* AT JIKOJI & ON ZOOM *
Led by Ben Connelly
The Flower Garland Sutra
Awakening with Interdependence, The Sensual World, and Blossoming Diversity
The Flower Garland (Avatamsaka or Huayan) Sutra provides a comprehensive and mind-altering dive into the Dharma. Its emphasis on interdependence, celebration of the sensual world, and diversity of people and methods of liberation has a profound impact on East Asian and Western Buddhisms and provides inspiration for what Thich Nhat Hanh calls “engaged Buddhism”. In this mostly silent, meditation intensive retreat we will use dialogue, teachings, meditations, and ritual engagement with the text to bring forth the joyfulness and energy of the Bodhisattva path of liberating all beings from suffering.
Ben Connelly is a Soto Zen teacher and Dharma heir in the Katagiri lineage. He also teaches mindfulness in a wide variety of secular contexts including police training and addiction recovery groups. He works with multifaith groups focused on intersectional liberation, racial justice, and climate justice. Ben serves the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center, travels to teach across the United States, has written for Tricycle and Lion’s Roar magazines, and is author of Inside the Grass Hut, Inside Vasubandhu's Yogacara, Vasubandhu's "Three Natures", and Mindfulness and Intimacy.
Those attending will be asked to help with some of the duties during sesshin, help with doan-ryo, help in the kitchen, help with serving meals and cleanup.
All are welcome! Please sign up below to register for the Sesshin. Oryoki meals are provided. You can reqeust Oryoki instruction when registering and we also recommend this video overview.
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ONLINE ZENDO ETIQUETTE
To help maintain as best we can the intimacy and integrity of an in-person gathering, we ask all who join us online to please observe the following practices.
- Sign in using real name.
- Keep microphone muted unless speaking during discussion periods.
- Maintain zendo silence during meditation periods and while waiting for discussion period to begin.
- Keep camera on and maintain visibility during discussion periods.
- Anonymous participation online is not allowed, as it would not be in person.