Catching up with rites of passage happening during fall ango's 90 days of practice: Jukai for six students, novice ordination, and the Shuso Hossen for senior student Yosha Scott-Childress. Continue reading “ZMM Roundup—Fall Ango 2019” »

The Buddhist Art of Iwasaki Tsuneo By Paula Arai Reviewed by Chikan Bacon Continue reading “Painting Enlightenment—Healing Visions of the Heart Sutra” »

By Birgitte J. Haug As fall ango came to an end, Monastery residents gathered to share their three-months of art practice. Led by Hojin Sensei, herself an artist, I felt that her deep interest in the work was contagious. Creative expression in art practice, one of the “eight gates” of Zen training, enriches our practice with something vital and uniquely alive.  hello, puddle... Continue reading “Illuminated Journals” »

by Sabine Russ The mountain offered itself in full autumn splendor on Daido Roshi’s tenth memorial day: flaming colors, sharp lines, the most pristine of skies. Such effortless radiance of nature and the light, creating extra rich contrasts—ironically (given the person we were commemorating) a photographer’s field day.  Continue reading “Sangha marks 10th anniversary of Daido Roshi’s passing” »

Sangha members joined with over six million people in a Global Climate Strike on September 20, 2019, attending rallies upstate and in NYC and other locations. Led by young people and their supporters inspired by Greta Thunberg’s leadership, the strike was an urgent call to wake up and address the causes of our climate crisis and to ask that governments take the lead. Continue reading “Earth Initiative at the Global Climate Strike” »

Author Lawrence Shainberg will be at the Zen Center of NYC on Saturday, October 5th for a reading from his new book, Four Men Shaking. We used this as an excuse to catch up with our old friend "Larry-san" and to talk about the new book and how it came into being. Continue reading “ZMM Podcast: Larry Shainberg discusses his new book “Four Men Shaking”” »

Thanks to the generous support of the Sangha, the Jizo Project is close to being fully funded, though we do still have a little ways to go. If we do pass our target of $1.2 million, any further donations will go towards Phase II plans in our ongoing effort to make Zen Mountain Monastery more accommodating and welcoming for all who wish to practice here. Continue reading “Building Plans” »

The Jizo Project is an important sangha-supported initiative to make Zen Mountain Monastery a more accessible and accommodating refuge for practice. Here are several reflections from sangha members on what the initiative means to them. Care to contribute your voice to the conversation? Email us at jizoproject@mro.org "There is a Chinese saying that goes something like this: 'When you drink water, reflect on the source; when you eat fruit, bow to the tree.'  For me giving to the Jizo Project is a chance to express my gratitude to the monastics and for what their lives create everyday for the sangha." — Pat...

The Buddha instructed his followers in the sangha to care for each other’s needs and not just focus on their own individual realization. In this spirit the Jizo House project, for which we are fundraising, is an on-going effort to rebuild accommodations for both able-bodied and differently abled visitors, residents and monastics, and the Diamond Net has taken shape as a sangha-at-large network to give voice, visibility and actions needed for accessibility-related changes. While the Jizo House Project makes our buildings and grounds more responsive, the Diamond Net is the human hands, eyes and voices of volunteers who can respond...

On June 9, Shugen Roshi, along with the Jizo Project fundraising committee, revealed the scope of our current building plans, and asked the sangha for support. Continue reading “Watch the Jizo Project launch video” »