Welcome to MZMC

 

MZMC offers many different kinds of practice opportunities, many of which are free and open to the public.

These include:

Many of these are free and open to the public. Everyone is welcome.

Where noted, fees are charged or donations requested for events. Financially supporting members of MZMC are eligible for discounts on fees for sesshins and other selected events.

We are excited that we are now ready to offer people the opportunity to do work and meditation practice at Hokyoji Retreat Center nestled in the rolling hills of southern Minnesota. This practice is being led by Dokai Georgesen. Browse here more information, or contact the office.

Daily Practice Schedule

Monday through Thursday a.m.

Monday through Wednesday p.m.

Saturday a.m. Meetings with the teacher available

Sunday a.m.

Regular Monday through Saturday zazen periods are cancelled during sesshins and mindfulness retreats. Sunday morning zazen and lectures will still be held and remain open to the public.

Saint Paul: Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings

Two thirty minute sittings: 6:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.
Same format as weekday mornings in Minneapolis, except no chanting or cleaning.

Location for St. Paul Sittings:
Mind Roads Meditation Center
2046 St. Clair Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55105
(maps: Google Maps • Mapquest)

Services at MZMC

Services are held Monday through Thursday mornings and Saturday mornings.

Three forms of liturgy are offered at MZMC:

Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7 a.m.:

Full bows and Heart Sutra with short dedication.

Tuesday at 7 a.m. and Saturday at 10:20 a.m.:

Full bows, Acknowledgement of Karma, Four Bodhisattva Vows, Heart Sutra and longer dedication.

Please note: Beginning 20 November 2005, the Saturday liturgy will expand. The order of service will be full bows, Acknowledgement of Karma, Four Bodhisattva Vows, Heart Sutra, longer dedication, Harmony of Difference and Sameness, Names of Ancestors (in Sanskrit/Pali, Chinese and Japanese), and a dedication to our female ancestors.

Practice Meetings with Teachers

Dokusan and Practice Meetings

Do you have questions about Zen? Do you want advice about establishing or maintaining a meditation practice? Does sitting present you with physical challenges? Are you struggling to apply your practice in your daily life? Do you wonder if you’re really ready to do a retreat?

Zen Center offers meetings with experienced Zen teachers to address these kinds of questions. Teachers at Zen Center very much enjoy getting to know other Zen practitioners and encouraging others in their practice.

Two kinds of meetings are offered. DOKUSAN is a meeting with Zen Center’s Abbott, Tim Burkett. Dokusan is available to Zen Center members, and is a bit more formal than practice meetings. PRACTICE MEETINGS are opportunities to meet with the Center’s other teachers, all of whom have been ordained by Tim. Anyone, members or non-members, can sign up for practice meetings. The participating teachers are: Guy Gibbon, Susan Hagler, Lee Lewis, Susan Nelson, Rosemary Taylor and Ted Tuel.

Both types of meetings are simply opportunities for conversation. Appropriate topics might include zazen instruction, appropriate sitting posture, ritual, Zen Center programs, applying practice in daily life, or finding ways in which the practice can be helpful in difficult situations. It’s also perfectly appropriate to sign up for a meeting just to get to know a teacher better. Repeat visits, to the same teacher or another teacher, are welcome. All matters disclosed in dokusan and practice meetings are kept confidential.

If you would like to attend a meeting, simply sign up on the appropriate sheet. If none of the designated times work for you, you may contact the office at 612-822-5313 and request that another time be arranged. You may ask for a specific teacher, or have one assigned to you.

One-to-one meeting (dokusan) with Head Teacher, Tim Burkett

Head teacher Tim Burkett is eager to see members who want help in developing or maintaining a meditation practice. If you are a member, and would like to meet with Tim, please sign up at MZMC or call the office for an appointment.

Sunday Talks

Lectures (Dharma talks) are held every Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center, and are free and open to the public.

