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.

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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

Ango Art Practice: Intimate Expression (online)

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

September 1 - November 10, 2023
ONLINE
When you know yourself, you know intimate action. Thus, Buddha ancestors can thoroughly actualize this intimate heart and intimate language. “Intimate” means close and inseparable. There is no gap. Intimacy embraces Buddha ancestors. It embraces you. It embraces the self. It embraces action. It embraces […]

Karenji Choir

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei and Justin Ward Weber

September 3 - December 17, 2023
ZCNYC
This Fall we're starting a choir! Yes, that is right, the Karenji Choir. We'll be working with a musical setting of a short text from Shantideva’s Way of the Bodhisattva as a way of joining our voices together and cultivating an attitude of goodwill for all beings. […]

Fall Ango 2023

September 3 - November 19, 2023
Ango is our three-month training intensive that takes place each spring and fall, a rich and sustained opportunity to bring our practice more in tune with our daily lives. This season's theme will be Intimate Words. The theme will be brought out through readings, talks, mondos, as well as personal and group study. In addition […]

Earth Awareness: “The Week” with sangha at ZMM

with MRO Sangha

September 24 - October 8, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
During Fall ango 2023 we are offering ways to the climate crisis from a place of community empowerment: MRO students will facilitate “The Week,” a three-part series on facing the current climate crisis and deciding how to respond with others. You can watch a 2-minute trailer of “The Week” here, or even sign up […]

Beginning Instruction on Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

September 24, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Beginning instruction in zazen and orientation to the Monastery on Sunday mornings is back again! Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

September 24, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
This registration is for returning visitors who have already received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Mountains and Rivers Sesshin

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

September 25 - October 1, 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...

One Continuous Thread: Home Practice Intensive—September 2023

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

September 25 - October 1, 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

October 1, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
This registration is for returning visitors who have already received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Introduction to Zen Training Weekend

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

October 6 - 8, 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

October 8, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
This registration is for returning visitors who have already received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Beginning Instruction on Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

October 8, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Beginning instruction in zazen and orientation to the Monastery on Sunday mornings is back again! Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Online Ango Intensive: Intimate Language, Turning Words

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi

October 12 - 15, 2023
ONLINE
Hearing words you should grasp the great reality. - Identity of Relative & Absolute The Buddhist tradition has a keen understanding of how easily we can get entangled in words and ideas. At the same time, for centuries Dharma teachers, especially in the Mahayana, have used turning words[…]

Ango Intensive: Intimate Language, Turning Words

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi

October 12 - 15, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
The Buddhist tradition has a keen understanding of how easily we can get entangled in words and ideas. At the same time, for centuries Dharma teachers, especially in the Mahayana, have used turning words in their teachings, phrases that free the mind of self-clinging and conceptual proliferation. […]

Nuts & Bolts of Zen Practice (October)

with Ron Hogen Green, Sensei

October 13, 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

October 15, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
This registration is for returning visitors who have already received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

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

with MRO Teachers and Senior Staff

October 17 - 22, 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 on Wednesday Evenings at Zen Mountain Monastery

October 18, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Beginning instruction in zazen and orientation to the Monastery on Wednesday evenings is back again! At this time we do not require rapid tests for day visitors but you are welcome to mask; vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. Please enter through the front door of the Monastery and check in with the […]

Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

October 22, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
This registration is for returning visitors who have already received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Beginning Instruction on Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

October 22, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Beginning instruction in zazen and orientation to the Monastery on Sunday mornings is back again! Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Harvest Sesshin

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

October 23 - 29, 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...

One Continuous Thread: Home Practice Intensive—October 2023

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

October 23 - 29, 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

October 29, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
This registration is for returning visitors who have already received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Introduction to Zen Training Weekend

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

November 3 - 5, 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

November 5, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Beginning instruction in zazen and orientation to the Monastery on Sunday mornings is back again! Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

November 5, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
This registration is for returning visitors who have already received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Nuts & Bolts of Zen Practice (November)

with Ron Hogen Green, Sensei

November 10, 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

November 12, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
This registration is for returning visitors who have already received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Shuso Hossen Sesshin

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

November 13 - 19, 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...

One Continuous Thread: Home Practice Intensive—November 2023

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

November 13 - 19, 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

November 19, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
This registration is for returning visitors who have already received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Introduction to Zen Training Weekend

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

November 24 - 26, 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

November 26, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
This registration is for returning visitors who have already received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Beginning Instruction on Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

December 3, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Beginning instruction in zazen and orientation to the Monastery on Sunday mornings is back again! Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

December 3, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
This registration is for returning visitors who have already received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Nuts & Bolts of Zen Practice (December)

with Ron Hogen Green, Sensei

December 8, 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 […]

Buddha’s Enlightenment Vigil

with MRO Teachers and Senior Staff

December 8 - 10, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
After he left his family's home to seek liberation from suffering, Shakyamuni Buddha spent some years studying with spiritual teachers and engaging in extreme ascetic practices. Through it all, he remained unsatisfied that he had resolved his search. Inspired by a memory of an experience of deep, easeful meditation he'd experienced in his youth, he […]

Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

December 10, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
This registration is for returning visitors who have already received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Beginning Instruction on Wednesday Evenings at Zen Mountain Monastery

December 13, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Beginning instruction in zazen and orientation to the Monastery on Wednesday evenings is back again! At this time we do not require rapid tests for day visitors but you are welcome to mask; vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. Please enter through the front door of the Monastery and check in with the […]

