I would like to share with you the annual structure we have created for events at the Maezumi Institute. You can look at the calendar on our web site for details. Roshi Bernie Glassman will be in residence and teaching during our two months long Winter Intensive, which will be in January and February. We will hold a 7-Day Retreat each month of the Intensive. We will host two separate training periods each year of the 5 months-long Residential Program in Socially Engaged Buddhism, one beginning in September and the other beginning in April. We will hold a Summer Institute each August with programs in our four tracks: Zen, Social Service, Multi-Faith and Sacred Arts. Beginning in the year 2010, the Zen Peacemakers Seniors' Meeting will be held in October, so we all can enjoy the magnificent riot of color that is autumn in New England. We will be offering weekend workshops, special events and retreats open to the public three weekends each month year-round. In addition, some of our programs are being developed to count toward certification, for example Council Training I, offered in November of 2008, and Council Training II, offered in April of 2009.
Please, spread the word. YOUNG BUDDHISTS' RETREAT: Taking the Torch, with Ethan Nichtern, author of "One City: A Declaration of Interdependence" Brad Warner, author of "Hardcore Zen" and "Sit Down and Shut Up," Ian "Sacred Slam" Koebner, performance poet and activist, Kate Bornstein: Gender Theorist, Performance Artist.
Additional Faculty: Deborah Neubauer: Anusara Yoga Master Teacher, Peter Kuku Sama Cunningham: Order of Disorder, Sensei Jeff Eisenberg: Zen & Martial Arts, Sensei Paul Genki Kahn.
Thursday to Sunday, August 28 to the 31st..
This is a unique event, with an optional Introduction to Zen, followed by traditional retreat practices of sitting and walking meditation, yoga and martial arts training, and private dialogues with the teachers. We are including innovative breakout workshops and performances Saturday night. I want to give you just one tempting teaser, the description to Kate's workshop, which will take place at the retreat:
Sidestepping the Suffering, and Discovering the Laughter of Living as a Stranger: Mindful Survival Tips That Even the Buddha Could Use!
Western civilization has developed and refined nine hierarchal systems of oppression: age, race, class, religion, looks, ability, sexuality, gender, and citizenship. Each of these systems depends for its survival on the lie of duality: you're either with us, or you're against us. So, who in the world is not some sort of outsider in one or more of those systems of oppression?
So what if belonging is an illusion, it still hurts like hell when we're different and we don't belong. You do not have to bend your heart and your mind to fit in with the norms of a corrupt culture. Kate Bornstein says it's possible to find some laughter in the paradox, slapstick and rule-breaking that all make you an outsider in the first place. Discover and enjoy your unique individuality as you become one with everything.
I'd also like to direct your attention to our September, October and November events. The Power of a Loving Heart workshop with Sharon Salzberg and Krisna Das September 13 & 14 is a wonderful event to share with family and friends. On September 19 - 21, Prof. Chris Queen, a Dean at Harvard, will headline Introduction to Socially Engaged Buddhism, not only giving a history of this work within Buddhism, but also covering recent headline events in Llasa and Myanmar. Roshi Bernie will reprise his masterwork, Instructions to the Cook, October 12-14, a foundational text for Socially Engaged Buddhism. Sensei Fleet Maull will give a workshop Novembe 14-16 on Transforming Self: Building Inner Resources for Effective and Sustainable Leadership and Peacemaking. This is one of the 4 Core Trainings of Fleet's Peacemaker Institute's Integral Peacemaker TrainingTM (IPT) program and counts toward certification in IPT.
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Young Buddhists' Retreat
This retreat (for folks between 18-35 years of age) promotes the work of some of the new generation taking up the Dharma torch. There will be an optional Introduction to Zen Practice Thursday afternoon. The retreat will begin Thursday night and include plenty of zazen, talks by the leaders and a period of breakout workshops, private interviews with Ethan Nichtern, Brad Warner, Ian Koebner and Sensei Paul Genki Kahn, and performances Saturday night by Ian Sacred Slam Koebner and Kate Bornstein.
Resident Training Program in Socially Engaged Buddhism:
This Resident Training Program provides training to those who wish to practice in Zen Houses or in the area of peacemaking and social service. The trainees will study best means for transformation of individuals, neighborhoods, and society. There will be a residence training program, from Sept '08 to mid Jan '09, at the Maezumi Institute and a 6 month internship in a Zen House. Those with the appropriate qualifications will receive a Zen Peacemakers Minister Ordination.
The Maezumi Institute is receiving applications for those wishing to join the ten month program that provides a structure for practice, training, and hands-on internships.
1st program starts September 15, 2008; next program starts April 2009.
Krishna Das and Sharon Salzberg at the Maezumi Institute
2- Day Workshop: Power of a Loving Heart
Sharon Salzberg
Lovingkindness Meditation with Sharon Salzberg and Devotional Chanting with
Krishna Das.
Lovingkindness meditation (from the Buddhist tradition) and devotional
chanting (an ancient Indian tradition) are complementary practices that
cultivate our natural capacity for faith, compassion and love.
September 13-14
The cost for the entire weekend (including Saturday night film on Auschwitz Bearing Witness Retreat and Sunday night Kirtan) is $150. This includes lunch and dinner on both Saturday and Sunday.
The workshop will include Chanting (call and response) with musical accompaniment, stories about his Guru, readings from spiritual traditions, teachings, and discussions about life and the spiritual Path. Krishna Das will be joined by Sharon Salzberg for the workshop, providing an opportunity for Q&A in an intimate setting.
