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.
Events with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei
The Secret Lives of Colors and Sounds—Summer Art PracticeJune 9 - August 18, 2023
When we truly practice, sounds and colors of the valley, colors and sounds of the mountains, never begrudge the eighty-four thousand verses. When we do not cling to our fame, profit, body, and mind, the valleys and mountains are generous in expounding the Dharma. –Sounds of the Valley Streams, Color of the Mountains – Dogen Summertime—what a mind-blowing season to fall in love with colors, sounds, movement. deep listening—and just being alive to the eighty-four thousand verses. In our time together we’ll open up to the many ‘art’ supplies offered by the earth, temporarily stepping away from our computers to cull colors & pigments from our respective places. Perhaps we will be inspired to put together words, sound phrases, or movements. The Sounds of the Valley Streams, Color of the Mountains by Zen teacher Dogen will be a text for our study and inspirations. We will also share from the book, The Secret Lives of Colors, packed with enriching history and stories of many shades and dyes. The creative process is always happening—it’s our life! What is the secret? Let us express this miracle. There are eighty-four thousand dharma doors to the path of awakening. Everyone is welcome to enter…
Summer Solstice SesshinJune 19 - 25, 2023
Because sesshin is a very intensive retreat, if you have not attended sesshin at Zen Mountain Monastery you must have a pre-sesshin interview. Please call or email the Training Office to schedule at (845) 688-2228, or registrar@dharma.net before you register. Since there are a limited number of spots, please sign up for only 1-2 sesshin per quarter. If registration is full, and you do not need an interview (as a first-time participant) please put your name on the waiting list. 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 teacher and senior students. Sesshin is an opportunity to receive personal guidance in private interviews with the teacher, draw from the tremendous strength of people practicing together and experience the deep stillness that lies within each one of us. 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…
One Continuous Thread: Home Practice Intensive—June 2023June 19 - 25, 2023
Welcome to One Continuous Thread, a way to bring elements of a formal zazen intensive into your daily life. You will be able to participate with ZMM’s Sesshin via live webcast. We’ve designed this retreat keeping in mind the unique circumstances that each person finds themselves in. Some people can engage fully with a sesshin schedule in their homes; others may seek the rigors and rewards of a zazen intensive while navigating their ongoing responsibilities to work, family and friends. One Continuous Thread can hold it all as we sit together, even while our needs and experiences might be quite diverse. Further guidance on how to engage with the retreat, and a full schedule of the Monastery’s zendo activities, will be sent to you no earlier than Monday afternoon. You can base your own sitting around that or set your own schedule. There will be Opening Guidelines via Zoom on Monday night, and all participants, especially new ones, are encouraged to attend (regardless of day of arrival), and an evening Closing Reflections on Friday evening. All participants who are interested can register for a group Zoom meeting with a teacher during the week; please let the Registrar know via email: registrar@dharma.net. …
Lotus in the Fire ZazenkaiJuly 1, 2023
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 newer students to take a preparatory step toward the practice of sesshin. *If this will be your first zazenkai or sesshin, please call the Temple office at (718) 875-8229 for a brief interview. Due to the intensive nature of this retreat, we ask that all participants complete a beginning instruction session with the MRO and establish a regular zazen practice prior to registration. Program price for this retreat is $75, please pay what you can. It’s important that the dharma is available to everyone. Thank you for your continued support.
The Art of Breathing Into ExpressionJuly 21 - 23, 2023
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 separate, but in zazen we begin to see how they are one inseparable reality. First giving attention to the position of our body in zazen, we begin establishing an awake and relaxed posture. Then we locate the breathe, breathing in a relaxed manner, not controlling or manipulating, a way that feels most effortless. Placing our attention to completely experiencing the breath, we discover the simple sensations of breathing. Scattered mental activity and energy keeps us separated from each other, from environment, from ourselves. In the process of sitting, the surface activity of our minds begins to slow down. The mind, like a pond surface—when wind is blowing, is disturbed; ripples and sediment from the bottom are stirred. It’s difficult to see beneath the surface though the water is clear and pure by nature. Contacting that stillness, the unbounded vitality of our life arises. If we don’t see…
Interdependence SesshinJuly 24 - 30, 2023
Because sesshin is a very intensive retreat, if you have not attended sesshin at Zen Mountain Monastery you must have a pre-sesshin interview. Please call or email the Training Office to schedule at (845) 688-2228, or registrar@dharma.net before you register. Since there are a limited number of spots, please sign up for only 1-2 sesshin per quarter. If registration is full, and you do not need an interview (as a first-time participant) please put your name on the waiting list. 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 teacher and senior students. Sesshin is an opportunity to receive personal guidance in private interviews with the teacher, draw from the tremendous strength of people practicing together and experience the deep stillness that lies within each one of us. 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…
One Continuous Thread: Home Practice Intensive—July 2023July 24 - 30, 2023
