ZMM Retreats

Upcoming Retreats at Zen Mountain Monastery

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

intro To Zen

INTRO TO ZEN WEEKEND

Experience Zen training for yourself. Our most popular retreat and a great place to start.

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Coming To The Monastery

COMING TO THE MONASTERY

How to enter the schedule and life of the Monastery for the first time. Come visit us on Mount Tremper.

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ONE-MONTH RETREAT

Each month we’re joined by individuals seeking an immersive experience of Monastery life.

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RETREAT CATEGORIES

– Arts

– Buddhist Studies

– Introductory

– Meditation Intensives

– Women’s Retreats

Upcoming Retreats at Zen Mountain Monastery

March Introduction to Zen Training Retreat

with MRO Teachers and Senior Staff

March 6 - 8, 2020
Are you new to meditation or Zen Buddhist practice? Have you read books about Zen, or been doing meditation on your own? Do you think you’d like to study with a teacher? Designed for those new to Zen or formal Zen training, this introductory retreat allows you to immerse yourself in Zen practice and experience…

One Dharma: Having Desires & Knowing How to Be Satisfied

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi

March 13 - 15, 2020
When the mind becomes quiet and clear, we can better understand the subtleties of the Buddha’s teaching and more clearly experience its relationship to our lives. Through silent meditation and inquiry guided by Shugen Roshi, we'll examine our moment-to-moment experience of holding on, and how this constricts and binds the mind and body. We'll also examine…

March Founding Sesshin

with Shugen Roshi, Hojin Sensei & Hogen Sensei

March 23 - 29, 2020
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),…

April Introduction to Zen Training Retreat

with MRO Teachers and Senior Staff

April 3 - 5, 2020
Are you new to meditation or Zen Buddhist practice? Have you read books about Zen, or been doing meditation on your own? Do you think you’d like to study with a teacher? Designed for those new to Zen or formal Zen training, this introductory retreat allows you to immerse yourself in Zen practice and experience…

Ango Intensive Spring 2020 – Mountains & Rivers Sutra: The Mountains Belong to Those Who Love Them

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi

April 9 - 12, 2020
These mountains and rivers of the present are the actualization of the word of the ancient Buddhas. Each, abiding in its own dharma state, completely fulfills its virtues. The Mountains & Rivers Sutra is one of the greatest and most unique teachings of the Zen tradition. In it, the deeply awakened 12th century Buddhist Master…

Healing the Vicious Cycle of Addiction: A Dharmic Way to Interrupt the Cycle

with Valerie (Vimalasara) Mason-John

April 17 - 19, 2020
Addiction, compulsion, dependence, obsession, craving, infatuation—whatever you want to call it, you know it when you’re in it. Thoughts can be addicting, just like eating, drinking, shopping, or gambling, a fact the Buddha understood well. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you look at it), people haven’t changed much in 2,500 years. The teachings of the Eightfold Path are still useful…

April Apple Blossom Sesshin

with Shugen Roshi, Hojin Sensei & Hogen Sensei

April 20 - 26, 2020
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)…

May Introduction to Zen Training Retreat

with MRO Teachers and Senior Staff

May 1 - 3, 2020
Are you new to meditation or Zen Buddhist practice? Have you read books about Zen, or been doing meditation on your own? Do you think you’d like to study with a teacher? Designed for those new to Zen or formal Zen training, this introductory retreat allows you to immerse yourself in Zen practice and experience…

Investigating Wonder: Taking Up the Faith Mind Poem Through Art Practice with Hojin Sensei

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

May 8 - 10, 2020
In this retreat we will look at the teachings of the Faith Mind Poem and take up the practice of no preferences. To allow anything to appear whether it be strange, awkward, sexual, dark, chaotic, or beautiful. All of it is free to come and go unfettered, carrying with them the full range of thought and feeling. Through this process we may just find where…

Sangha Treasure Weekend

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi and MRO Seniors

May 15 - 17, 2020
It is only within the sangha that we can realize our deepest intentions of clarity and compassion. In attempt to gain perspective into the workings of our mind and…

Brush with Our Time

with Kazuaki Tanahashi

May 22 - 24, 2020
The practice of calligraphy teaches us that anyone can be creative. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced calligrapher, any one of you can expand your creativity and enjoy making artwork. You can apply your creativity in your daily activity, whether you are a student, teacher, parent, scientist, or artist. We will begin by by exploring the 1700 year old wisdom of East Asian calligraphy...