September 14
Special price for Workshop & Kirtan, including Dinner: $75 pre-registration and $85 at the door
Chris Queen, a Dean at Harvard University has edited two seminal works: Engaged Buddhism in the West and Engaged Buddhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia.
Friday night, Genki will lead exploratory discussions on Zen perspectives regarding the relationships between personal life and the social universe.
Saturday morning, 10am - 12:30pm, Chris will give an historical survey on the various social teachings of Buddhism in India, China and East Asia; and Saturday afternoon, 2pm - 4:30pm, he will give a review of Engaged Movements in the Contemporary World, including the recent Buddhist monastic activism and the resulting violent repressions in Myanmar and Lhasa. Saturday night, Chris will give a talk and slide show presentation on the work of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who challenged the caste system in India and led millions to convert to Buddhism and emerge from a history of prejudice and violence. Dr. Ambedkar is one of the founders of the modern Indian state. He drafted the Constitution and was the first Law Minister in Nehru's cabinet.
Sunday morning, Eve will share some of the early history of social service projects developed by the Zen Peacemakers, including the holistic, wrap-around services at the Greyston Mandala, revitalizing individual lives and a community in southwest Yonkers, NY, and peacemaking efforts of activist circles in Europe and the Middle East.
Sunday afternoon, Genki will present an overview of current projects being developed by the Zen Peacemakers and their various practices of peacemaking.
September 19-21
Fee: $150. This includes tuition and lunch and dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.
Optional Dana (donation) will be requested on behalf of teachers.
Zen masters call a life that is lived fully and completely, with nothing held back, the supreme meal. And a person who lives such a life -- a person who knows how to plan, cook, appreciate, serve, and offer the supreme meal of life, is called a Zen cook.
According to Roshi Glassman, one of the most useful metaphors for life is what happens in the kitchen. In this workshop, Roshi Glassman will offer recipes for the supreme meal, the life lived fully and completely. With the aid of such precepts as Use what you have, Don't reject anything and Recognize your faults as your best ingredients, Glassman will show how these spiritual principles apply to relationships, the marketplace and to building community.
October 10-12
Fee: $150. This includes tuition and lunch and dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.
Optional Dana (donation) will be requested on behalf of teachers.
Harvesting Wisdom from the Jewish Holy-day Period: A Jewish Meditation Retreat with Rabbi Jeff Roth and Roshi Bernie Glassman
Jeff Roth
Bernie Glassman
The time following the Jewish high Holy-days and Sukkot is a fitting time to reflect on any wisdom gained while entering this new Jewish year. Using the vehicle of silence and a variety of Jewish and Zen meditation approaches, this retreat will offer you the possibility of looking deeply into your own life and coming to a place of greater wisdom, joy and compassion.
October 15-19
Fee: $350. This includes tuition, lunch and supper.
Optional Dana (donation) will be requested on behalf of teachers.
This weekend training will offers an introduction to the Way of Council. In the practice of Council--a dynamic circle process for developing and sustaining direct, honest and effective communication--each person learns to speak from the heart and to listen with full attention. Council is an ancient form and a modern practice whose roots are within the natural world spanning diverse cultures and religions. The Council process encourages community building, conflict exploration and resolution, the sharing of personal and cultural stories, and inclusive decision-making in a supportive and compassionate environment.
November 7-9
Fee: $200. This includes tuition and lunch and dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.
Transforming Self: Building Inner Resources for Effective and Sustainable Leadership and Peacemaking: Sensei Fleet Maull
Transforming Self is one of the 4 Core Trainings of the Peacemaker Institute's Integral Peacemaker TrainingTM (IPT) program, an innovative, spiritually grounded, integral and transformative leadership training program for non-profit leaders, community activists, social entrepreneurs, business leaders, social activists and peace workers. Fleet Maull is the Founder of the Peacemaker Institute and co-creator of the IPT program.
November 14-16
Fee: $150. This includes tuition and lunch and dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.
Optional Dana (donation) will be requested on behalf of teachers.
THE REGULAR SATURDAY SCHEDULE WILL TAKE PLACE THIS SUMMER ONLY ON JULY 26 AND WILL RESUME AGAIN ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6.
Tuesday Evening:
7:00-7:30 pm Beginning Instruction for Zen Meditation
7:30-9:00 pm Meditation and Study
Kirtan
Shubalananda
Mondays at 7:30pm
Yoga
Jeanie Earlbaum
Jean is on a 3-month personal retreat and will resume classes in September.
Global Spirit
a multi-faith meditation and study circle
John Sprague
Wednesdays at 7:30 pm
One Day Zen Retreat - Sensei Eve Myonen Marko
Silent retreat includes meditation, a dharma talk, private study with Sensei Eve Myonen Marko, and lunch.
September 27, October 25, November 22
Roshi Bernie Glassman will give a Dharma Talk at 4:30pm.
Dharma Talk- Roshi Bernie Glassman
Join Roshi Bernie Glassman as he presents his monthly Dharma Talk on one of his private collection of koans. He will also give Private Interviews to his students.
September 27, October 25, November 22
Private Interviews: 3:30 pm Dharma Talk: 4:30 pm
Christian Vespers and Meditation
Father Bruce Teague
Dhikrullah - The Dervish Ceremony of Divine Remembrance
