Join us for this all-day sitting in honor of Shakyamuni Buddha’s passage into final Nirvana and in commemoration of Eido Tai Shimano Roshi’s passing on Feb. 19, 2018.
We are happy to announce that due to the falling numbers of Omicron cases in the Syracuse area, there will be limited in-person participation available at Hoen-ji for Sangha members who are fully vaccinated with boosters, follow our current Covid protocols (see below), and have no symptoms of any kind of respiratory illness. Masks will be required in the zendo. Read more »
Sogen Yamakawa Roshi once spoke about the terms daihi and daiji: to take away others' pain and to bring others happiness. When we live by daihi and daiji, we are no longer being held hostage by the idea of a separate self. This is the true meaning of taking the transformative step of Jukai. Read more »
Poetry is a way of expressing the inexpressible; Zen is a way of exploring the inconceivable. In this eight-week online course, Hokuto Daniel Diffin Osho will explore the ways in which poetry and the Zen sensibility nourish and inform one another.
After a two-year pause due to the pandemic, we are now bringing back our introductory weekend at Dai Bosatsu Zendo.
Please join us for this unique opportunity to experience Rinzai Zen Buddhist practice deep in the Catskill Mountains. Taught by Shinge Roshi, with the assistance of monastics and long-time practitioners, we will focus intensively on the central elements of Zen practice – zazen (seated meditation); chanting, and samu (work practice).
Join us on Zoom each Wednesday evening for an introduction to zen meditation. We begin with instruction on meditation posture and technique, followed by a brief period of guided meditation. The next period of meditation is self-led. Our last half hour is devoted to questions and answers, as well as discussion regarding the practice.
We offer this class each week, knowing that beginning a consistent meditation practice can be of great support during these challenging times. Read more »
Roshi will hold an eye-opening ceremony on Sunday during Summer Sesshin for Buddha statues whose eyes have not been opened in a previous ceremony.
If you have a new Buddha statue, or one for which an eye-opening ceremony has not taken place, you may bring it on Thursday evening, July 20, and place it on the altar. Please put your name on the bottom of the base, on a bit of tape, and bring it before 6 pm so that they can be arranged on the altar before Sesshin Opening Ceremony, which begins at 7 pm.
Dharma Study meets in the Joshua Forman House. The group, which includes Shinge Roshi and many students, is currently reading and discussing The Book of Rinzai, which is available for purchase in our store.
All are welcome, and no prior reading is necessary.
We will begin Dharma Study at 7:00 pm by meeting in the Carriage House Zendo for a half hour of zazen before moving over to the Forman House.
Please join us Sunday, July 6, for a Dharma Talk by Nikyu Robert Strickland.
Nikyu has been in a sitting practice since 1971, is a co-founder of Zen Center of Syracuse and was authorized to teach by Shinge Roshi in 2012. He has been practicing clinical psychology since 1975 and brings a wealth of insight to all his talks.
The full Sunday service is from 9am to noon. Nikyu's Dharma Talk will begin 10:45.
Dharma Study meets in the Joshua Forman House. The group, which includes Shinge Roshi and many students, is currently reading and discussing The Book of Rinzai, which is available for purchase in our store.
All are welcome, and no prior reading is necessary.
We will begin Dharma Study at 7:00 pm by meeting in the Carriage House Zendo for a half hour of zazen before moving over to the Forman House.
The purpose of residential training is to establish stability of practice for the community. In order to do that, we make a sustained, wholehearted commitment to practice. We each support and encourage each other in our training, and by taking responsibility for ourselves, we can extend this to the community and world at large. We work to maintain and sustain an atmosphere of training during our time here. Read more »