Welcome to One Continuous Thread, a way to bring elements of a formal zazen intensive into your daily life. You will be able to participate with ZMM’s Sesshin via live webcast. We’ve designed this retreat keeping in mind the unique circumstances that each person finds themselves in. Some people can engage fully with a sesshin schedule in their homes; others may seek the rigors and rewards of a zazen intensive while navigating their ongoing responsibilities to work, family and friends. One Continuous Thread can hold it all as we sit together, even while our needs and experiences might be quite diverse. Further guidance on how to engage with the retreat, and a full schedule of the Monastery’s zendo activities, will be sent to you no earlier than Monday afternoon. You can base your own sitting around that or set your own schedule. There will be Opening Guidelines via Zoom on Monday night, and all participants, especially new ones, are encouraged to attend (regardless of day of arrival), and an evening Closing Reflections on Friday evening. All participants who are interested can register for a group Zoom meeting with a teacher during the week; please let the Registrar know via email: registrar@dharma.net. …
Mountain Bowl, Mountain Fire—A Clay RetreatAugust 9 - 13, 2023
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 16 years! We’ll learn to form clay bowls by hand, landing in the moment as we feel the clay respond to our every touch. Alongside this will be a joyous journey of exploring mark-making as we collect a palette of colors and pigments from Mount Tremper’s mountain body and pigments culled from the nearby Esopus River. With our creations dried, we will glaze the work and fire it in a wondrous 600-year-old traditional Japanese firing known as raku (translated as “relaxed ware”). We will also explore some other firing methods with stoneware glazes as well as a sawdust firing. The retreat will take place mostly outdoors rain or shine, with a covered area where we can work. Register early as there is limited enrollment and this retreat tends to fill quickly. Be sure to arrive for registration and a light supper by 5pm on August 9th. As with all in-person retreats at the Monastery, participants…
Golden Light ZazenkaiAugust 19, 2023
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 newer students to take a preparatory step toward the practice of sesshin. *If this will be your first zazenkai or sesshin, please call the Temple office at (718) 875-8229 for a brief interview. Due to the intensive nature of this retreat, we ask that all participants complete a beginning instruction session with the MRO and establish a regular zazen practice prior to registration. Program price for this retreat is $75, please pay what you can. It’s important that the dharma is available to everyone. Thank you for your continued support.
Hazy Moon SesshinAugust 21 - 27, 2023
Because sesshin is a very intensive retreat, if you have not attended sesshin at Zen Mountain Monastery you must have a pre-sesshin interview. Please call or email the Training Office to schedule at (845) 688-2228, or registrar@dharma.net before you register. Since there are a limited number of spots, please sign up for only 1-2 sesshin per quarter. If registration is full, and you do not need an interview (as a first-time participant) please put your name on the waiting list. 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 teacher and senior students. Sesshin is an opportunity to receive personal guidance in private interviews with the teacher, draw from the tremendous strength of people practicing together and experience the deep stillness that lies within each one of us. Full week participation is required for this retreat. As with all in-person retreats at the Monastery, participants are required to follow the current protocol for keeping…
Hazy Moon Sesshin - TESTING (kien)August 21 - 27, 2023
Because sesshin is a very intensive retreat, if you have not attended sesshin at Zen Mountain Monastery you must have a pre-sesshin interview. Please call or email the Training Office to schedule at (845) 688-2228, or registrar@dharma.net before you register. Since there are a limited number of spots, please sign up for only 1-2 sesshin per quarter. If registration is full, and you do not need an interview (as a first-time participant) please put your name on the waiting list. 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 teacher and senior students. Sesshin is an opportunity to receive personal guidance in private interviews with the teacher, draw from the tremendous strength of people practicing together and experience the deep stillness that lies within each one of us. Full week participation is required for this retreat. As with all in-person retreats at the Monastery, participants are required to follow the current protocol for keeping…
One Continuous Thread: Home Practice Intensive—August 2023August 21 - 27, 2023
Welcome to One Continuous Thread, a way to bring elements of a formal zazen intensive into your daily life. You will be able to participate with ZMM’s Sesshin via live webcast. We’ve designed this retreat keeping in mind the unique circumstances that each person finds themselves in. Some people can engage fully with a sesshin schedule in their homes; others may seek the rigors and rewards of a zazen intensive while navigating their ongoing responsibilities to work, family and friends. One Continuous Thread can hold it all as we sit together, even while our needs and experiences might be quite diverse. Further guidance on how to engage with the retreat, and a full schedule of the Monastery’s zendo activities, will be sent to you no earlier than Monday afternoon. You can base your own sitting around that or set your own schedule. There will be Opening Guidelines via Zoom on Monday night, and all participants, especially new ones, are encouraged to attend (regardless of day of arrival), and an evening Closing Reflections on Friday evening. All participants who are interested can register for a group Zoom meeting with a teacher during the week; please let the Registrar know via email: registrar@dharma.net. …
One Continuous Thread: Home Practice Intensive—September 2023September 25 - October 1, 2023
