Fall 2023 Practice Period at City Center: Residential, 10/2 - 12/9

Liberation in the Midst of Life’s Challenges: Genjo Koan and the Six Paramitas

Though an understandable response to the hardships of life, our reactivity can seem to violate the Buddhist ideal of meeting each person or circumstance with an insightful equanimity that evokes a compassionate and skillful way of being in the world. This equanimity goes beyond the reactiveness of afflictive emotions and invites the inquiry that is described in the "Genjo Koan," a text written by the founder of Soto Zen in Japan, Dogen Zenji.

“Genjo” can be translated as realized or actualized and koan can be translated as “public case”; together they can be translated as meaning, “examining the common experience of living a human life.” Through the process of inquiry we learn how to relate to life in a way that teaches us how to live in accordance with liberation from suffering.

In this practice period we will study and engage the inquiry of “Genjo Koan” and the cultivation of the six paramitas.

This is a traditional intensive training period common in the schools of Buddhism. Participants can engage in this training period in one of two ways; this page is for Residential participation:

Residential (this page): Move in and live at City Center and follow the daily schedule. Application deadline: September 15

NOTE: Residential participants are expected to arrive on Monday, October 2, and depart on Sunday, December 10. Please note that City Center will be closing in 2024 for renovation, which will require all residents to move out after this practice period. For more information please see this information page.

Visitor/Online: Visit City Center for practice period events, or participate online, as you choose. Registration deadline extended to October 4.

On-site participation is open to residential and visitor participation. Before applying or registering, please review the current Health and Safety Requirements.

About the Fall 2023 Practice Period

The practice period will begin with an orientation, available both onsite and livestreamed, on Monday, October 2, at 7:30 pm PT.

Ryushin Paul Haller will teach a livestreamed class on the practice period topic, both online and onsite, on Mondays, October 9 – November 27, 7:30 – 9 pm PT. The fee for the class is included in the practice period fees and does not require separate registration.

All practice offerings are included in the residential option. These include the class, two Saturday one-day sittings on October 7 and November 4, and a concluding seven-day Rohatsu Sesshin beginning the evening of Saturday, December 2 and ending on Saturday, December 9. Also included are residential small discussion groups, and access to the Online Portal for curricula and recordings of all the classes and Dharma talks.