Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei – ZCNYC – 5/3/26 – This talk explores what Hongzhi calls the “mysterious pivot,” a sudden shift that disrupts thinking and reveals direct, lived experience. Drawing on Dharma teaching and the Arts, Hojin highlights how loosening the mind of grasping, defining, and securing opens the heart to a deeper, more immediate ‘shock of recognition’ of our true nature.
The Spring’s Knee-Deep Mud
10-05-2026 | 43 Min.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 5/10/26 – Who fears the spring row’s knee-deep mud? This line from Hongzhi’s poem underscores the challenge which all practitioners of the dharma face: to bring something good into the world, despite the challenges that we inevitably face. Our world is constantly in flux, complex and unpredictable, and those on the Path are called to both quiet reverence and to making real effort. With words and activity, mindfulness and the moral precepts, Shugen Roshi encourages us to inhabit this universe in all directions. (From the Book of Serenity, Case 79 – Changsha Advancing a Step)
The Sanctuary Is Built Here
03-05-2026 | 42 Min.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi – ZMM – 5/3/26 – The middle way between indulgence and denial is not obvious for any of us beginning on our practice path. How could we know where the “middle” might be? We need to stumble and make mistakes to learn how to embrace a wholesome and sustainable balance, through practice. Building a sanctuary, a monastery, or a livable life takes effort, reflection, atonement and renewal. Our own enlightened nature is ready at any time to support what can be of benefit to all beings. (From the Book of Serenity, Case 4: The World Honored One Points to the Ground)
Fusatsu: Unsurpassable Giving
30-04-2026 | 31 Min.
Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei – ZCNYC – 4/5/26 – The Buddha began with generosity—dāna pāramitā—as the ground of all practice and the basis of being truly teachable. The precepts live within this spirit, expressing how we give and share this life with others. What does it mean to give in the most complete, unsurpassable way?
Dharma Encounter: Gathering Life Energy
26-04-2026 | 1 u. 8 Min.
Ron Hogen Green, Sensei – ZMM – 4/26/26 – The energy of our lives is something that we tend to take for granted, but in spiritual practice it is understood that we can deliberately cultivate the energy of clarity through zazen. We can study the ways that energy can “leak out” and diminish our clarity and focus. How do we practice those things that seem to limit us, which might dull or diminish our aspiration? How do we cultivate the “empty field” of Hongzhi’s teachings? In this lively encounter with the sangha, Hogen Sensei and the sangha explore how to gather and nourish our life energy on the path of liberation. (Dharma Encounter at the conclusion of the April 2026 Apple Blossom Sesshin.)
The Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO) is a Western Zen Buddhist lineage established by the late John Daido Loori Roshi and dedicated to sharing the dharma as it has been passed down, generation to generation, since the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. Zen Mountain Monastery, the main house of the Mountains and Rivers Order, is one of the West’s most respected Zen Buddhist monasteries and training centers. Nestled in New York’s beautiful Catskill Mountains, the Monastery draws its strength from the ancient tradition of Buddhist monasticism. Since 1980, the Monastery has offered spiritual practitioners traditional and innovative ways to engage the dharma through a wide range of retreats and residential programs that unfold within the context of authentic, full-time Zen monastic training. The Zen Center of New York City: Fire Lotus Temple is the city branch of Zen Mountain Monastery. Supporting home practitioners in the metropolitan area, ZCNYC offers varied practice opportunities within the Eight Gates training matrix.
Netherlands