awe. It will take a risk, to be sure, a risk whose name we may know as surrender, as dying to the known, as we are welcomed to our true home[…]

Introduction to Zen Training Weekend

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi, Mn. Shoan Ankele and Mn. Gokan Bonebakker

April 7 - 9, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Are you new to meditation or Zen Buddhist practice? Have you read books about Zen, or been doing meditation on your own? Do you think you’d like to study with a teacher? Designed for those new to Zen or formal Zen training, this introductory retreat allows you to immerse yourself in Zen practice and experience […]

Beginning Instruction on Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

April 9, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Beginning instruction in zazen and orientation to the Monastery on Sunday mornings is back again!  ALL Participants must be fully vaccinated and boosted. Either take a rapid test in the parking lot before entering, or wear a mask while you are on the grounds at all times (lunch can be eaten outside or in the […]

Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

April 9, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
For now, this program is open only to those who have previously received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants must be fully vaccinated and boosted. Either take a rapid test in the parking lot before entering, or wear a mask while you are on the grounds. […]

Just So—An Introduction to Mahamudra Teachings

with Judy Lief

April 13 - 16, 2023
Mahamudra challenges us to take a fresh view of the world. It is a meditation tradition within tantric Buddhism that points to the nature of awareness itself, elevating our ordinary perception to the level of the sacred. In this view, all experiences arise from a mind that is naturally vast, empty, and luminous […]

Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

April 16, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
For now, this program is open only to those who have previously received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants must be fully vaccinated and boosted. Either take a rapid test in the parking lot before entering, or wear a mask while you are on the grounds. […]

True Refuge Week: Self-Directed Intensive Practice for MRO Students

with MRO Teachers and Senior Staff

April 18 - 23, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
All of Buddhist practice is leading us toward our true homecoming: the discovery that this very life, this very heart-mind and body, can be the source of our deepest fulfillment. Through training, and sincere, well-directed effort, as well as the support of a conducive environment, we can find that the refuge we seek is already here…

Beginning Instruction—online

with MRO Seniors

April 19, 2023
ONLINE
A chance to receive beginning instruction in Zen meditation and an orientation to the Monastery's practice and evening liturgy, which you will join following this brief class. You will have a chance to try out different meditation postures and set-ups, so plan to wear loose, comfortable clothing. Please plan to sign on promptly at 6:30pm.

Nuts & Bolts of Zen Practice (April)

with Ron Hogen Green, Sensei

April 21, 2023
ONLINE
A continuing series which explores Liturgy, taking up the teachings of the Heart Sutra. As usual there will be ample time for more questions and your thoughts you would like to share in this exploration. These sessions are open to anyone, and designed specifically with Practicing Members in mind. Our online programs are offered by […]

Beginning Instruction on Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

April 23, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Beginning instruction in zazen and orientation to the Monastery on Sunday mornings is back again!  ALL Participants must be fully vaccinated and boosted. Either take a rapid test in the parking lot before entering, or wear a mask while you are on the grounds at all times (lunch can be eaten outside or in the […]

Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

April 23, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
For now, this program is open only to those who have previously received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants must be fully vaccinated and boosted. Either take a rapid test in the parking lot before entering, or wear a mask while you are on the grounds. […]

One Continuous Thread: Home Practice Intensive—April 2023

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi, Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei and Ron Hogen Green, Sensei

April 24 - 30, 2023
ONLINE
Welcome to One Continuous Thread, a way to bring elements of a formal zazen intensive into your daily life. You will be able to view and participate in parallel with ZMM's Sesshin via live webcast. We've designed this retreat keeping in mind the unique circumstances that each person finds themselves in...

Apple Blossom Sesshin

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi, Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei and Ron Hogen Green, Sensei

April 24 - 30, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Characterized by silence and deep introspection, sesshin is recommended to anyone who is sincerely interested in experiencing intensive Zen training. We wake up each day before dawn to begin a schedule that includes 7 to 10 hours of zazen, chanting services, formal silent meals in the zendo (oryoki), silent work practice and talks by the […]

Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

April 30, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
For now, this program is open only to those who have previously received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants must be fully vaccinated and boosted. Either take a rapid test in the parking lot before entering, or wear a mask while you are on the grounds. […]

Introduction to Zen Training Weekend

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi, Mn. Shoan Ankele and Mn. Gokan Bonebakker

May 5 - 7, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Are you new to meditation or Zen Buddhist practice? Have you read books about Zen, or been doing meditation on your own? Do you think you’d like to study with a teacher? Designed for those new to Zen or formal Zen training, this introductory retreat allows you to immerse yourself in Zen practice and experience […]

Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

May 7, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
For now, this program is open only to those who have previously received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants must be fully vaccinated and boosted. Either take a rapid test in the parking lot before entering, or wear a mask while you are on the grounds. […]

Beginning Instruction on Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

May 7, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Beginning instruction in zazen and orientation to the Monastery on Sunday mornings is back again!  ALL Participants must be fully vaccinated and boosted. Either take a rapid test in the parking lot before entering, or wear a mask while you are on the grounds at all times (lunch can be eaten outside or in the […]

Ango Intensive: The Liberating Path Within Life and Death

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi

May 11 - 14, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
The path of the Buddha is a path of liberation from the suffering, confusion and unhappiness that we experience in our living and dying. Amidst the ordinary moments of satisfaction and joy—because they are so fleeting—we often struggle to find our way. The uncertainty of life along with the certainty of death can make these natural states […]

Online Ango Intensive: The Liberating Path Within Life and Death

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi

May 12 - 14, 2023
ONLINE
The great way of all buddhas, thoroughly practiced, is liberation and realization. “Liberation” means that in birth you are liberated from birth [life], and in death you are liberated from death. ~ Eihei Dogen The path of the Buddha is a path of liberation from the suffering, confusion and unhappiness that we experience in our […]

Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

May 14, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
For now, this program is open only to those who have previously received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants must be fully vaccinated and boosted. Either take a rapid test in the parking lot before entering, or wear a mask while you are on the grounds. […]

Nuts & Bolts of Zen Practice (May)

with Ron Hogen Green, Sensei

May 19, 2023
ONLINE
A continuing series which explores Liturgy, taking up the teachings of the Heart Sutra. As usual there will be ample time for more questions and your thoughts you would like to share in this exploration. These sessions are open to anyone, and designed specifically with Practicing Members in mind. Our online programs are offered by […]

Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

May 21, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
For now, this program is open only to those who have previously received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants must be fully vaccinated and boosted. Either take a rapid test in the parking lot before entering, or wear a mask while you are on the grounds. […]

Beginning Instruction on Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

May 21, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Beginning instruction in zazen and orientation to the Monastery on Sunday mornings is back again!  ALL Participants must be fully vaccinated and boosted. Either take a rapid test in the parking lot before entering, or wear a mask while you are on the grounds at all times (lunch can be eaten outside or in the […]

One Continuous Thread: Home Practice Intensive—May 2023

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi, Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei and Ron Hogen Green, Sensei

May 22 - 28, 2023
ONLINE
Welcome to One Continuous Thread, a way to bring elements of a formal zazen intensive into your daily life. You will be able to view and participate in parallel with ZMM's Sesshin via live webcast. We've designed this retreat keeping in mind the unique circumstances that each person finds themselves in...

Shuso Hossen Sesshin

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi, Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei and Ron Hogen Green, Sensei

May 22 - 28, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Characterized by silence and deep introspection, sesshin is recommended to anyone who is sincerely interested in experiencing intensive Zen training. We wake up each day before dawn to begin a schedule that includes 7 to 10 hours of zazen, chanting services, formal silent meals in the zendo (oryoki), silent work practice and talks by the […]

Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

May 28, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
For now, this program is open only to those who have previously received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants must be fully vaccinated and boosted. Either take a rapid test in the parking lot before entering, or wear a mask while you are on the grounds. […]

Introduction to Zen Training Weekend

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi, Mn. Shoan Ankele and Mn. Gokan Bonebakker

June 2 - 4, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Are you new to meditation or Zen Buddhist practice? Have you read books about Zen, or been doing meditation on your own? Do you think you’d like to study with a teacher? Designed for those new to Zen or formal Zen training, this introductory retreat allows you to immerse yourself in Zen practice and experience […]

Touching Liberation Together — Sesshin for Black, Indigenous, Asian and People of Color (BIAPOC)

with Chimyo Atkinson, Osho, Degna Chikei Levister and Prabu Gikon Vasan

June 8 - 11, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Please join us for the MRO’s first BIAPOC-only sesshin at Zen Mountain Monastery.  In this silent retreat, we hope to create a safe affinity space for members who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, Asian and People of Color (BIAPOC). New or more experienced BIAPOC practitioners are welcome to join us. Together, we will embrace the liberatory […]

Nuts & Bolts of Zen Practice (June)

with Ron Hogen Green, Sensei

June 16, 2023
ONLINE
A continuing series which explores Liturgy, taking up the teachings of the Heart Sutra. As usual there will be ample time for more questions and your thoughts you would like to share in this exploration. These sessions are open to anyone, and designed specifically with Practicing Members in mind. Our online programs are offered by […]

