Event Type 2: Programs-Online Events

24-Hour Silent Vigil for GLOBAL PEACE
in partnership with evolve World

You are invited to a special event—a 24-Hour Silent Vigil for Global Peace. From 3:00 pm CET on Saturday, December 2, until 3:00 pm Sunday, December 3, we will join friends from around the world to create a space of peace in a world torn by war.

Two Arrows Zen is joining our friends at evolve World and their annual event, One World Bearing Witness, to bear witness to the peace that lives within each and all of us.

In the face of the eruptions of violence on our shared planet, one day of a deep dive into the silence and peace at the core of human existence is hardly enough. But it reminds us of our fundamental nonseparation—from each other, our perceived enemies, and Life itself.

This event is not meant to be a political statement—except to note our commitment to peace prevailing on Earth. While we each have our own assessment of the conflicts happening now, participation in this meditation vigil is not advocating certain actions by the different sides of the conflict. For peace to prevail, so must justice.

Register for free to join in—for an hour or whatever inspires you.

Let’s create a space of deep silence across our Earth, and let’s create peace.

 

Can’t Travel to Torrey?
Everyone has the option to join the Virtual Winter Sesshin via Zoom.

Virtual Rohatsu Winter Sesshin 
with Diane Musho Hamilton Roshi
December 3 – 10, 2023
Via Zoom

Rohatsu Winter Sesshin is an intensive meditation retreat dedicated to the practice of zazen. Practitioners who gather at Two Arrows Zen in Torrey will be joined in a 7-day schedule by online participants from many locations. The experience of a strong schedule for sitting will benefit everyone who wishes to deepen their practice of zazen.

Rohatsu is Japanese for “eighth day of the twelfth month.” The Buddha was enlightened on the eighth of December when he looked up at the morning star, the planet we call Venus. The brightness of this planet was seen by Buddha at the end of a week straight of the deepest Samadhi.

From within this state of mind, the Buddha said: How wondrous, how wondrous! All beings are endowed with this pure nature! What a wondrous, astonishing thing has been realized! All the ten thousand things, all the flowers, all the trees, all the rocks, all things everywhere are shining brilliantly! The Rohatsu Sesshin commemorates that realization.

Participants in Torrey will be observing silence throughout the retreat. We encourage and will support virtual participants to bring a spirit of quiet to their week of practice at home.

The Virtual Winter Sesshin begins with an orientation session via Zoom at noon MT on Saturday, December 2. The retreat runs concurrently with the Sesshin in Torrey, starting on Sunday evening through noon MT on the following Sunday. The program via Zoom will include Zazen, Dokusan for new practitioners, and community meetings. 

Participants in the online Sesshin will schedule their participation in advance, using a Practice Commitment form we will provide in the week prior to the Sesshin. The online program requires that you commit to sitting at least two full 2-hour periods per day. You are encouraged to participate in as much of the schedule as possible. 

The cost is $449 for Two Arrows Zen Members and $499 for General Admission.

Please CONTACT US for more information about registration.

Rohatsu Sesshin with Michael Mugaku Zimmerman Roshi
December 6-10, 2023
Artspace Zendo, 230 South 500 West, Salt Lake City, Utah
and
Online Via Zoom

Rohatsu is the retreat period when we commemorate the awakening of Siddhartha Gautama when he became Shakyamuni Buddha.  Tradition has it that on December 8th he was awakened upon seeing the Morning Star in the dawn sky.  This was the conclusion of a series of days and nights when he sat under the Bodhi Tree with a commitment not to get up until he had penetrated the great matter of life and death.  That morning he is said to have exclaimed, “I and all sentient beings of the great earth have in the same moment attained the way.”

This year’s Steelyard Sangha Rohatsu Sesshin will be in an urban retreat format at Artspace Zendo in Salt Lake City, with sitting from early morning until late afternoon. An online option is also planned for those who may not be able to travel.

Both programs are an opportunity for strong sitting with your fellow practitioners,  participation in Zen services, and Dokusan with Mugaku Roshi. The Sesshin in Salt Lake City includes samu (work practice) to take care of our space and prepare meals together, a community meeting, and embodiment practice.

Rohatsu Sesshin Schedule:

• Wednesday, Dec. 6: 6:00 to 8:30 pm
• Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Dec. 7-9: 6:00 am – 6:00 pm *
• Sunday, Dec. 10: 6:00 – 11:00 am**

  *The in-person Sesshin includes breakfast, lunch, and snacks
  ** includes breakfast

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ROHATSU SESSHIN AT ARTSPACE ZENDO
with Michael Mugaku Zimmerman Roshi
December 6 – 10, 2023

$359 Two Arrows Zen Member
$419 General Admission

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Not located in Salt Lake City?
ROHATSU SESSHIN ONLINE VIA ZOOM
with Michael Mugaku Zimmerman Roshi
December 6 – 10, 2023

$299 Two Arrows Zen Member
$329 General Admission