Welcome to One Continuous Thread, a way to bring elements of a formal zazen intensive into your daily life. You will be able to participate with ZMM’s Sesshin via live webcast. We’ve designed this retreat keeping in mind the unique circumstances that each person finds themselves in. Some people can engage fully with a sesshin schedule in their homes; others may seek the rigors and rewards of a zazen intensive while navigating their ongoing responsibilities to work, family and friends. One Continuous Thread can hold it all as we sit together, even while our needs and experiences might be quite diverse. Further guidance on how to engage with the retreat, and a full schedule of the Monastery’s zendo activities, will be sent to you no earlier than Monday afternoon. You can base your own sitting around that or set your own schedule. There will be Opening Guidelines via Zoom on Monday night, and all participants, especially new ones, are encouraged to attend (regardless of day of arrival), and an evening Closing Reflections on Friday evening. All participants who are interested can register for a group Zoom meeting with a teacher during the week; please let the Registrar know via email: registrar@dharma.net. …
Mountains and Rivers SesshinSeptember 25 - October 1, 2023
Because sesshin is a very intensive retreat, if you have not attended sesshin at Zen Mountain Monastery you must have a pre-sesshin interview, so please call or email the Training Office to schedule at (845) 688-2228, or registrar@dharma.net. Since there are a limited number of spots, please sign up for only 1-2 sesshin per quarter. If registration is full, please put your name on the waiting list. 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 teacher and senior students. Sesshin is an opportunity to receive personal guidance in private interviews with the teacher, draw from the tremendous strength of people practicing together and experience the deep stillness that lies within each one of us. 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…
One Continuous Thread: Home Practice Intensive—October 2023October 23 - 29, 2023
Welcome to One Continuous Thread, a way to bring elements of a formal zazen intensive into your daily life. You will be able to participate with ZMM’s Sesshin via live webcast. We’ve designed this retreat keeping in mind the unique circumstances that each person finds themselves in. Some people can engage fully with a sesshin schedule in their homes; others may seek the rigors and rewards of a zazen intensive while navigating their ongoing responsibilities to work, family and friends. One Continuous Thread can hold it all as we sit together, even while our needs and experiences might be quite diverse. Further guidance on how to engage with the retreat, and a full schedule of the Monastery’s zendo activities, will be sent to you no earlier than Monday afternoon. You can base your own sitting around that or set your own schedule. There will be Opening Guidelines via Zoom on Monday night, and all participants, especially new ones, are encouraged to attend (regardless of day of arrival), and an evening Closing Reflections on Friday evening. All participants who are interested can register for a group Zoom meeting with a teacher during the week; please let the Registrar know via email: registrar@dharma.net. …
Harvest SesshinOctober 23 - 29, 2023
Because sesshin is a very intensive retreat, if you have not attended sesshin at Zen Mountain Monastery you must have a pre-sesshin interview, so please call or email the Training Office to schedule at (845) 688-2228, or registrar@dharma.net. Since there are a limited number of spots, please sign up for only 1-2 sesshin per quarter. This session must be joined no later than Thursday. If registration is full, please put your name on the waiting list. 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 teacher and senior students. Sesshin is an opportunity to receive personal guidance in private interviews with the teacher, draw from the tremendous strength of people practicing together and experience the deep stillness that lies within each one of us. 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…
One Continuous Thread: Home Practice Intensive—November 2023November 13 - 19, 2023
Welcome to One Continuous Thread, a way to bring elements of a formal zazen intensive into your daily life. You will be able to participate with ZMM’s Sesshin via live webcast. We’ve designed this retreat keeping in mind the unique circumstances that each person finds themselves in. Some people can engage fully with a sesshin schedule in their homes; others may seek the rigors and rewards of a zazen intensive while navigating their ongoing responsibilities to work, family and friends. One Continuous Thread can hold it all as we sit together, even while our needs and experiences might be quite diverse. Further guidance on how to engage with the retreat, and a full schedule of the Monastery’s zendo activities, will be sent to you no earlier than Monday afternoon. You can base your own sitting around that or set your own schedule. There will be Opening Guidelines via Zoom on Monday night, and all participants, especially new ones, are encouraged to attend (regardless of day of arrival), and an evening Closing Reflections on Friday evening. All participants who are interested can register for a group Zoom meeting with a teacher during the week; please let the Registrar know via email: registrar@dharma.net. …
Shuso Hossen SesshinNovember 13 - 19, 2023
Because sesshin is a very intensive retreat, if you have not attended sesshin at Zen Mountain Monastery you must have a pre-sesshin interview before you register, so please call or email the Training Office to schedule at (845) 688-2228, or registrar@dharma.net. Since there are a limited number of spots, please sign up for only 1-2 sesshin per quarter. If registration is full, and you do not need an interview (as a first-time participant) please put your name on the waiting list. 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 teacher and senior students. Sesshin is an opportunity to receive personal guidance in private interviews with the teacher, draw from the tremendous strength of people practicing together and experience the deep stillness that lies within each one of us. 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…