Further Steps Along the Path of Zen: Exploring Wisdom and Compassion

with Mn. Shoan Ankele and Mn. Gokan Bonebakker

June 16 - 18, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Within the dharma, wisdom and compassion are sometimes spoken of as the two wings of a bird—we need both of them to fly. We can nurture these qualities in how we engage our life as a field of practice. For the most part, the barriers we encounter and the sources of our suffering are created […]

Summer Solstice Sesshin

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi and Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

June 19 - 25, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Characterized by silence and deep introspection, sesshin is recommended to anyone who is sincerely interested in experiencing intensive Zen training. We wake up each day before dawn to begin a schedule that includes 7 to 10 hours of zazen, chanting services, formal silent meals in the zendo (oryoki), silent work practice and talks by the […]
June 2015 ZMM Work Practice-Garden

Introduction to Zen Training Weekend

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi, Mn. Shoan Ankele and Mn. Gokan Bonebakker

June 30 - July 2, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Are you new to meditation or Zen Buddhist practice? Have you read books about Zen, or been doing meditation on your own? Do you think you’d like to study with a teacher? Designed for those new to Zen or formal Zen training, this introductory retreat allows you to immerse yourself in Zen practice and experience […]

Weekend Sesshin

with Mn. Shoan Ankele and Mn. Gokan Bonebakker

July 14 - 16, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
A weekend sesshin is a great way to experience sesshin for the first time, and also a wonderful opportunity for more experienced practitioners. Characterized by silence and deep introspection, sesshin is recommended to anyone who is sincerely interested in experiencing intensive Zen training. We wake up each day before dawn to begin a schedule that […]

The Art of Breathing Into Expression

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

July 21 - 23, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
If each stroke is our entire breath, how dare we correct it? —Kaz Tanahashi Breath is a vital life force and is intimately related to our awareness. To breathe is to be alive! Zazen, a form of seated meditation, is at the very heart of Zen practice. We tend to see body, breath, and mind as […]

Interdependence Sesshin

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi and Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

July 24 - 30, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Characterized by silence and deep introspection, sesshin is recommended to anyone who is sincerely interested in experiencing intensive Zen training. We wake up each day before dawn to begin a schedule that includes 7 to 10 hours of zazen, chanting services, formal silent meals in the zendo (oryoki), silent work practice and talks by the […]

Introduction to Zen Training Weekend

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi, Mn. Shoan Ankele and Mn. Gokan Bonebakker

August 4 - 6, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Are you new to meditation or Zen Buddhist practice? Have you read books about Zen, or been doing meditation on your own? Do you think you’d like to study with a teacher? Designed for those new to Zen or formal Zen training, this introductory retreat allows you to immerse yourself in Zen practice and experience […]

True Refuge Week: Self-Directed Intensive Practice for MRO Students

with MRO Teachers and Senior Staff

August 8 - 13, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
All of Buddhist practice is leading us toward our true homecoming: the discovery that this very life, this very heart-mind and body, can be the source of our deepest fulfillment. Through training, and sincere, well-directed effort, as well as the support of a conducive environment, we can find that the refuge we seek is already here…

Mountain Bowl, Mountain Fire—A Clay Retreat

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei and Katie Yosha Scott-Childress

August 9 - 13, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
We are happy to again to welcome participants for this four-day clay retreat. We will begin working with wet clay and work through the week towards a day of glazing and Raku firing. This year we're celebrating this dynamic duo leading this retreat together for over 15 years! We’ll learn to form clay bowls by hand, landing […]

Intermediate Kyudo: Zen Archery Intensive

with Don Symanski

August 14 - 20, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
This is one of the foremost Kyudo training opportunities in the US. You'll receive personalized instruction in the basic principles of the kyudo form as well as formless aspects of Kyudo as a meditation practice. This retreat is designed for anyone who has taken “first shot” at the Monastery or elsewhere…

Beginners Kyudo: Zen Archery Intensive

with Don Symanski

August 15 - 20, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Through meticulous attention to detail, all aspects of the Kyudo form and movements provide a subtle mirror of the self, as well as an opportunity for deep study. In this outstanding retreat, beginners will receive training in the Seven Coordinations…

Hazy Moon Sesshin

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi and Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

August 21 - 27, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Characterized by silence and deep introspection, sesshin is recommended to anyone who is sincerely interested in experiencing intensive Zen training. We wake up each day before dawn to begin a schedule that includes 7 to 10 hours of zazen, chanting services, formal silent meals in the zendo (oryoki), silent work practice and talks by the […]

