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. Scroll further down for information about our online TGNC Cafe and TGNC Quarterly Affinity Group Meetings, taking place on the 3rd Wednesday of every month.
Monday, monthly, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
BIAPoC Book Group (for those who identify as Black, Indigenous, Asian or Person of Color): Meets on the 2nd Monday of every month, 6pm – 8pm EST. To be added to our email list, 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 Pamela Ayo Yetunde’s Casting Indra’s Net: Fostering Spiritual Kinship and Community: Wisdom from Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, and More. It’s a mix of readings and practice exercises. The reading schedule is as follows:
  • May 8th: Introduction & Chapters 1 – 3
  • June 12th: Chapters 4 – 6
  • July 10th: Chapters 7 – 8 & Conclusion
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: The next one will take place in June. Check back for the link or email the coordinators!
First Tuesday of the month, 7:00–8:30 p.m.
Asian Sangha Gathering
A welcoming space for people of Asian heritage to come together and support each other. We apply Buddhist teachings and concepts to help us connect and grow by sharing our own stories and experiences. Come join us and let’s build a community of understanding and compassion. Register here or contact the group coordinators via asg@dharma.net.

1st & 3rd Tuesday of each month, 6:30–8:00 p.m.
Reading the Avatamsaka Sutra – A Sangha Practice Group
We will read, recite, and listen to The Flower Ornament Scripture, Book 39, Entry into The Realm of Reality  from The Avatamsaka Sutra. In this sutra, we follow the journey-story of the boy Sudhana and his meetings with remarkable teachers, a wide array of “good friends” including  21 female teachers and 32 male teachers: child, adult, human, divine, and 9 Night Goddesses! We will screenshare the text from Thomas Cleary’s translation. Link to the text here. Register here for a Zoom link or contact baconwarren915@gmail.com

 

1st & 3rd Wednesdays of the month (usually!), 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. Facilitators: Senior lay disciples Michelle Seigei Spark and Maureen Jisho Ford. Click here to register via Zoom. Upcoming meeting dates: 6/14, 6/28, 7/12, 7/19
Third Wednesday of the month starting at 7:00 p.m.
TGNC Cafe – An Informal Online Space for TGNC Sangha Discussion, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. (Feb, Mar, May, June, Aug, Sept, Nov, Dec)
TGNC Quarterly Affinity Group Meeting, online, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. (Jan, April, July, Oct)
Join the TGNC Sangha on the 3rd Wednesday of every month. Most months will feature the informal TGNC virtual “Cafe”, where you’re invited to come and share whatever is on your mind in a supportive atmosphere staffed by experienced practitioners and sponsored by the TGNC Sangha Affinity Group. Four months out of the year will be reserved for the TGNC Quarterly Affinity Group Meeting where we will explore a topic related to TGNC identity and Buddhist practice.
  • In June, in lieu of the TGNC Cafe, we invite the whole sangha to attend our Zoom panel:
              Heart to Heart: An Invitation to Listen from the TGNC Sangha. Please register here.
  • The next quarterly meeting will take place in July. Check back here for the link.
  • The next TGNC Cafe will take place in August.

ON HIATUS FOR THE SUMMER: Resuming 9/14, 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, crunchy apple or just yourself! Let’s get together and share around practice, our spiritual lives, and being women in the MRO. ON HIATUS FOR THE SUMMER, Register here to receive a zoom link for 9/14.

First Sunday of the month, 3:00 p.m.
People of African Descent (PAD) Sangha Gathering & Book Study:
Currently we are 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.

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 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.
**BIAPoC Sangha—Save the Date—June 8-11, 2023**
Touching Liberation Together — Sesshin for Black, Indigenous, Asian and People of Color (BIAPOC)
With Chimyo Atkinson, Osho, Degna Chikei Levister and Prabu Gikon Vasan. Find out more and register here.

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