Jizo-an Zen Community
Meditation - Mindfulness - Benevolent Service - Community
Jizo-an Zen Community now makes its home in Cherry Hill, NJ, offering all our events at the new Zendo. Please see below for the latest information on In-Person and Livestreamed Zendo Events, and other ways to connect. You can also keep up with us through our Newsletter, our podcast, as well as Patreon and social media. If you are not currently receiving our Newsletter, you can add your name to our mailing list.
All of the following programs are offered at low cost or without a fee requirement. If you would like to make a donation, you can do so through the registration process, or via our Donation Page. Thank you for your support!
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Please note that if you are planning on attending any program in person, you can pay the program registration fee in person at the door. Registration online is only required if you will be attending the program online via Zoom. In-person registration can be paid by cash, or check made out to The Zen Society.
Upcoming In-Person & Online Zendo Programs (Zoom) for March 2025
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THE EASE AND JOY OF MORNING MEDITATION
(Virtual Meditation Online Only)
Livestream Meditation Schedule:
Every day (7 Days/week, at 5:30am Online)
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Zazen is the dharma gate of great ease and joy
— this is the standard that Master Dogen lays down.
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Join us for a morning of meditation where we sit with ease and intimacy. We spend this time together in self-exploration and investigation. It is ideal for beginners, intermediate, and experienced meditators who wish to deepen their practice. The Ease and Joy of Mornings is open to everyone.
We come together as community to sit Zazen, or silent illumination, for 25-30 minutes. On some mornings, Zazen is followed by a short reading and reflection, and we close with a recitation of the Four Great Vows and the Benefit for All. ​
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REGISTRATION NOT REQUIRED. DONATIONS WELCOME AND APPRECIATED.
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THE EASE AND JOY OF EVENING MEDITATION
​Virtual Meditation and a brief Evening Dharma Discussion
(Online Only)​
Tuesday & Thursday Evenings 7:00pm - 8:00pm
EVERY WEEK OF THE MONTH
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Practice and enlightenment, the masters have long said, are both solitary and social endeavors. We need each other for reflection, encouragement and inspiration. Though some may have a strong capacity for seclusion, Sangha is one of the three precious gems for a very good reason—we depend on each other to wake up. "We Are More Together Than Alone."
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Guidelines for Participating (Zazen) Meditation Over Zoom:
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Please join sittings a few minutes before the scheduled time, so as to be seated and settled in place before the period of zazen begins.
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Please keep your microphone muted until the very end.
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The group leader will ring three bells to begin zazen & one bell to signal the end of zazen.
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** Please note - there will be NO Evening Meditation & Discussion on Thursday, March 5th. We will keep everyone posted on Evening Meditation for Thursday, March 13th. Please check back here.
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REGISTRATION NOT REQUIRED. DONATIONS WELCOME AND APPRECIATED.
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​CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE 7:00PM MEDITATION
ZEN STUDIES PROGRAM- ONLINE and *IN-PERSON
Wednesday MARCH 5TH 2025, 7:00PM - 9:00PM
Join SENSEI RICHARD EMYO BIZUB for one of our monthly Dharma talks...
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​'A WONDER FILLED WORLD
At their core, mystics and sages, regardless of their religion, ask the same fundamental questions: What is this life? What is Truth? Who am I? Who is God? Although the language of Buddhism frames the question in terms of the nature of reality, Buddhists share the same heart of inquiry as Hindu, Jewish, Christian, and Sufi mystics. Our existence is a summons, to the eternal journey of the mystic ---the mystic we all are. Buddhism teaches that union with Reality is available to us right where we stand, accessible through our own minds right here, right now. Wonder is the essential ingredient in the life of a mystic.
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Join us for an evening of Zazen, (seated meditation) Kinhin (walking mediation) chanting of the Sutras and a Dharma discussion...both in-person and online.
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REGISTER FOR ONLINE EVENT (click here)
*IN PERSON NEED NOT REGISTER
​HALF-DAY ZAZENKAI- ONLINE and *IN-PERSON
Saturday, MARCH 8th, 2025 9:00am - 12:00pm
Join the Monks of Jizo-an Zen Community, for an extended period of Zazen
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HALF-DAY ZAZENKAI
Zazenkai is the coming together of the Sangha as well as anyone with an interest in Zen, to practice for an extended period of silent meditation. It allows those who have never sat for an extended period to do so with other practitioners so as to give support and a conducive space for that purpose. It seems also that without these extended periods of meditation, finding ease and joy in Zazen can take a very long time.
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JOIN THE ONLINE EVENT (click here)
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*IN-PERSON NEED NOT REGISTER
ZEN STUDIES PROGRAM- ONLINE and *IN-PERSON
Wednesday MARCH 12th, 2025, 7:00PM- 9:00PM
Join REVEREND KEVIN GENJO LeBLANC for one of our monthly Dharma talks...
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KNOWING A BETTER WAY TO CATCH A SNAKE
This sutra is a wonderful example of how easy it is to misunderstand teachings of the Buddhadharma. The sutra recounts a story of one of the Buddha's monks, Arittha, who lived in the Anathapindika Monastery in the Jeta Park with the Sangha...Arittha was heard by his brothers to say that 'sense pleasures were not an obstacle to the practice', which of course went contrary to the teaching of the Buddha. The monk, in his refusal to admit that he was wrong, continued to spread this message wherever he went. The point to this sutra is that, not only is it easy to misunderstand the Buddha's 'words,' but also the spirit of such teachings, and in doing so, actually bring harm to oneself and others... the Buddha uses a metaphor of knowing how to properly catch a snake, and intrigues us with a very deep and intricate teaching about the six 'wrong' perceptions.
​​Join us for 2 periods of Zazen (seated meditation), Kinhin (walking meditation), and chanting of the sutras...followed by a short talk given by two of the students of Jizo-an.
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JOIN THE ONLINE EVENT (CLICK HERE)
*IN-PERSON NEED NOT REGISTER
SUNDAY MORNING ZAZEN- ONLINE and *IN-PERSON
SUNDAY, MARCH 16th, 2025 9:00am - 11:00am
Join the Monks of Jizo-an Zen Community for a morning of silent meditation
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ZEN MEDITATION
Zazen is at the core of Zen Buddhism. It has been refined and well honed over thousands of years and because of these endless offerings down through the ages, we are invited a way to show up to ourselves that actually works. It has been said that a Zendo (meditation hall) is a conducive space for enlightenment and so we come together in community, for community, for that very purpose.​
Open to both beginners and experienced practitioners.
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Please arrive 10-15 mins early so we can all begin together on time...cushions and chairs are provided.
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JOIN THE ONLINE EVENT (CLICK HERE)​
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*IN PERSON NEED NOT REGISTER
ZEN STUDIES PROGRAM- ONLINE and IN-PERSON*
Wednesday MARCH 19th 2025, 7:00PM - 9:00PM
Join DENISE KYOSEI ALVAREZ for one of our monthly Dharma talks..
THE FOUR FOUNDATIONS OF MINDFULNESS (The Satipatthana Sutta)
"There is, monks, this way that leads only to the purification of beings, to the overcoming of sorrow and distress, to the disappearance of pain and sadness, to the gaining of the right path, to the realization of Nirvana – that is to say the four foundations of mindfulness”. These are the opening words of the Buddha’s discourse on mindfulness in the Satipatthana Sutta. We will examine the Buddha’s instructions relating to the seventh practice of the Noble Eightfold Path, Right Mindfulness. These instructions for meditations exploring the experience of our bodies, feelings, states of mind and objects of mind lead us toward the attainment of liberation and the complete end of suffering.
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​​Join us for 2 periods of Zazen (seated meditation), Kinhin (walking meditation), and chanting of the sutras...followed by a short talk given by one of the Monks.
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REGISTER FOR ONLINE EVENT (CLICK HERE)
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*IN PERSON NEED NOT REGISTER
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