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!
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 November 2026
THE EASE AND JOY OF MORNING MEDITATION: Online Only
Every day (7 Days/week, at 5:30am Online)
Zazen is the dharma gate of great ease and joy— this is the standard that Master Dogen lays down.
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.
REGISTRATION NOT REQUIRED. DONATIONS WELCOME AND APPRECIATED.
THE EASE AND JOY OF EVENING MEDITATION
Meditation and a brief Evening Dharma Discussion: Online Only
Every Tuesday & Thursday Evening, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
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."
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.
REGISTRATION NOT REQUIRED. DONATIONS WELCOME AND APPRECIATED.
CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE 7:00PM MEDITATION
DAI SEGAKI SERVICE: ONLINE and *IN-PERSON
Wednesday November 4th 2026, 7:00PM- 9:00PM
Please Join the monks to honor those who have passed...
Service for the Departed
In our annual Service for the Departed we pay tribute to those who have died. We sit in contemplative silence, and the monks will offer chanting for those who have left us. Dai Segaki is one of the most important ceremonies of Soto Zen. As part of the ceremony, you are invited to submit names of the departed to be read aloud during the service. The names can include beloved pets as well. As each name is read, the large temple bell will be sounded. They may be gone, but they will not be forgotten. If you plan to provide names I would like to have them by Tuesday, November 3rd. Submit names directly to emyo@thezensociety.org.
Join us for an evening of Zazen, (seated meditation) Kinhin (walking mediation), and this special ceremony...both in-person and online.
REGISTER FOR THE ONLINE EVENT (CLICK HERE)
*IN-PERSON NEED NOT REGISTER
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HALF-DAY ZAZENKAI: ONLINE and *IN-PERSON
Saturday November 14th, 2026 9:00AM - 12:00PM
Join the Monks of Jizo-an Zen Community for an extended period of sitting meditation and sutra service
Zazenkai & Sutra Service
You are invited to sit with the community for a half-day of zazen and chanting of the sutras.
Please arrive 10-15 mins early so we can all begin together on time...cushions and chairs are provided.
REGISTRATION NOT REQUIRED. DONATIONS WELCOME AND APPRECIATED.
CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE 9:00AM MEDITATION
ZEN STUDIES PROGRAM: ONLINE and *IN-PERSON
Wednesday November 11th 2026, 7:00PM - 9:00PM
Join Rev Orlando Donen Nieves and the monks for Zen practice and a dharma discussion on...
The Wolf We Feed - Karma, Volition, and the Four Nutriments
For each of us, our life consists of infinite choices, decisions, and actions. At times, those choices and decisions can be obvious and very conscious, while at other times they can be quite subtle and subconscious. Paying attention and cultivating awareness and discernment in those choices, decisions, and actions is an essential aspect of Zen life and practice. We each have the capacity for volition in what we do and consume in our life, and we produce karma, wholesome or unwholesome, accordingly. This evening, we will explore volition, karma, and the Four Nutriments of Buddhism.
Join us for an evening of Zazen, (seated meditation) Kinhin (walking mediation) chanting of Sutras and a Dharma discussion...both in-person and online.
REGISTER FOR ONLINE EVENT (click here)
*IN PERSON NEED NOT REGISTER
SUNDAY MORNING ZAZEN: ONLINE and *IN PERSON
Sunday November 22nd 2026, 9:00am - 10:30am
Join the Monks of Jizo-an Zen Community for a morning of silent meditation at the zendo
Zen Meditation
Zazen is at the core of Soto 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 to 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.
Please arrive 10-15 mins early so we can all begin together on time...cushions and chairs are provided.
REGISTRATION NOT REQUIRED. DONATIONS WELCOME AND APPRECIATED.
CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE 9:00AM MEDITATION
ZEN STUDIES PROGRAM: ONLINE and *IN-PERSON
Wednesday November 18th 2026, 7:00PM- 9:00PM
Join Rev Kevin Genjo Leblanc for a Dharma Discussion on..
Living Breathing Buddha
To actualize the Buddhadharma as your own path through this life is a wild, invigorating and quite often at first, very frustrating. In the first aspect of the eightfold path, 'right perception', the Buddha was stating that until this perception had awoken within someone; ones eyes, ears, nose, touch, taste, and mind of one of the beings from the six realms. This is what Siddhartha meant by ordinary beings…an awoken being is not identified to one of those realms and is therefore able to move easily within and through all of them. This is not a choice. It's an awakened state...As long as I believe I have a choice, I have conflict.
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.
REGISTER FOR THE ONLINE EVENT (CLICK HERE)
*IN-PERSON NEED NOT REGISTER