Our everyday life is our practice. When you are walking, standing, sitting, chanting, washing your laundry, driving, eating, putting on clothes, lying down, without interruption, what is this?
That is Zen practice.
...Zen Master Seung Sahn
WEEKLY UPDATE
MON 19 JANUARY - SUN 25 JANUARY 2026
SAT & SUN 14-15 FEBRUARY
LED BY ZEN MASTER BON SHIM
Registration OPENS this week.
YONG MAENG JONG JIN (YMJJ) MEANS “TO LEAP LIKE A TIGER WHILE SITTING.” RETREATS ARE AN OPPORTUNITY TO STRENGTHEN OUR PRACTICE, TO PERCEIVE MORE CLEARLY AND ACT FROM OUR NATURAL COMPASSION AND WISDOM.
Special Programs
Classes / Talks / Interviews / Groups
SPECIAL PROGRAM
Classes / Talks / Interviews / Groups
TUESDAY COMMUNITY DINNER at 5:30 PM Come early and join us for dinner with a $10 suggested donation followed by chanting at 6:30 prior to the standard Tuesday Long Sitting.
TUESDAY LONG SITTING & CONSULTING INTERVIEWS with Mark O’Leary, Senior Dharma Teacher.
TUESDAY 20 JANUARY 7:30-9:30PM
Join URL: Tuesday Zoom Meditation Practice / Meeting ID 858 3084 3540
There will be three sitting periods of 30 mins each with 10 mins break in between periods. You may join the Zoom meeting at 7:25-7:30 PM, 8:00-8:10 PM or 8:40-8:50 PM. If you are new, please arrive 10-15 minutes early for brief instruction on our practice forms.
SOCIAL JUSTICE AND DIVERSITY INITIATIVE / Unpacking Whiteness
WEDNESDAY 21 JANUARY. 8:15-9:15 PM
Description: CZC provides safe spaces in which to share and work through sensitive topics for spiritual growth.
Please Note: This group continues to meet over Zoom on the 1st and 3rd weeks of the month. The BIPOC group is temporarily paused, we will notify you when it resumes meeting.
Join URL: SJDI / 817 4548 4299
MEDITATION INSTRUCTION FOR NEWCOMERS
THURSDAY 22 JANUARY 6:45-7:25 PM*
This introduction to meditation is offered weekly in person for those new to Cambridge Zen Center or meditation practice. Highly recommended for new students prior to attending a practice session. Your questions will be answered and you are welcome to repeat sessions. Meditation Instruction is in person.
DHARMA TALK
THURSDAY 22 JANUARY 7:30 PM
Join URL: Dharma Talk / Meeting ID 876 2455 3876
Zen Master Bon Yeon, Jane Dobisz will answer questions after an introductory talk by Tiffany Padilla.
Zen Master Bon Yeon (Jane McLaughlin-Dobisz) is our Guiding Teacher at Cambridge Zen Center since 1993. She received inka (authorization to teach) in 1991, and transmission from Zen Master Seung Sahn to become a Zen Master in 2000. Before training in the Kwan Um School of Zen, she spent several years in the Tibetan and the Vipassana traditions. Zen Master Bon Yeon has completed and led many Kyol Che 90 day retreats in the US, Europe, and Korea, and taught around the world. She is an editor of The Whole World Is A Single Flower, a collection of kong-ans by Zen Master Seung Sahn. She is also the author of One Hundred Days of Solitude: Losing Myself and Finding Grace on a Zen Retreat, which chronicles a one hundred-day solo meditation retreat in the winter woods of New England. She is a native of Rhode Island and lives in the Boston Area. She is married and has two grown children.
Tiffany Padilla is a current resident at Cambridge Zen Center for the past year and a half. She is originally from El Paso, Texas. She completed her second year of a Master of Divinity program at Harvard Divinity School. She plans to combine spiritual care and chaplaincy into a holistic healing practice of physical therapy. She began her Buddhist meditation study and practice 5 years earlier with a Lama in the Nyingma Tibetan tradition.
ELDER ZEN
SATURDAY 24 JANUARY 11AM-12:30PM
How does Zen Buddhist practice relate to our experiences of aging? Join us in a supportive community at the Cambridge Zen Center to explore this question through meditation and discussion. We will begin with 20 minutes of sitting meditation, followed by a group discussion of a pertinent topic … then refreshments! All are welcome, and instruction is available for people who are new to meditation
SUNDAY LONG SITTING & CONSULTING INTERVIEWS
Sunday, 25 JANUARY 9:00-11:30 AM
Teacher to be announced.
Join Zoom URL: Sun Long Sitting / Meeting ID 816 7973 3521
Note: There will be two sitting periods of 30 mins each with 10 mins break in between periods. You may join the Zoom meeting at 9:00 AM or 9:30-9:40 AM. If new, please arrive 10-15 minutes early for brief instruction on our practice forms. Join us for refreshments after the siting.
YOUNG ZEN SUNDAY 25 JANUARY
Sundays 12:30 - 1:30 PM
Description: Come to the center to begin or deepen your meditation practice in community with other students and young adults. Each session includes sitting and walking meditation, a check-in, and a short talk or reading about how to integrate Zen practice into everyday life. You are also welcome to join our PM Zen Meditation Practice (see below). If you are new, please arrive 10-15 minutes early for brief instruction on our practice forms.
Regular Practice
Daily Sitting & Chanting
AM ZEN MEDITATION PRACTICE
Bows 5:45 AM daily except Sunday
Chanting 6:10 AM daily except Tuesday and Sunday
Sitting 6:35 AM daily except on Tuesday and Sunday
Description: AM Meditation Practice in person consists of bows and the Morning Bell Chant followed by the Heart Sutra in English. There is a 30-minute period of sitting.
MID DAY ZEN MEDITATION PRACTICE
Sitting 12:30 PM on Tuesday and Thursday for 30 minutes. There is no need to register, just ring the door bell for entrance 10 minutes beforehand.
PM ZEN MEDITATION PRACTICE
Special chanting 6:30 PM daily
Regular chanting 7:00 PM daily
Sitting 7:30 PM daily except on Thursday*
Description: PM Meditation Practice consists of a 35-minute period of sitting followed by a short reading concluding at 8:10 PM. Note: *On Tuesday evenings, join us for two sitting periods with interviews from 7:30 PM - 8:40PM. You may join the Tuesday Zoom Meditation Practice / Meeting ID 85830843540 Please join the meeting on time.
Upcoming & Ongoing
Events / News
Protect The Jewel We are so grateful for your support in keeping our doors open for 50 years! Please help us continue to serve the needs of the community for a long time to come by using any of the following ways to donate: click on the “Protect the Jewel” for GoFundMe; find Venmo@cambridgezencenter under “Czc Zen”; a new plate for credit card donations is near the wood stove, and a donation box is located in the Reception Room for cash or mail us a check to Cambridge Zen Center. We are a 501(c)(3) organization and our Tax ID is listed at the bottom of this page.
CZC Residency: If you have wanted to live in a practicing community, for either short or long-term, your opportunity awaits! Check out our residential requirements and for more information contact abbot@cambridgezen.org. Applications can be submitted online.
Membership is the most effective way to help the Cambridge Zen Center and receive discounts. When you join as a member, you also join the Kwan Um School of Zen, a worldwide community. Become a member today by completing this https://americas.kwa
Online Sangha Events are also available at any sister sangha in the Kwan Um School of Zen Americas. See other opportunities in Europe and Asia, plus another calendar of KUOS events with schedules for online retreats and practice opportunities.
Composting Our Karma; Turning Confusion into Lessons for Awakening Our Innate Wisdom. A new book by our School Zen Master, Barbara Rhodes, Zen Master Soeng Hyang is out and is available for purchase at Shambhalla Publishers, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, at the CZC Book Store and at Providence Zen Center.
The Precepts Ceremony at PZC will be during Buddha’s Birthday Weekend March 28 & 29. The exact day and time is still to be determined. Here are the deadlines for application:
Wednesday February 11 for full DTs (due to long robes to be ordered)
Friday March 6 for all other precepts.
https://americas.kwanumzen.org/precepts for info and the application. For those taking five precepts, the cost for robes is $85, and kasas are $40. For those taking ten precepts, the cost for materials is $75. Long robes for full dharma teachers are $325 and $40 for the set of bowls.
KWan UM WorldwidE
Events at Sister Sanghas