ZCNYC Retreats

Upcoming Retreats at Zen Center of New York City

Explore Zen Center of New York City through one of our upcoming retreats. Please don’t let financial issues prevent you from attending a program at the ZCNYC. If you can’t afford the program fee, there are options. If you are looking for retreats at the Zen Mountain Monastery in Mount Tremper NY, click here.

Upcoming ZCNYC Retreats

Half-Day Sit – May

May 25, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
These short zazen intensives are popular with those new to Zen practice or meditation, as well as more experienced students. The morning offers a time of silence and stillness and provides an excellent way to explore and deepen one’s zazen. The retreat will be introduced and concluded with dharma words of encouragement. […]

Zen Essentials — Attachments and the Path to Liberation

with Mn. Gokan Bonebakker

May 30, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
In this session we will explore the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha’s first teaching following his own enlightenment. These describe the cycle of human-created suffering, its basis in our attachment to desires, and how to […]

Zazenkai – June

with MRO Teachers

June 1, 2019
Zazenkai presents us with an opportunity to return to the well of introspection and committed Zen practice. Each day includes an extended schedule of zazen, liturgy, face-to-face interview with a teacher or dharma holder, a formal talk and oryoki lunch (formal meal served in the zendo). Zazenkai is an important way for experienced students to […]

Open Sky

with Ron Hogen Green, Sensei

June 6 - 8, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
Meditation intensives traditionally utilize a powerful, carefully designed schedule of zazen and other forms of training. Within the outer discipline that these highly structured intensives offer, students develop an inner discipline of silence, stillness and careful attention. This Open Sky retreat integrates the same intensity and dedication of sesshin, with the open, formless quality of a hermitage. The purpose is to encourage students to cultivate and bring forth their own inner strength and resolve […]

Aging and Awakening to Our Life

with Rev. Trudi Jinpu Hirsch-Abramson

June 22, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
“Aging” is just a word — quite a powerful word, but it can carry with it, many burdens, regrets, and fears. Together, we'll reexamine this word, what it brings up for each of us and how it may be viewed through a number of different lenses. During this retreat, we'll look at ways in which we can recreate our life into a more nourishing, fulfilling and “joyous” existence. Through the exploration of[…]

Half-Day Sit – June

June 29, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
These short zazen intensives are popular with those new to Zen practice or meditation, as well as more experienced students. The morning offers a time of silence and stillness and provides an excellent way to explore and deepen one’s zazen. The retreat will be introduced and concluded with dharma words of encouragement. […]

Zazenkai – July

with MRO Teachers

July 13, 2019
Zazenkai presents us with an opportunity to return to the well of introspection and committed Zen practice. Each day includes an extended schedule of zazen, liturgy, face-to-face interview with a teacher or dharma holder, a formal talk and oryoki lunch (formal meal served in the zendo). Zazenkai is an important way for experienced students to […]

Classical Qigong for Total Health, Emotional Balance and Spiritual Clarity

with Paul Bloom

July 20, 2019
In this workshop we'll will focus on two sets: The 8 Brocades of Silk and Taiji Qigong in 18 Movements. These two practices will move us through calming the mind, awakening the spirit and releasing the blocks to embody this expression[…]

Half-Day Sit – July

July 27, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
These short zazen intensives are popular with those new to Zen practice or meditation, as well as more experienced students. The morning offers a time of silence and stillness and provides an excellent way to explore and deepen one’s zazen. The retreat will be introduced and concluded with dharma words of encouragement. […]

Fearless Living

with Gina Sharpe

August 3, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
When we access Dharma practice, we are reminded to live into a dimension larger than the small body of fear and despair that often drives our heart and minds. This day offers a space of ease with practices to break the spell cultural beliefs that drive separation rather than connection and encourage […]

Precepts Mondo

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

August 8, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
The moral and ethical teachings of the Buddha touch every area of our lives. The extent to which these principles permeate our relationships and actions is enhanced by our understanding of them. This new series of Q&A style monthly mondos features MRO teachers facilitating open discussions about the Ten Grave Precepts as they relate to lay practice.[…]

Zazenkai – August

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

August 10, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
Zazenkai presents us with an opportunity to return to the well of introspection and committed Zen practice. Each day includes an extended schedule of zazen, liturgy, face-to-face interview with a teacher or dharma holder, a formal talk and oryoki lunch (formal meal served in the zendo). Zazenkai is an important way for experienced students to […]