May Shuso Hossen Sesshin

with Shugen Roshi, Hojin Sensei & Hogen Sensei

May 25 - 31, 2020
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)…

June Introduction to Zen Training Retreat

with MRO Teachers and Senior Staff

June 5 - 7, 2020
Are you new to meditation or Zen Buddhist practice? Have you read books about Zen, or been doing meditation on your own? Do you think you’d like to study with a teacher? Designed for those new to Zen or formal Zen training, this introductory retreat allows you to immerse yourself in Zen practice and experience…

Cultivating the Power for Activism

with Venerable Dr. Pannavati

June 11 - 14, 2020
Our meditation practice alone cannot not serve as our sole commitment to help end the suffering of others. We have a powerful opportunity to cultivate and develop the prerequisites that enable beneficial acts to be undertaken with intention, attention and skillfulness. The weekend will be a combination of contemplation of sutras from Zen, Theravada and…

Cultivating the Qualities of Jizo Bodhisattva

with Jan Chozen Bays

June 19 - 21, 2020
We are so pleased to welcome Chozen Roshi back to ZMM for this important retreat, timed to coincide with the building of our new Jizo House across from the Monastery's garden. A bodhisattva is a spiritual pilgrim who dedicates their life to helping free others from the suffering caused by fear and ignorance, and to…

June Summer Solstice Sesshin

with Shugen Roshi & Hojin Sensei

June 22 - 28, 2020
NOTE: Participants must enter by Thursday evening. 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)…

July Introduction to Zen Training Retreat

with MRO Teachers and Senior Staff

July 3 - 5, 2020
Are you new to meditation or Zen Buddhist practice? Have you read books about Zen, or been doing meditation on your own? Do you think you’d like to study with a teacher? Designed for those new to Zen or formal Zen training, this introductory retreat allows you to immerse yourself in Zen practice and experience…

Being the Bowl: A Clay Retreat with Raku Firing

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

July 8 - 12, 2020
Being the Bowl is the profound study of staying unconditionally with one thing. How can we return, again and again, to just this one thing through the cascade of our ever-changing moods and emotions? How can we meet ourselves freshly each moment? How can we challenge ourselves to respond spontaneously, allowing ourselves to hear, feel…

A Planet of Poets Workshop

with Margaret Gibson

July 10 - 12, 2020
We are the first humans to live with the knowledge that our planet is not immortal. How can art address that? What is our responsibility as poets? In this workshop we’ll explore the place where language comes up against this undeniable new fact of life. A mix of exercises and discussion, the workshop will focus on how we can use the act of writing not only for powerful expression…

July Interdependence Sesshin

with Shugen Roshi & Hojin Sensei

July 20 - 26, 2020
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)…

Zen Kids and Family Camping Retreat

with MRO Staff

July 31 - August 2, 2020
Gazing at stars, waking to birdsong, cooking food over a glowing fire we’ve made. Simple experiences like these bring us directly to our inherent relationship with nature. Being intimate with the natural world is a precious gift for us all, particularly so for our children. …

August Introduction to Zen Training Retreat

with MRO Teachers and Senior Staff

July 31 - August 2, 2020
Are you new to meditation or Zen Buddhist practice? Have you read books about Zen, or been doing meditation on your own? Do you think you’d like to study with a teacher? Designed for those new to Zen or formal Zen training, this introductory retreat allows you to immerse yourself in Zen practice and experience…

Intermediate Kyudo: Zen Archery Intensive

with Don Symanski

August 4 - 9, 2020
This is one of the foremost Kyudo training opportunities in the US. You'll receive personalized instruction in the basic principles of the kyudo form as well as formless aspects of Kyudo as a meditation practice. This retreat is designed for anyone who has taken “first shot” at the Monastery or elsewhere…

Circles on the Water: Call to the Forest — Meeting our Women Ancestors

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei and Mn. Shoan Ankele

August 4 - 9, 2020
In the early poetry of the first Buddhist women, the Therigatha, we read of women going into the forest for a quiet place to turn inward and free their minds. This wilderness excursion will take us into mountains, forests and onto the waters of the of the Adirondacks’ Lake Lila so that we too quiet down into our naturalness and experience the generosity of this Great Mother Earth....

Beginners Kyudo: Zen Archery Intensive

with Don Symanski

August 5 - 9, 2020
Through meticulous attention to detail, all aspects of the Kyudo form and movements provide a subtle mirror of the self, as well as an opportunity for deep study. In this outstanding retreat, beginners will receive training in the Seven Coordinations…

Precepts II: Entering the Way of Compassion

with Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi

August 7 - 9, 2020
This second-level retreat is part of the Mountains and Rivers Order training program for receiving the Buddhist precepts, yet it is open to all who are interested in practicing the Dharma. In this retreat, we will examine and discuss bodhicitta—the great aspiration to liberate self and other—and its important role in generating compassion …

