A number of people in the sangha have expressed a need for more silent sitting and/or more opportunity to hear from others in the sangha. As a result, the Programming Working Group in consultation with the teachers, practice leaders, and participants has made some changes to our Tuesday evening and Saturday morning practice formats. We have added more periods of silent sitting as well as discussions led by someone other than a senior teacher, and arranged these so that each week at least one practice group includes a talk, while another offers just silent sitting, and yet another offers dokusan. Each sit still includes an opening circle, a sutra service, and seated and walking meditation.

Here is a summary of the new schedule: 

For more details, see the Practice Instructions for each group.

Are you concerned about there being fewer Dharma Talks or opportunities for dokusan? Please note that there will still be a talk given every week, and recall that many are published in our podcast series. It has also become common, in the era of Zoom, to offer dokusan by appointment. Please contact a senior teacher (jeff@bostonzen.org, ed@bostonzen.org, julie@bostonzen.org or fran@bostonzen.org) if you would like to arrange an appointment via zoom or in Cambridge.

The Sunrise Sit (Monday-Friday 7am, via zoom) has also adopted a silent practice on Mondays.

Questions or concerns? Please contact programming@bostonzen.org or talk with your teachers or practice leaders. We want to find the format that best supports our sangha-wide Zen practice!