Staying Connected

Sangha Practice Groups + Meetings with Teachers & Seniors

Sangha Practice Groups

We encourage 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 Zazen over Zoom and Livestream
Please visit ZMM.org/zazen-online for times and links.
Monday-Saturday, 7:00 a.m. 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: zazen (7:00), “Verse of the Kesa” (7:30), 5-minute break, zazen (7:35), “Four Immeasurables” (8:05), dedication of merit, check-in and goodbyes. Please click Here to register via Zoom.
Monday, weekly, 6:30–8:00 p.m.
TGNC Sangha Practice Group (for those who identify as transgender or gender-nonconforming): A safe space for Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming people to practice together and get to know each other. Feel free to bring a friend! Please join us on Monday evenings at either 6:30 or 7:00 p.m. The schedule is as follows: optional period of zazen (6:30), short break (7:00), zazen (7:05), liturgy (7:35), social check-in (7:40). Click Here to register via Zoom. Questions? Contact us at tgnc@dharma.net. Also look out for our quarterly meetings: the next one will take place on January 18th with the theme of Embodiment and Compassion.
Monday, monthly, 6:00-8:00 p.m.

BIAPoC Book Group (for those who identify as Black, Indigenous, Asian or Person of Color): To be added to our email list for updates, please message ajay.chandra@gmail.com or eikomalqui@gmail.com. You are also invited to sign up for our BIAPoC Sesshin. The BIAPoC Book Group is currently reading Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Path of the Buddha by Thich Nhat Hanh. The book is a biography of the life of the Buddha. Here is a free PDF you can download. You can also read it for free on Internet Archive, purchase an electronic version or hard copy, or check it out from your library. We will try to cover this in three sessions. The meeting dates are:

  • Monday, February 13th, 6-8pm EST –> Read Book One up to Ch 30
  • Monday, March 13th, 6-8pm EST
  • Monday, April 10th, 6-8pm EST
Tuesday, 7:00–8:30 p.m.
LGBTQIA+ Sitting Group (for those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, agender, or other): Please join us for two periods of zazen, followed by a half-hour community check-in. Click Here to register via Zoom. This is a support and discussion group for anyone who identifies as part of the LGBTQIA+ community. You can contact the group coordinators via lgbtqia@dharma.net. We look forward to seeing you! Also look out for our LGBTQIA+ Affinity Group’s quarterly meetings: spring meeting date TBD.
First Tuesday of the month, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Asian Sangha Gathering
A space for those of Asian heritage to empower and heal one another. Monthly group that meets the first Tuesday of each month for anyone who identifies as Asian or is of Asian descent to come together in solidarity. Register here. You can contact the group coordinators via asg@dharma.net.
1st & 3rd Tuesday of each month, 6:30–8:00 p.m.
Reading The Platform Sutra of Hui-Neng: A Sangha Practice Group
You are invited to enjoy the fellowship of good friends as we gather round to read, recite and listen to  The Sutra of Hui-neng. Follow the adventures of The Sixth Ancestor, Dajian Huineng, an illiterate woodcutter who by chance hears a verse from the Diamond Sutra and strikes out on his own to find a Zen teacher. Register here for a Zoom link. All are welcome, anytime. The text we will read from is  The Sutra of Hui-neng translated by Thomas Cleary. Offered digitally here: https://terebess.hu/zen/HuinengCleary.pdf For further information email  baconwarren915@gmail.com
1st & 3rd Wednesdays of the month, 6:30–8:00 p.m.
A Dharma Conversation and Text Study Group
Join in for zazen, Dharma text study, and conversation. Using the practices of the Six Paramitas; to bring the other shore to us. Our text: Deep Hope: Zen Guidance for Staying Steadfast When the World Seems Hopeless, by Diane Eshin Rizzetto: Abbess and Guiding Teacher of the Bay Zen Center in Oakland, California. Facilitator: Senior lay disciple Michelle Seigei Spark. Click here to register via Zoom.

Thursday, every second week, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
MRO Women for Conversation & Connection
Join Senior students Chikei Levister and Shinji Hoffman for a meeting of practitioners who identify as women every second Thursday of the month. We’re hoping this time might fit into your lunch hour. Bring your snack, sandwich, tea or coffee, dark chocolate bar, crunchy apple or just yourself! Let’s get together and share around practice, our spiritual lives, and being women in the MRO. Register here to receive a zoom link.

First Sunday of the month, 3:00 p.m.
People of African Descent (PAD) Sangha Gathering & Book Study:
This Fall and Winter we will be reading “Grieving While Black: an Anti-Racist Take on Oppression and Sorrow” by Breeshia Wade.  Discussions are led by one of us on a rotating basis.  Please contact wells.robin@gmail.com if you would for more information or to sign up. The schedule of meetings and the corresponding readings are:

  • Dec 4 pp. 29-53
  • Jan 8 (second Sunday of the month) pp. 53-82
  • Feb 5 pp. 83-109
  • March 5 pp. 111-131
  • April 2 pp. 131-167

Third Sunday of the month, 1:00–2:30 p.m.
“What is Whiteness?” Sangha Affinity 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 its many biases and blind spots. You are welcome to join the open ZCNYC What is Whiteness group, meeting the 3rd Sunday of every month, 1-2:30pm. Newcomers are welcome. Please contact Dojaku or Yunen to get connected.

Sundays, monthly or bimonthly, 8:00 p.m.
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. We welcome people parenting children of all ages and members of all family structures and identities. For more details, please contact Rachael Seijo Nevins at raeraenevins@gmail.com. See dates and register here.
**CURRENTLY ON HIATUS**
BIAPoC Sangha Practice Group (for those who identify as Black, Indigenous, Asian or Person of Color):
A meeting of sangha members who identify as BIAPoC. You can contact the group coordinators via biapoc@dharma.net.

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 already have signup instructions but if you would like assistance with this, please contact the registrar at registrar@dharma.net; 845-688-2228.

Shugen Roshi: Wednesdays 7:45–8:45 p.m. (except during sesshin)
Hojin Sensei: Wednesdays 6:45–7:45 p.m. and Sundays 9:45–10:35 a.m. (except during sesshin)
Hogen Sensei: Sundays & Mondays 10 a.m.–12 p.m.

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. Feel free to mention by name the person you’d like to speak with, if you have a preference.

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