Retreats

At ZMM and ZCNYC

  • $300.00 – Tuesday 12/26 Arrival
  • $275.00 – *Practicing Member Tuesday 12/26 Arrival
  • $200.00 – **MRO Student Tuesday 12/26 Arrival
  • $275.00 – Wednesday 12/27 Arrival
  • $245.00 – *Practicing Member Wednesday 12/27 Arrival
  • $175.00 – **MRO Student Wednesday 12/27 Arrival
  • $250.00 – Thursday 12/28 Arrival
  • $225.00 – *Practicing Member Thursday 12/28 Arrival
  • $165.00 – **MRO Student Thursday 12/28 Arrival

Date & Time Details: December 26, 2023-January 1, 2024

Location: Zen Mountain Monastery

Contact: ZMM Registrar
registrar@dharma.net
(845) 688-2228

CONTACT US >
Click to Register

Rohatsu Sesshin

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

December 26, 2023 - January 1, 2024

Click to Register
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 zazen (the time for sitting meditation increases each day), chanting services, formal silent meals in the zendo (oryoki), silent work practice and talks by teachers and senior students. Sesshin is also an opportunity to receive personal guidance in private interviews with the teacher, and to draw from the tremendous strength of people practicing together as we experience the deep stillness that lies within each one of us.

Because Rohatsu sesshin is a very intensive retreat, you are required to have attended at least one full sesshin at Zen Mountain Monastery previously. If you have not attended Rohatsu before, do not register until you have a pre-sesshin interview; please call the Training Office at (845) 688-2228 to schedule one.

Participants must join by Thursday, December 28

As with all in-person retreats at the Monastery, participants are required to follow the current protocol for keeping everyone safe (this link is updated frequently so check back). Review the current protocol requirements before registering, and if you have further questions, please contact the registrar.

Financial concerns should not prevent you from attending a program at the Monastery. If you can’t afford the program fee, you can see these options. 

Teachers

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi is the Head of the Mountains and Rivers Order and Abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery. Shugen entered full-time residential training in 1986 after studying mathematics and receiving a degree in classical music. He received dharma transmission from John Daido Loori, Roshi in 1997. His teachings on Zen, social justice and environmental stewardship have appeared in various Buddhist journals, and The Best Buddhist Writing 2009 (Shambhala Publications). His book of poetry, O, Beautiful End, a collection of Zen memorial poems, was published in 2012.
Learn more about Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei received the priestly transmission (the transmission of the Precepts) from Daido Roshi, who began the process in 2009, and from Shugen Roshi, who completed the transmission in 2012. In 2017, she received full dharma transmission from Shugen Roshi. She serves as the Training Director for the Mountains and Rivers Order and Abbot of the Zen Center of NYC-Fire Lotus Temple . Hojin Sensei began her artistic career early and has taught drawing, ceramics, and painting, opening people up to the wonders and mysteries of the creative process and continues to offer Art Practices as part of her teaching. She has been in full-time residential training at the Monastery since 1990 and now shares her time at the Brooklyn temple.
Learn more about Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei