Category Archives: Events

Dogen Study Group

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Recommended Dogen books:

Realizing Genjokoan (Okumura)
Living by Vow (Okumura)
Opening the Hand of Thought (Uchiyama)
Moon in a Dewdrop (Tanahashi)
How to Raise an Ox (Cook)
Eihei Dogen--Mystical Realist (Kim)
Treasury of the True Dharma Eye (Tanahashi)

Eihei Dogen Zenji, the founder of Soto Zen in Japan, is one of the most influential Zen teachers who has ever lived. He is a peerless master of Dharma expression, and the study of Dogen is essential for anyone who practices shikantaza. And yet his writings are, to almost everyone who starts to read them, exceeding difficult to penetrate. We have found that a group study of his work is a wonderfully effective way of entering into these teachings. Some members of the study group refer to it as a "support group" for readers of Dogen.

GBZC offers a Dogen study and discussion group on
FOURTH SUNDAYS at 3:30 PM. Drop-ins are welcome! Prior reading is not required and a few books will be on hand to use during the discussion. Come for one discussion, a few of them, or all of them as your schedule allows.

For 2018-19, this group will be led by Josh Bartok, Roshi and Steve Wallace, Sensei.
We will be using Kaz Tanahashi's translation of Dogen's Shobogenzo "Treasury of the True Dharma Eye".

We'll be meeting each month, September through May. Please note that there are some exceptions to our typical schedule of meeting on the fourth Sunday of the month.  The dates below are underlined if they are NOT the fourth Sunday.
Dates: 9/9, 10/28, 11/25, 12/23, 1/27, 2/24, 3/24, 4/28, 5/19

Time: 3:30 - 5:00 PM

Suggested donation - GBZC members: $10 / non-members: $15

Readings

Sep 9: Chapter 10 - Valley Sounds, Mountain Colors
Oct 28:  Chapter 11 - Refrain from Unwholesome Action
Nov 25:  Chapter 28 - The Point of Zazen, pp 303 - 309
Dec 23: Chapter 28 - The Point of Zazen, pp 309 - 314
Jan 27: Chapter 24 - Awesome Presence of Active Buddhas, pp 260 - 270
Feb 24: Chapter 24 - Awesome Presence of Active Buddhas, pp 267 - 275
Mar 24: Chapter 27 - Great Enlightenment, pp 296 - 302
Apr 28: Chapter 33 - Confirmation, pp 387 - 396
May 19: Chapter 34 - Avalokiteshvara, pp 397 - 403

Liturgy Study Group

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The Liturgical texts of Zen are powerful and provocative teaching tools. They can be pointers to practice, words of encouragement, and transformative acts-in-themselves.

GBZC offers a Liturgy study and discussion group on the FOURTH THURSDAY EVENING of the month at 7:15 PM. Drop-ins are welcome!

For 2017-18, this group will be taught by our abbot Josh Bartok assisted by our co-heads of practice Steve and Laura Wallace. John Vetrano will be the practice leader for the group.

We'll be meeting each month, September through May, except January.
Please note that there are some exceptions to our typical schedule of meeting on the fourth Thursday of the month.  The dates below are underlined if they are NOT the fourth Thursday.
Dates: 9/21, 10/26, 11/30, 12/21, (no meeting in January), 2/22, 3/22, 4/26, 5/24
Time: 7:15 – 8:45 pm

Suggested donation - GBZC members: $10 / non-members: $15

Reading will be:

This year we will be discussing a selection of texts that have been newly added to our BoWZ liturgy book.  The liturgy book is available for download here.

  • September
    1. Healing is Situated in Love, by angel Kyodo williams
    2. Compassion Unbound, by Koun Yamada
    3. The Fruit of the Bodhisattva Way, by Mazu Daoyi
  • October
    1.  Buddha Nature, by Eihei Dogen
    2.  The Way I Must Enter, by Izumi Shikibu
  • November
    1. Nothing to Do, by Linji Yixuan
    2. There is No End, by Dainin Katagiri
    3. Aspiration Prayer, by Larry Yang
    4. Your True Self Is The World, by Kosho Uchiyama
  • December

