Spring 2025 Intensive at City Center: Residential, 2/27–3/29 – Registration closed

Practice Center
Date / Time
Feb 27, 2025 / 7:30pm - Mar 29, 2025 / 6:00pm
Event Type
Practice Periods
Description

 

Cooking Your Life: Dogen's Tenzo Kyokun and the Practice of Work as the Way


This page is for residential participation. Learn about and register for the Online/Hybrid Spring 2025 Intensive.

This month-long mini-practice period offers an opportunity for both new and experienced practitioners to study Eihei Dogen Zenji’s Tenzo Kyokun(Instructions to the Cook), a profound teaching on how everyday activities—especially those in the kitchen—embody the entirety of Zen practice. The Tenzo Kyokun challenges us to bring mindfulness, joy, and wholehearted attention to all that we do, cultivating the spirit of a bodhisattva in each action. In drawing connections between preparing meals in a Zen monastery and spiritual practice, Dogen illuminates a path that goes beyond kitchen rules and etiquette, teaching us how to "cook" or refine our lives.

Participants may engage as either students-in-residence (application separate), local commuters, or through the online portal.

The schedule includes morning and evening zazen, Saturday and Wednesday Dharma talks, and small group discussions. Additionally, there will be opportunities for both formal and informal meetings with teachers, and a Thursday evening class offered by Abbot Doshin Mako Voelkel.

This mini-practice period will begin with a one-day sit and conclude with a three-day sesshin, offering a container for deepening our understanding of Dogen’s teachings and integrating them into our lives.

All are welcome to join this dynamic exploration of practice and study.

About the Spring 2025 Intensive at City Center

Residential participation includes (and requires a commitment to) all practice offerings. These include:

  • February 27th: Orientation and first class at 7:30pm - 8:45pm PT
  • March 1st: Opening One-Day Sit
  • Dharma talks every Wednesday evening at 7:45pm PT and Saturday morning at 10:15am PT
  • Class every Thursday evening at 7:30pm - 8:45pm PT
  • March 27-29th: Closing Three-Day Sesshin
  • Following the City Center daily schedule of zazen, service and other practice activities
  • Small weekly discussion groups
  • Residential participation will also include community responsibilities such as a dish shift and a house job.

For more detailed scheduling please see the residential application form. Access to the online portal for curricula and recordings of all classes and Dharma talks is also included.

Fee Information

These fees include residency, meals, and all practice offerings.

Full Schedule Resident / WPA: Includes full-time work practice at City Center

  • $1,152

Limited Schedule Resident: Not working at City Center

  • $1,680

Please review:

Residential Application

A $30 application fee is required. Applications are due by February 17th 2025.

Please plan to move in on February 27

Please plan to move out on or before March 30

The registration is closed.