Retreats

Retreats

June 13 through June 20, Spring at Hokyoji
July 12, Half-day Sesshin
August 16, Mindfulness Day
September 24 through September 28, Fall at Hokyoji
October 18, Half-day Sesshin
November 8, Mindfulness Day
November 28 through December 5, Rohatsu Sesshin

Half-day Sesshin
with Tim Burkett
Saturday, July 12
5:50 am – noon
Cost: $20 for members; $25 for non-members

This brief period of immersion in MZMC’s traditional sesshin schedule is a good opportunity to become familiar with the routines, stay in practice, or brush up after some time away. The morning includes an orientation to sesshin, zazen, kinhin (walking meditation), formal vegetarian breakfast, liturgy, and work practice.

Mindfulness Day
Saturday, August 16, 8 am – 5 pm
Cost: $45 for members per day; $60 for non-members per day

This contemporary day of retreat includes walking and sitting meditation, dharma talk, vegetarian lunch, and work practice.

Summer Retreat at Hokyoji
with Tim Burkett
Seven-day: Friday, June 13, 7:30 pm – Friday, June 20, 12 noon
Five-day: Friday, June 13, 7:30 pm - Wednesday, June 18, 5 pm
Two-Day: Friday, June 13, 7:30 pm - Wednesday, June 15, 5 pm
Cost: $45 per day for members; $60 per day for non-members

Our annual summer retreat at the beautiful Hokyoji Zen Practice Community in southeastern Minnesota's bluff country will be “contemporary-style”; we will immerse ourselves in the silence of a “plain and simple” practice without formal Zen rituals. The schedule includes sitting and walking meditation, a dharma talk, a vegetarian lunch served buffet-style, one-to-one meetings with the teacher, and work practice.

Fall Retreat at Hokyoji
with Dokai Georgesen
Wednesday, September 24, 7:30 pm, through Sunday, September 28, 12 noon
Cost: $45 per day members; $60 per day non-members

Our fall retreat at Hokoji will be held the first week in October, a beautiful time of year in southeastern Minnesota's bluff country. This meditation retreat alternates sitting and walking meditation throughout the day, and includes daily dharma talks, one-to-one meetings with the teacher, vegetarian meals, a work period, and outdoor group meditation walks in a lovely setting. Bring your camping gear or sleep in dorm-like indoor accommodations.

Rohatsu Sesshin, 2008
with Tim Burkett
Seven-day: Friday, November 28, at 7 pm, through Friday, December 5, 4 pm
Five-day: Friday, November 28, at 7 pm, through Wednesday, December 3, 9 pm
Two-day: Friday, November 28, at 7 pm, through Sunday, November 30, 9 pm
Hours: 5:45 am - 9:00 pm
Cost: $45 per full day for members; $60 per full day for non-members

Rohatsu (Buddha's Enlightenment) sesshin is arguably the year's most important event for practitioners of Zen Buddhism. All over the world Buddhists sit in meditation, much as we imagine Shakyamuni Buddha did. On the last day of this retreat we celebrate Buddha’s awakening to an intimacy with all of life as our own awakening. This formal, intensive meditation retreat includes zazen, kinhin (walking meditation), vegetarian meals using oryoki, liturgy, dokusan (meetings with the teacher), mindful work, and dharma talks. Each day begins with everyone at their seats by 5:45 am and concludes at 9:00 pm

Classes

Classes

Introductory Classes and Lecture

Introduction to Zazen (Sitting Meditation)
Sundays, 8:30 – 10 am
First and third Tuesdays, 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Cost: Donation; no pre-registration required.

If you are new to Zen Buddhism or MZMC, this is the place to start. Learn the basics of zazen (sitting meditation), which is the foundation of Zen practice. No pre-registration is required; just arrive a few minutes before the class. Sunday participants are welcome to stay for the public lecture at 10 a.m., and tea and social time afterwards. Tuesday participants are welcome to stay for the second sitting period and Beginner’s Mind Zen Practice discussion group afterward. These are good opportunities to meet others and get to know the community.

Beginner’s Mind Zen Practice
with Ted Tuel
First, third, fifth Tuesdays of each month, 7:15 – 8:30 pm
Cost: Donation; no pre-registration required

This group is designed for people who are seeking to establish a meditation practice and are interested in meeting and talking with others about their experience. We share stories about meditation, offer encouragement, discuss mindfulness in everyday life, and learn some of the basics about Zen Buddhism, always with an emphasis on the practice experience.