    1. The Heart of True Entrusting (“Xinxinming”), by Jianzhi Sengcan

  • February
    1. Receiving the Marrow by Bowing, by Eihei Dogen, p. 51
    2. Body and Mind, Ocean and Waves, by Keizan Jokin, p. 55
    3. Realizing the Zen Way, by Muso Soseki, p. 19
  • March
    1. Sending-and-Receiving, by Norman Fischer, p. 74
    2. Hope in the Dark, by Rebecca Solnit, p. 71
    3. Fourfold Commitment to Social Justice, by GBZC Racial and Social Justice Group, p. 66
  • April
    1. Observing the One Who Is Dim and Dull, by Da Hui, p. 19
    2. This Moment is the Koan, by Keizan Jokin, p. 57
    3. Great Doubt, by Hakuin Ekaku, p. 18
  • May
    1. Who Owns the Weather? By Joan Tollifson, p. 73
    2. Ocean-Mudra Samadhi, by Eihei Dogen, p. 54
    3. Do Your Best from the Record of Linji, p. 20

Zen and the Art of Daring to Live the Life You Want

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A workshop
with Lizabeth Roemer, PhD
and Josh Bartok, Sensei

Sunday June 12th from 1:00 - 4:30 p.m.
(See Registration details below)

In this newly developed workshop you will:

  • Learn how to clarify what is important to you, including identifying and addressing barriers to this clarity (such as mistaking goals for values)
  • Explore how the tools of the Zen tradition in the form of the precepts and the Bodhisattva Vows can function as a frame for clarifying values
  • Learn how to take actions that are consistent with how you want to be living your life, no matter what you are feeling in the moment.

Liz Roemer is co-author of The Mindful Way Through Anxiety: Break free from chronic worry and reclaim your life and the newly released Worry Less, Live More: The mindful way though anxiety workbook, and a Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She teaches nationally and internationally on the mindfulness- and acceptance-based behavioral treatment of anxiety. She is also married to Josh Bartok.

Josh Bartok is the Abbot of the Greater Boston Zen Center, and the editor of over 175 Buddhist books from Wisdom Publications. He is the co-author of Saying Yes to Life (Even the Hard Parts), and his writings have appeared in Shambhala Sun/Lion’s Roar and Buddhadharma magazines. He's also a Buddhist pastoral counselor in private practice, with a Master's Degree in Mental Heatlh Counseling. He is married to Liz Roemer.

Registration

The cost for the workshop is $30 if you register online in advance, $40 if you pay at the door. Financial aid is available (see below).
Space is limited.
Click here to register.

Financial Aid

We do not want financial circumstances to keep you from attending this event. We do offer a reduced rate to people with limited income. We encourage you to pay what you can truly afford, and know that your contribution of whatever amount is welcome. When registering, follow the financial aid instructions on the payment page.

Help

Contact [email protected] with any questions.

Dogen Study Group 2015-2016

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Recommended Dogen books:

Realizing Genjokoan (Okumura)
Living by Vow (Okumura)
Opening the Hand of Thought (Uchiyama)
Moon in a Dewdrop (Tanahashi)
How to Raise an Ox (Cook)
Eihei Dogen--Mystical Realist (Kim)
Treasury of the True Dharma Eye (Tanahashi)

Eihei Dogen Zenji, the founder of Soto Zen in Japan, is one of the most influential Zen teachers who has ever lived. He is a peerless master of Dharma expression, and the study of Dogen is essential for anyone who practices shikantaza. And yet his writings are, to almost everyone who starts to read them, exceeding difficult to penetrate. We have found that a group study of his work is a wonderfully effective way of entering into these teachings. Some members of the study group refer to it as a "support group" for readers of Dogen.

GBZC offers a Dogen study and discussion group on
SECOND SUNDAYS at 3:30. Drop-ins are welcome!

For 2015-16, this group will be led by Josh Bartok
We will be using Kaz Tanahashi's translation of Dogen's Shobogenzo "Treasury of the True Dharma Eye"

We'll be meeting each month, September through May, except January.
Please note the following exceptions to our typical schedule of meeting on the second Sunday of the month: in October we are meeting on the fourth Sunday and there is no meeting in January.
Dates: 9/13, 10/25, 11/8, 12/13,  2/14, 3/13, 4/10, 5/8
Time: 3:30 - 5:00pm

Suggested donation - GBZC members: $10 / non-members: $15

Discussion topics and pages

Apr: Shobogenzo - One Bright Pearl, p 34
May: Shobogenzo - TBD

GBZC Annual Meeting

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Saturday, June 3, at 1 p.m.
This year's annual meeting will take place at the Center on Saturday, June 3rd, at 1:00 p.m. If you consider GBZC your spiritual home, please consider coming. GBZC Members are strongly encouraged to attend as we will be voting on new Board Members and next year's budget. If you're not a member of GBZC, but interested in becoming one, please talk to a practice leader or see our membership page for more information.