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Blue Mountain Zendo  Koryu-ji
Blue Mountain Zendo Koryu-ji
On June 1st 2025, Blue Mountain Zendo will hold Zazenkai on Sundays from 5:00 - 7:00pm in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Blue Mountain Zendo  Koryu-ji
Blue Mountain Zendo Koryu-ji
Spring Sesshin 2025
Blue Mountain Zendo  Koryu-ji
Blue Mountain Zendo Koryu-ji
In May we will start live streaming Zazenkai on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 - 8:30pm from the meeting house.
Blue Mountain Zendo  Koryu-ji
Blue Mountain Zendo Koryu-ji
Every person I view as my mother, father, brother or sister. With great care, I nuture all relationships so they may bloom into beautiful flowers that grow upon the great mountain top. Life is fragile as a flower. It is so precious, and finite. A wealth beyond measure and scope. Who can treat it with even a breath of disrespect. Even those who betray me, I wait, take a breath, and open until there is no thing to defile left. This life is fleeting, not one of use can escape this. Twenty or thirty years ago, feels like just yesterday. I can remember playing under the street lights catching fireflies. The smells, sights and feelings are like a dooorway, that one simply steps through. I remember needing nothing but a few moments to find infinite possibilities. Change will come, and on that day too, I will find infinite possibilities in my last breath. I will exhale until there is nothing left, as I do it this moment. Complete, complete, no regrets, not even my shadow remains.
Blue Mountain Zendo  Koryu-ji
Blue Mountain Zendo Koryu-ji
Spring Sesshin (Zen Retreat) April 11-13 2025
Friday 6pm - Sunday 12pm Nazareth, Pa.
(Residential/Meals Inc)

Sesshin, literally “to collect the mind”, is the Zen Buddhist seclusion or intensive period, consisting of 3-14 days of silent meditative practice. Included in these periods are daily zazen, chanting, communal meals, Dharma Talks/Teisho (sermons), samu (work) periods, and private interview (Dokusan) twice daily with Ryuun Joriki Baker, Osho.
During Sesshin, the Zen Student concentrates fully on their practice by collecting and mending the unbalanced energies of mind. This balance of mind we so desperately seek feels hidden from us in our daily lives. We seek outwardly for that which we perceive we are lacking. It is only with a deep commitment, and a willingness to face ourselves honestly, that we are able to break through and realize the perfection that is Tathagata. This systemic realization stokes the flames of true wisdom which burns brighter and brighter as we continue to combust and burn away our delusions and attachments. For centuries, philosophy and theology have tried to explain and conceptualize this process, their attempts are intrinsically shallow and hollow at best. The awakened mind is beyond word and letter, and the path of liberation runs straight ahead. With one true cut, we free fall into the vast emptiness of shunyata. Sesshin is a time to dedicate ourselves to the exploration of this great matter, and a time to realize the vast love and compassion of the Bodhisattva.
Blue Mountain Zendo  Koryu-ji
Blue Mountain Zendo Koryu-ji
The first peice of Dharma I was ever given was, "Just keep sitting". There is no excuse! We march on!

Calendar

May
20
Tue
Bethlehem Zendo Zazenkai @ Blue Mountain Zendo "Meeting House"
May 20 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Zazenkai (meditation service) provides an opportunity for a student to intensify and deepen their practice through the experience of longer periods of uninterrupted zazen and walking meditation.

Throughout zazenkai we use the exact techniques that are followed  in a Rinzai Zen Monastery. During zazenkai we practice zazen (seated meditation), chanting , walking meditation (kin-hin), silence, jihatsu (formal eating), dokusan (private meeting w/teacher) and to conclude, a Dharma Talk (sermon) is given by Joriki Dat Baker.

After closing, tea and fellowship are offered in the lounge.

 

 

May
27
Tue
Bethlehem Zendo Zazenkai @ Blue Mountain Zendo "Meeting House"
May 27 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Zazenkai (meditation service) provides an opportunity for a student to intensify and deepen their practice through the experience of longer periods of uninterrupted zazen and walking meditation.

Throughout zazenkai we use the exact techniques that are followed  in a Rinzai Zen Monastery. During zazenkai we practice zazen (seated meditation), chanting , walking meditation (kin-hin), silence, jihatsu (formal eating), dokusan (private meeting w/teacher) and to conclude, a Dharma Talk (sermon) is given by Joriki Dat Baker.

After closing, tea and fellowship are offered in the lounge.

 

 

Jun
3
Tue
Bethlehem Zendo Zazenkai @ Blue Mountain Zendo "Meeting House"
Jun 3 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Zazenkai (meditation service) provides an opportunity for a student to intensify and deepen their practice through the experience of longer periods of uninterrupted zazen and walking meditation.

Throughout zazenkai we use the exact techniques that are followed  in a Rinzai Zen Monastery. During zazenkai we practice zazen (seated meditation), chanting , walking meditation (kin-hin), silence, jihatsu (formal eating), dokusan (private meeting w/teacher) and to conclude, a Dharma Talk (sermon) is given by Joriki Dat Baker.

After closing, tea and fellowship are offered in the lounge.

 

 

Jun
10
Tue
Bethlehem Zendo Zazenkai @ Blue Mountain Zendo "Meeting House"
Jun 10 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Zazenkai (meditation service) provides an opportunity for a student to intensify and deepen their practice through the experience of longer periods of uninterrupted zazen and walking meditation.

Throughout zazenkai we use the exact techniques that are followed  in a Rinzai Zen Monastery. During zazenkai we practice zazen (seated meditation), chanting , walking meditation (kin-hin), silence, jihatsu (formal eating), dokusan (private meeting w/teacher) and to conclude, a Dharma Talk (sermon) is given by Joriki Dat Baker.

After closing, tea and fellowship are offered in the lounge.

 

 

Jun
17
Tue
Bethlehem Zendo Zazenkai @ Blue Mountain Zendo "Meeting House"
Jun 17 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Zazenkai (meditation service) provides an opportunity for a student to intensify and deepen their practice through the experience of longer periods of uninterrupted zazen and walking meditation.

Throughout zazenkai we use the exact techniques that are followed  in a Rinzai Zen Monastery. During zazenkai we practice zazen (seated meditation), chanting , walking meditation (kin-hin), silence, jihatsu (formal eating), dokusan (private meeting w/teacher) and to conclude, a Dharma Talk (sermon) is given by Joriki Dat Baker.

After closing, tea and fellowship are offered in the lounge.

 

 

Jun
24
Tue
Bethlehem Zendo Zazenkai @ Blue Mountain Zendo "Meeting House"
Jun 24 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Zazenkai (meditation service) provides an opportunity for a student to intensify and deepen their practice through the experience of longer periods of uninterrupted zazen and walking meditation.

Throughout zazenkai we use the exact techniques that are followed  in a Rinzai Zen Monastery. During zazenkai we practice zazen (seated meditation), chanting , walking meditation (kin-hin), silence, jihatsu (formal eating), dokusan (private meeting w/teacher) and to conclude, a Dharma Talk (sermon) is given by Joriki Dat Baker.

After closing, tea and fellowship are offered in the lounge.

 

 

Jul
1
Tue
Bethlehem Zendo Zazenkai @ Blue Mountain Zendo "Meeting House"
Jul 1 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Zazenkai (meditation service) provides an opportunity for a student to intensify and deepen their practice through the experience of longer periods of uninterrupted zazen and walking meditation.

Throughout zazenkai we use the exact techniques that are followed  in a Rinzai Zen Monastery. During zazenkai we practice zazen (seated meditation), chanting , walking meditation (kin-hin), silence, jihatsu (formal eating), dokusan (private meeting w/teacher) and to conclude, a Dharma Talk (sermon) is given by Joriki Dat Baker.

After closing, tea and fellowship are offered in the lounge.

 

 

Jul
8
Tue
Bethlehem Zendo Zazenkai @ Blue Mountain Zendo "Meeting House"
Jul 8 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Zazenkai (meditation service) provides an opportunity for a student to intensify and deepen their practice through the experience of longer periods of uninterrupted zazen and walking meditation.

Throughout zazenkai we use the exact techniques that are followed  in a Rinzai Zen Monastery. During zazenkai we practice zazen (seated meditation), chanting , walking meditation (kin-hin), silence, jihatsu (formal eating), dokusan (private meeting w/teacher) and to conclude, a Dharma Talk (sermon) is given by Joriki Dat Baker.

After closing, tea and fellowship are offered in the lounge.

 

 

Jul
15
Tue
Bethlehem Zendo Zazenkai @ Blue Mountain Zendo "Meeting House"
Jul 15 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Zazenkai (meditation service) provides an opportunity for a student to intensify and deepen their practice through the experience of longer periods of uninterrupted zazen and walking meditation.

Throughout zazenkai we use the exact techniques that are followed  in a Rinzai Zen Monastery. During zazenkai we practice zazen (seated meditation), chanting , walking meditation (kin-hin), silence, jihatsu (formal eating), dokusan (private meeting w/teacher) and to conclude, a Dharma Talk (sermon) is given by Joriki Dat Baker.

After closing, tea and fellowship are offered in the lounge.

 

 

Jul
22
Tue
Bethlehem Zendo Zazenkai @ Blue Mountain Zendo "Meeting House"
Jul 22 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Zazenkai (meditation service) provides an opportunity for a student to intensify and deepen their practice through the experience of longer periods of uninterrupted zazen and walking meditation.

Throughout zazenkai we use the exact techniques that are followed  in a Rinzai Zen Monastery. During zazenkai we practice zazen (seated meditation), chanting , walking meditation (kin-hin), silence, jihatsu (formal eating), dokusan (private meeting w/teacher) and to conclude, a Dharma Talk (sermon) is given by Joriki Dat Baker.

After closing, tea and fellowship are offered in the lounge.

 

 

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Zen

Bodhidharma’s Definition Of Zen Practice

“A special transmission outside the scriptures; Not depending upon words and letters; Directly pointing at the mind-heart of man; Seeing into one’s nature and attaining Buddhahood.”

Zen Practice is the skin, bone and marrow of the Buddha’s teaching. It cuts through the vines and briars which have long entangled us.

As Bodhidharma pointed out, Zen is not based on intellectual pursuits, and is unattainable to those who attempt to understand it via mere sophism. However, some will push forward with tenacity and perseverance, and these students will realize the wondrous joy of the Dharma. Zen Practice is for those who must know the truth, and are willing to push through the many obstacles that are the catalysts to awakening.

Zazenkai

Zazenkai (meditation service) provides an opportunity for a student to intensify and deepen their practice through the experience of longer periods of uninterrupted zazen.

Throughout zazenkai we use the exact techniques that are followed  in a Rinzai Zen Monastery. During zazenkai we practice zazen (seated meditation), chanting , walking meditation (kin-hin), silence, jihatsu (formal eating), dokusan (private meeting w/teacher) and to conclude, a Dharma Talk (sermon) is given by Ryuun Joriki Baker, Osho

After closing, tea and fellowship are offered in the lounge.