Weekend Sesshin

December 8 - 10, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
A weekend sesshin is a great way to experience sesshin for the first time, and also a wonderful opportunity for more experienced practitioners. Characterized by silence and deep introspection, sesshin is recommended to anyone who is sincerely interested in experiencing intensive Zen training. We wake up each day before dawn to begin a schedule that […]

Half-Day Sit (online)

April 1, 2023
ONLINE
A three-hour practice of connecting with the still point, making space in which to find the heart-mind and body, and a place to take refuge. Let us sit deep into our well and show up from a place of love and courage—the two things that[…]

Death and Resurrection: The Practice of the Recognition of the Clear Light of Awareness in the Face of our Inevitable Death

with Lama Justin von Bujdoss

April 7, 2023
ZCNYC
We are delighted to welcome Lama Justin for this Good Friday dharma talk at Fire Lotus Temple, where he will share reflections from the Vajrayana tradition on death, dying, the bardo—the intermediate state between this life and the next—and the practice of Clear Light meditation a meditation that can be taken up here and now […]

Working with our Humanity: Engaging the Expression of Kleshas and the Spaciousness Within Them.

with Lama Justin von Bujdoss

April 8, 2023
Zen Center of New York City
In this day-long retreat we will explore methods through which the intensity of our kleshas, the reactive emotions that contribute to our experience of suffering, can be brought directly into meditation and similarly, how the view of the various forms of mediation that we will be exploring from the Dzogchen, Mahamudra and Zhije Vajrayana […]

Ten Ox-herding Pictures: Stages in a Spiritual Journey

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

April 15, 2023
Zen Center of New York City
The spiritual path comes alive pictorially in the Zen tradition's Ten Ox-herding pictures. This series of images portrays a young ox-herder whose quest leads them to discover, subdue and train a wild ox—their own heart and mind—in a process of transformation. The ox represents awakening, and the herder is you—the meditator, the seeker—encountering the gritty […]

Meeting Buddhas and Bodhisattvas: Tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei and Ikumi Kaminishi

April 22, 2023
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Asian Art Collection Gallery
Have you ever wondered how to tell the difference between the images of the buddhas and bodhisattvas? Or, what does it mean that there are so many identities of buddhas and bodhisattvas in the first place? Shakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, Maitreya Buddha to name a few, and if we include bodhisattvas, the list is extensive. […]

Half-Day Sit (online)

April 22, 2023
ONLINE
A three-hour practice of connecting with the still point, making space in which to find the heart-mind and body, and a place to take refuge. Let us sit deep into our well and show up from a place of love and courage—the two things that[…]

Half-Day Sit (online)

April 29, 2023
ONLINE
A three-hour practice of connecting with the still point, making space in which to find the heart-mind and body, and a place to take refuge. Let us sit deep into our well and show up from a place of love and courage—the two things that[…]

BIAPoC Spring Retreat

with Black, Indigenous, Asian and Peoples of Color (BIAPoC) Sangha

May 6, 2023
Zen Center of New York City
We’re happy to offer a BIAPoC retreat this spring at the Brooklyn temple! We will have an afternoon to sit together, experience guided body practice, and engage in conversation. […]

Half-Day Sit (online)

May 27, 2023
ONLINE
A three-hour practice of connecting with the still point, making space in which to find the heart-mind and body, and a place to take refuge. Let us sit deep into our well and show up from a place of love and courage—the two things that[…]

Introduction to Kado: Natural Flowers

with Marcia Shibata

June 9, 2023
ZCNYC
Kado comes from a Chinese phrase that means "the Way of Flowers." In this case "flower" represents the entire rainbow of livings plants, from the smallest delicate flower to mighty trees. The practice of Kado began in China more than 2,300 years ago and was later introduced to and assimilated in Japanese culture. Eventually, the Japanese […]

Kado-Ikebana: The Way of Flowers

with Marcia Shibata

June 10, 2023
Zen Center of New York City
Kado-Ikebana is a contemplative art practice revealing the relationship between nature, space, and human awareness (or unawareness). The practice simultaneously reveals the inner relationship between our true nature and the misconceptions we have about ourselves. While the very ground of our being is nature, and thus natural, through close study we may find ways in […]

Oli D Remembers: An Evening of Zazen & Music

with Oli D Remembers

June 11, 2023
Zen Center of New York City
Join us for an evening of zazen & music with Oli-D. Oli writes songs with a critical edge, examining what “acoustic,” “folk,” and “personal” mean […]