Song of Zazen

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi

August 17, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
All beings by nature are Buddha, As ice by nature is water. Apart from water there is no ice; Apart from beings, there is no Buddha. How near the truth, yet how far we seek. In Praise of Zazen, Master Hakuin In the Buddha’s enlightenment, he directly experienced the essential, free and unhindered nature of […]

Half-Day Sit – August

August 24, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
These short zazen intensives are popular with those new to Zen practice or meditation, as well as more experienced students. The morning offers a time of silence and stillness and provides an excellent way to explore and deepen one’s zazen. The retreat will be introduced and concluded with dharma words of encouragement. […]

To See a Flower: An Exploration of Urban Eco-printing

with Mn. Shoan Ankele

August 31, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
Eco-printing, also known as botanical contact printing is a method of natural dyeing in which organic material is arranged on a cloth or piece of paper, bound or bundled, and then steamed so that it leaves its pigment and impression behind. We’ll take up this process in the spirit of mindful practice and creative expression, allowing […]

Sesshin

with Ron Hogen Green, Sensei

September 5 - 8, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
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) […]

Precepts Mondo

with Ron Hogen Green, Sensei

September 11, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
The moral and ethical teachings of the Buddha touch every area of our lives. The extent to which these principles permeate our relationships and actions is enhanced by our understanding of them. This new series of Q&A style monthly mondos features MRO teachers facilitating open discussions about the Ten Grave Precepts as they relate to lay practice.[…]

Zazenkai – September

with Ron Hogen Green, Sensei

September 21, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
Zazenkai presents us with an opportunity to return to the well of introspection and committed Zen practice. Each day includes an extended schedule of zazen, liturgy, face-to-face interview with a teacher or dharma holder, a formal talk and oryoki lunch (formal meal served in the zendo). Zazenkai is an important way for experienced students to […]

Half-Day Sit – September

September 28, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
These short zazen intensives are popular with those new to Zen practice or meditation, as well as more experienced students. The morning offers a time of silence and stillness and provides an excellent way to explore and deepen one’s zazen. The retreat will be introduced and concluded with dharma words of encouragement. […]

Open Sky

October 10 - 12, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
Meditation intensives traditionally utilize a powerful, carefully designed schedule of zazen and other forms of training. Within the outer discipline that these highly structured intensives offer, students develop an inner discipline of silence, stillness and careful attention. This Open Sky retreat integrates the same intensity and dedication of sesshin, with the open, formless quality of a hermitage. The purpose is to encourage students to cultivate and bring forth their own inner strength and resolve […]

Precepts Mondo

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

October 16, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
The moral and ethical teachings of the Buddha touch every area of our lives. The extent to which these principles permeate our relationships and actions is enhanced by our understanding of them. This new series of Q&A style monthly mondos features MRO teachers facilitating open discussions about the Ten Grave Precepts as they relate to lay practice.[…]

Staying Present: A Creative Process Retreat

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei, André Daughtry and Kat Rogers

October 19, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
Buddhism teaches that “you and I are the same thing, but I am not you and you are not me.” While it can sound esoteric or abstract, this teaching is pointing to a basic fact of our moment-to-moment experience: that sameness (you and I are the same thing) and difference (but I am not you and you are not me) arise together at the same time. How do you actually experience this? What is this like in your body and mind? How do you realize the truth of it?

Chado: The Way of Tea

with Andrew Hobai Pekarik

November 9, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
This daylong retreat will be a comprehensive introduction to tea ceremony, including demonstrations, participation, tea drinking and discussion. At the heart of it will be the appreciation of this very moment, and the joy of sharing that with others. […]

Open and Light: Creating Space in Body and Mind with Iyengar Yoga

with Matt Angaku Dreyfus

November 16, 2019
ZCNYC
Yogic postures and breathing practices have a powerful effect on the state of body and mind, and are wonderful tools for meditators. Flexible, strong muscles, open, balanced joints, spaciousness and freedom in the breath […]

Precepts Mondo

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi

December 20, 2019
Zen Center of New York City
The moral and ethical teachings of the Buddha touch every area of our lives. The extent to which these principles permeate our relationships and actions is enhanced by our understanding of them. This new series of Q&A style monthly mondos features MRO teachers facilitating open discussions about the Ten Grave Precepts as they relate to lay practice.[…]