Beginning Instruction on Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

December 17, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
Beginning instruction in zazen and orientation to the Monastery on Sunday mornings is back again! Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

December 17, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
This registration is for returning visitors who have already received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Sunday Mornings at Zen Mountain Monastery

December 24, 2023
Zen Mountain Monastery
This registration is for returning visitors who have already received beginning instruction in meditation at the Monastery or at Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn. Participants for the day must take a rapid test before entering any buildings unmasked (please bring your own test); vaccination and boosters are suggested but not required. […]

Rohatsu Sesshin

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

December 26, 2023 - January 1, 2024
Zen Mountain Monastery
In the Zen tradition, Rohatsu sesshin celebrates the Buddha's enlightenment and is traditionally the most intensive and challenging sesshin of the year. Each day begins well before dawn (3:45 am) and is a continuous practice of meditation throughout the day while sitting, walking, standing and lying down. There are from nine to eleven hours of […]

Introduction to Zen Training Weekend

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

January 5 - 7, 2024
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 […]

Dharma Gates: Living a Zen Path

with Mn. Shoan Ankele and Mn. Gokan Bonebakker

January 10 - 14, 2024
Zen Mountain Monastery
This retreat is for people between the ages of 18-30. In collaboration with Dharma Gates, a grassroots nonprofit dedicated to opening pathways into formal meditation training for people ages 18-30, Zen Mountain Monastery is offering a 5-day immersion in the path of Zen Buddhism. Zen is a practice of discovering our natural inner clarity and […]

Open Hearth Art Practice Presents: This Show Is My Funeral

with Josephine Simple, MRO

September 22, 2023
Zen Center of New York City
I'm trans and this show is a funeral for my pre-transition self. Come mourn and celebrate with me the life I used to have. This is a show about impermanence and the illusory self, but it's also truly my funeral. For real. And it's probably one of the funnier funerals you will ever attend.[…]

Born as the Earth

September 26 - October 10, 2023
Zen Center of New York City
As part of our Fall ango environmental awareness practice we are offering  “The Week,” a three-part series on facing the current climate crisis and deciding how to respond with others. The Temple will host  three 90-minute meetings/sessions in-person on 9/26, 10/3 and 10/10 from 7p - 8:30p. After zazen, we will watch a video the first hour followed by 30-minutes of discussion […]

Half-Day Sit (onsite)

with MRO Staff

September 30, 2023
ZCNYC
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 throughout history have been shown are necessary in order to help humanity not […]

Half-Day Sit (online)

September 30, 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[…]

EcoSattva Training Information Session

October 2, 2023
online
The challenge of ecological crises is all around us—as well as within us. Our practice can support us not only in meeting this difficulty but also healing and transforming it. Sangha members will come together in small groups on a journey to cultivate wisdom, connection, and compassionate action. […]

Guided by Precepts: An Introduction

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

October 7, 2023
Zen Center of New York City
The 16 Bodhisattva Precepts provide an ethical foundation for living an awakened life. The Precepts derive from guidelines for living harmoniously in community that arose during Shakyamuni Buddha’s lifetime. Today, our understanding of the Precepts is guided by the Buddhist principles of impermanence and no-self. The Precepts provide a foundation for how we relate to […]

Half-Day Sit (online)

October 14, 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[…]

Harvest Zazenkai

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

October 21, 2023
Zen Center of New York City
Zazenkai presents an opportunity to return to the well of introspection and committed Zen practice. The extended schedule includes periods of zazen, liturgy, a face-to-face interview with a teacher, a formal talk and oryoki lunch (formal meal served in the zendo). Zazenkai is an important way for experienced students to further their practice and for […]

Half-Day Sit (onsite)

with MRO Staff

October 28, 2023
ZCNYC
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 throughout history have been shown are necessary in order to help humanity not […]

Half-Day Sit (online)

October 28, 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[…]

Opening the Hearth of Art Practice presents: In Praise of Listening – A Gathering of Stories 

with Christian McEwan

November 3, 2023
Zen Center of New York City
Come hear Christian read from her new book, In Praise of Listening. A Q&A will follow, and copies of the book will be available for sale. Her voice is music to the ears!

Deep Listening: A Writing Retreat with Christian McEwen

with Christian McEwen

November 4, 2023
Zen Center of New York City
In this two-hour workshop we will take the time to listen, both to one another, and to birds and trucks and trees and wind and rain. We will experiment with drawing what we hear, and grow those raw sounds into poems, songs and stories. No experience necessary.

Half-Day Sit (onsite)

with MRO Staff

November 18, 2023
ZCNYC
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 throughout history have been shown are necessary in order to help humanity not […]

Half-Day Sit (online)

November 18, 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[…]

Buddha’s Enlightenment Vigil (ZCNYC)

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

December 8 - 9, 2023
Zen Center of New York City
At ZCNYC, we celebrate the Buddha’s enlightenment with a vigil dedicated to the simple yet profound practice of zazen. We’ll begin Friday evening with an informal potluck supper, followed by a teaching in the zendo. Then, we’ll mark the Buddha’s enlightenment by sitting together through the night with...

Open Hearth Art Practice Presents: Across Breath, Voice, Silence

with Ellery Seifu Eskelin, MRO

December 15, 2023
Zen Center of New York City
Come join us for a performance of saxophone improvisation with Zen practitioner and sangha member Ellery Seifu Eskelin. In Seifu's words, "Improvised music is above all a process, always unfolding, always revealing. A process in which you have to fully participate as a performer or listener." Tickets are $10 per person in advance. All […]