Undoing Patriarchy and Unveiling the Sacred Masculine: A Retreat for Men (Self-Identified)

with Lama Rod Owens

August 14 - 16, 2020
Through retreat, meditation, dialogue, sharing and personal storytelling, journaling and ritual, we will together unpack how patriarchy has shaped our expressions of masculinity and the self more generally. We will take up a dharmic lens to examine our relationship to violence and domination, power, femininity, love and sexuality along a path to unveiling and honoring …

August Hazy Moon Sesshin

with Shugen Roshi & Hojin Sensei

August 17 - 23, 2020
NOTE: Participants must enter on Monday evening. 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)…

Peaceful Dwelling: Meditation Intensive

with MRO Teachers and Senior Staff

August 27 - 30, 2020
Our traditional zazen intensives, such as sesshin, are carefully planned and scheduled to help practitioners develop inner and outer meditative strength and stability. Yet, when the schedule and structure falls away—at home, after the intensive is over—you may find it challenging to maintain your clarity of purpose and practice. The Peaceful Dwelling retreat provides a ...

September Introduction to Zen Training Retreat

with MRO Teachers and Senior Staff

September 4 - 6, 2020
Are you new to meditation or Zen Buddhist practice? Have you read books about Zen, or been doing meditation on your own? Do you think you’d like to study with a teacher? Designed for those new to Zen or formal Zen training, this introductory retreat allows you to immerse yourself in Zen practice and experience …

Wild Grasses Sesshin: A Meditation Intensive for Women (Self-Identified)

with Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei

September 10 - 13, 2020
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)...

September Mountains and Rivers Sesshin

with Shugen Roshi, Hojin Sensei & Hogen Sensei

September 21 - 27, 2020
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)…

October Introduction to Zen Training Retreat

with MRO Teachers and Senior Staff

October 2 - 4, 2020
Are you new to meditation or Zen Buddhist practice? Have you read books about Zen, or been doing meditation on your own? Do you think you’d like to study with a teacher? Designed for those new to Zen or formal Zen training, this introductory retreat allows you to immerse yourself in Zen practice and experience…

Milarepa – Lessons from the Life and Songs of Tibet’s Great Yogi

with Judy Lief

October 15 - 18, 2020
“ I am the yogi Milarepa, Who looked directly and saw the nakedness of my mind. Without complications, it is like the sky. See the sky and rest naturally, And you will be able to see the innermost nature of mind.”   Milarepa did not have an easy life. His childhood was traumatic. As a…

October Harvest Sesshin

with Shugen Roshi, Hojin Sensei & Hogen Sensei

October 19 - 25, 2020
NOTE: Participants must enter by Thursday evening. 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...

October 30 – November 1 Introduction to Zen Training Retreat

with MRO Teachers and Senior Staff

October 30 - November 1, 2020
Are you new to meditation or Zen Buddhist practice? Have you read books about Zen, or been doing meditation on your own? Do you think you’d like to study with a teacher? Designed for those new to Zen or formal Zen training, this introductory retreat allows you to immerse yourself in Zen practice and experience…

Ecodharma: A New Buddhist Path?

with David Loy

November 13 - 15, 2020
Our ecological emergency is not something the Buddha or Zen masters talked about, but their teachings have important implications for how understand and respond to the greatest challenge that humanity has ever faced. This aspects of the eco-crisis this retreat will focus on include reconnecting with the natural world, the parallels between our individual predicament and our collective predicament; and the ecosattva path…

November Shuso Hossen Sesshin

with Shugen Roshi, Hojin Sensei & Hogen Sensei

November 16 - 22, 2020
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...

November 27 – November 29 Introduction to Zen Training Retreat

with MRO Teachers and Senior Staff

November 27 - 29, 2020
Are you new to meditation or Zen Buddhist practice? Have you read books about Zen, or been doing meditation on your own? Do you think you’d like to study with a teacher? Designed for those new to Zen or formal Zen training, this introductory retreat allows you to immerse yourself in Zen practice and experience…

Buddha’s Enlightenment Vigil

with MRO Teachers and Senior Staff

December 11 - 13, 2020
At Zen Mountain Monastery, we celebrate the Buddha’s enlightenment with a vigil dedicated to the simple yet profound practice of zazen. We’ll begin Friday evening with introductory remarks and a renewal of our bodhisattva vows. Then, we’ll mark the Buddha’s enlightenment by sitting together through the night and day. In the spirit of hermitage practice...

December Rohatsu Sesshin

with Shugen Roshi & Hojin Sensei

December 26 - 31, 2020
ZMM
Traditionally, Rohatsu is the last day of a week-long sesshin celebrating the Buddha's enlightenment. Keeping with ZMM tradition, the last day of this sesshin culminates on December 31st, with Shugen Roshi leading a fusatsu, (renewal of vows ceremony) to help us transition into the New Year. The evening will conclude with a midnight breakfast. In a Rohatsu Sesshin, each evening's meditation period…