Staying Connected

Sangha Practice Groups + Meetings with Teachers & Seniors

Sangha Practice Groups

We ask everyone participating in any of our Zoom events to add your pronouns to your name in order to promote gender inclusion.  To do this, once in the Zoom meeting, click on the three dots in the corner of your screen, edit your name and add your pronouns.  Here’s a link on why that’s important: zmm.org/pronouns
Daily, Monday-Saturdays, beginning at 7am Central European Time.
European Sangha Practice Group
Calling all practitioners across the pond!  Join fellow practitioners for two periods of zazen and chanting.  The schedule is as follows: 7am zazen, 7:30am “Verse of the Kesa”, 5-minute break, 7:35am zazen, 8:05am “Four Immeasureables,” dedication and “All Buddhas”, check-in and goodbyes.  Please click Here to register via Zoom.
Mondays bimonthly, evenings.
BIPOC Book Group, reading “My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies” by Resmaa Menakem.  Peer discussion format.  Open to anyone who identifies as Black, Indigenous, or a person of color.  Email dmalqui@gmail.com if you would like to participate.
Weekly on Mondays, 6:30-8pm.
TGNC Sangha Practice Group (for those who identify as transgender or gender-nonconforming): Calling all Transgender and gender-nonconforming sangha members!  Are you in need of a safe place to practice?  Would you like to get to know other TGNC folks within the sangha?  Look no farther!  Please join us on Monday evenings from 6:30-8pm for two periods of zazen, followed by a half-hour social check-in.  All Trans and Gender Non-Conforming people welcome- bring a friend! Click Here to register via Zoom. You can also contact the group coordinators via LGBTQ@dharma.net
Weekly on Tuesdays, 7-8:30pm.
LGBTQ+ Sitting Group (for those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or other): Please join us on Tuesday evenings from 7-8:30pm for two periods of zazen, followed by a half-hour community check-in.  Click Here to register via Zoom. You can also contact the group coordinators via LGBTQ@dharma.net
Weekly on Tuesdays through March 3rd, 6:30-7:30pm.
Sangha Refuge: Winter Practice
Facilitated by MRO Jukai students, this a warm, respectful and honest space for a check-in and practice discussion.  Ease in quietly and just listen, or share how it is for you facing the challenges of the day.  You can tune in for the conversation and take a break from the news, or bring a poem, an image, a dharma teaching, or show off your pet– anything that supports and nourishes you.  There is no pressure to come every week, just when you can.  Click Here to register via Zoom, passcode zmm.
Each Wednesday, 6:30pm – 8pm.
Sangha Practice Group: Ajahn Chah 
Using Ajahn Chah’s teaching, we explore current life and practice together. Senior lay student, Seigei Spark, facilitates the conversation.  Free PDF of the text: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah.  All are welcome, and no preparation is necessary as we are not reading in any order. This group had used two different Zoom links over the last couple months, but is now using the same one every week (no longer a different one for sesshin weeks).  NEW LINK! Please Click here to join.
Wednesdays, usually bimonthly, 6:30-8pm. Upcoming dates: January 20th; February 3rd & 17th; March 3rd & 17th.
BIPOC Sangha Practice Group (for those who identify as Black, Indigenous, or a person of color)
An on-going bimonthly meeting of sangha members who identify as BIPOC.
Click Here to register and receive a Zoom link for the meeting. You can also contact the group coordinators via BIPOC@dharma.net

One Sunday a month through ango, 1pm-2:30pm.
“Me & White Supremacy” Sangha Commitment Group
This group is for those who identify as white and is part of an ongoing monthly inquiry- based in Dharma practice- into Whiteness and it’s many biases and blindspots, using the study guide “Me and White Supremacy” by Layla Saad.  Please click here for details about the commitments of this group. If you are interested in participating but were not part of the fall ango series, please email zmmtrain@dharma.net

LGBTQ+ Affinity Group Meeting
A support and discussion group for anyone who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community. We meet on Sunday’s after Sesshin from 1:30-3:00pm. We look forward to seeing you there!  Click Here to register and receive a Zoom link for the meeting. You can also contact the group coordinators via LGBTQ@dharma.net

Sundays, bimonthly, 4-5:30pm. Upcoming dates: January 17th; February 7th & 21st.
Parents Together in Practice
Our intention is to create a (virtual) space for parents to come together to support each other in the Dharma and their everyday lives.  People parenting children of all ages are welcome to join!  Click here to register via Zoom. For more details, please contact Rachael Seijo Nevins at raeraenevins@gmail.com.

One-to-one Meetings with Teachers and Seniors

Shugen Roshi, Hojin Sensei, and Hogen Sensei are each meeting with formal MRO Students over Zoom for face-to-face teaching. Students should have received new signup instructions by email on July 30. If you would like assistance with this, please contact the registrar. registrar@dharma.net; 845-688-2228

Shugen Roshi : Wednesdays 7:45-8:45pm and Sundays 9:45-10:35am.  (except during sesshin)
Hojin Sensei : Wednesdays 7:45-8:45pm and Sundays 9:45-10:35am.  (except during sesshin)
Hogen Sensei:  Saturdays and Mondays between 10 and 12pm.

One-to-one Meetings with Seniors
During these unusual and stressful times you may find it helpful to speak with a lay practitioner about tending to your practice or taking care of the challenges that life is presenting these days. Please email seniorstudents@dharma.net if interested and someone will get back to you. This opportunity is open to anyone who identifies as a sangha member, regardless of any formal affiliation. The following senior lay students are available for one-on-one phone or video calls.

Chris Yudo Abraham, Michelle Seigei Spark, Katie Yosha Scott-Childress, Maureen Jisho Ford, Patrick Yunen Kelly, Prabu Gikon Vasan, Michael Chizen Brown