Practice Periods

Spring Practice Period: Katagiri's “Each Moment Is the Universe”
with Tim Burkett, Guy Gibbon and Susan Hagler
Eight Wednesdays, February 6 – March 26
7:15 – 8:45 pm
Cost: $120 for members; $145 non-members

Time, Space, and Being. Impermanence. Practice and Enlightenment. These are big topics in Buddhism, and Dainin Katagiri Roshi, the founder of Minnesota Zen Meditation Center, had important things to say about them all. Using the new book, “Each Moment is the Universe: Zen and the Way of Being Time” (being published July of 2007), we will explore Katagiri's teachings on these topics.

Please join us this spring as we examine what Katagiri Roshi had to say in the second part of this recently published book about time, space, being, impermanence, and enlightenment. How might we manifest Dogen’s teaching on Being Time (Uji) in our lives?

Practice Periods are a continuation of the 2500-year-old tradition started when Buddha and his students settled down for an extended period of practice during the monsoon season. People who make this fall commitment are asked to: 1. study and discuss the selected text together, 2. maintain a daily sitting practice, 3. attend a minimum of one day of retreat, 4. attend one afternoon of mindful work practice.

Advanced Classes

Morning Study Group: Sounds of Valley Streams: Enlightenment in Dogen's Zen
with Tim Burkett
Part I: Six sessions, every other Thursday, January 17 – March 27, 7:30 – 9 am
Part II: Six sessions, every other Thursday, April 10 – June 5, and June 12, 7:30 – 9 am
Cost for Part I: $90 members; $110 non-members
Cost for Part II: $90 members; $110 non-members

Join us to explore some of the key writings of Dogen, the 12th century Japanese teacher most responsible for the development of modern day Soto Zen Buddhism. We will examine several of Dogen's most important essays, which are full of such profundities as, “A flower falls, even though we love it; a weed grows even though we hate it,” and, “To study Buddhism is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.” Open to those who have participated in previous study groups or by permission from Head Teacher Tim Burkett. Book for the class: Sounds of Valley Streams commentary and translation by Francis Cook.

Evening Study Group: Taoist Foundations of Zen, Part II, Chuang Tsu
with Tim Burkett
Six Tuesdays, May 6 – June 10, 7:15 – 8:45
Cost: $90 members; $110 non-members

Join us to explore the teachings of Chuang Tsu, who purportedly lived about the time of the historical Buddha. We will explore his delightful thoughts and stories, which point toward self-transformation through the collapsing of all dualities. “Once I dreamed I was a butterfly. Suddenly I awoke. I do not know if I was dreaming that I was a butterfly or the butterfly is dreaming that he is me.” This is the third unit in the group’s study of the historical progression of Zen Buddhist thought and practice. Open to those who have participated in previous study groups or by permission from Head Teacher Tim Burkett.

Evening Study Group: Foundations of Zen, Lotus Sutra
with Tim Burkett
Six Tuesdays, July 1 – August 5, 7:15 – 8:45
Cost: $90 members; $110 non-members

Join us to read and explore one of the most widely read Buddhist sutras. This book consists of a series of talks which include both parables and anecdotes, many of which are referred to in the writing of Dogen. These were supposedly delivered by Buddha toward the end of his 40 year ministry before a large group of disciples, gods, and demons. The Buddha who gives these talks is distinctly Mahayana as he exhibits power and wisdom which is of mythological proportions. This is the fourth unit in the group’s study of the historical progression of Zen Buddhist thought and practice. Open to those who have participated in previous study groups or by permission from Head Teacher Tim Burkett.

Guest Teachers

See listings for May 22 event with Wendy Johnson below.

