Investigating Zen Practice: A One-Day Workshop

A one-day, in-person workshop rather than a multi-day retreat. The title signals a survey format: the description says the day explores ten dimensions of Zen practice and names eight of them — meditation, mindfulness, chanting, mindful eating, work practice, walking meditation, koans, and dharma teachings. Koans, for anyone new to the term, are brief dialogues or questions used in some Zen lineages as a focus for study and meditation. The breadth suggests a day that moves between practices rather than long blocks of any single one, though the center hasn't published an hourly schedule.

The listing is explicit that newcomers are welcome: it is addressed to "beginners or those seeking to deepen their Zen practice." That makes it the kind of day that shows how the different pieces of Zen training fit together — chanting, eating, and work alongside sitting — without the commitment of a residential sesshin (an intensive multi-day Zen retreat).

What the listing leaves out: no teacher is named, no lineage is specified beyond "Zen," and there is no word on whether meals are provided — "mindful eating" is one of the named practice dimensions, but that doesn't tell you whether food is served on the day. Registration goes through the Zendust retreat calendar page linked from the listing.