Classes/Groups for Beginners and Experienced

Writing as Buddhist Practice
with Ted Tuel
Seven Thursdays, April 3, 10, 17, and 24, and May 8, 15, and 22, 7:15 – 8:45 p.m.; plus one reading to be scheduled
Class size is limited to ten.
Cost: $100 members; $120 non-members

The class will explore various ways of opening to that magic moment when writing simply occurs, when the true nature of the universe manifests itself without interference from the “I.” Classes might include such things as writing with bare attention, telling our own spiritual stories, deep listening, writing with the aid of random elements, writing to music, and writing as bodhisattva practice. The focus will be on encouraging creativity rather than on instruction. Most of each class will be taken up with writing, and everyone will be invited to read aloud from their writing. There will be homework assignments. Participants will keep a journal. Everyone will be encouraged to maintain a meditation practice while taking the course. At the end of the course the group will plan a reading to which sangha, friends, and family can be invited.

Buddhism and the 12 Steps of Recovery
Thursdays, 7 – 8:15 pm
Cost: Donation; no pre-registration required.

The group explores some of the basic teachings of Buddhism and their reflection in the twelve steps. Each session begins with a period of meditation followed by a brief presentation and discussion. Anyone who wants to support a 12-step program with a deepened understanding of meditation and Buddhism is welcome.

Mindfulness and Depression
with Cyndie DeRidder
Six Wednesdays, June 4, 11, 25 and July 2, 9, 16
7:15 – 8:45 pm
Cost: $75 members; $100 non-members

This workshop is designed for people who have recurring periods of clinical depression and are interested in mindfully integrating lifestyle changes into their treatment regimen. There will be a period of meditation each evening and a discussion designed to underscore the combined wisdom of participants. This is not a therapy group and is not meant to replace any other treatments. Rather, it is a forum to cultivate courage, compassion, and intentionality. Participants will be asked to purchase the book The Chemistry of Joy by Henry Emmons, MD. Additional readings will be provided. Class size is limited to 11.Cyndie DeRidder is a licensed clinical social worker with fourteen years of experience in community mental health and private practice settings. She is a member of MZMC, and has practiced zazen for 7 years. For more information see the website Know Self.

Mindfulness and Depression Drop-in Group
with Cyndie DeRidder
First, Third and Fifth Mondays of each month
7:15 – 8:45 pm
Cost: Donation

People who have completed the Mindfulness & Depression class are welcome to attend a bi-monthly, open discussion follow-up group every other Monday. Topics and attendance vary from week to week. For more information see the website Know Self.

Other Offerings

Other Offerings

Wendy Johnson Dharma Talk and Book Signing
Tuesday Evening, May 20, 7:30 pm

On Tuesday evening, May 20, we are pleased to welcome Wendy Johnson, who will speak about her new book Gardening at the Dragon's Gate: At Work in the Wild and Cultivated World. For more than thirty years, Wendy Johnson has been meditating and gardening at the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in northern California, where the fields curve like an enormous green dragon between the hills and the ocean. Renowned for its pioneering role in California’s food revolution, Green Gulch provides choice produce to farmers’ markets and to San Francisco’s Greens restaurant. Now Johnson has distilled her lifetime of experience into this extraordinary celebration of inner and outer growth, showing how the garden cultivates the gardener even as she digs beds, heaps up compost, plants flowers and fruit trees, and harvests bushels of organic vegetables. For more information see the website gardeningatthedragonsgate.com.

Katagiri Roshi Recent Publication

On July 14, 2007, we celebrated the publication of a new Katagiri Roshi book! Sangha member Andrea Martin, who edited the book, Each Moment Is the Universe: Zen and the Way of Being Time , talked about the journey of pulling together the dharma talks that make up the book. Katagiri dharma heirs shared reminiscences about their teacher.
CDs of that evening's events are available for $5. Copies of the book are available for purchase at $21.50. E-mail MZMC to order info@mnzencenter.org

Work Practice

Work Practice

Saturday, April 19, 2008, 11:30 am to 3:30, pm

In the eighth century in China the Zen master Pai Chang began emphasizing manual labor as a means of focused awareness and service to the community. Since that time monasteries and temples generally have been well-maintained and aesthetically pleasing due to the care put into this practice. MZMC continues to value this tradition by holding work practice days throughout the year. A vegetarian lunch is provided, so please call the office in advance if you plan to participate. In April will focus on preparing the zendo, inside and out, for the large inter-sangha retreat to be held at MZMC in late April.