Photo: Joshua Bright

Your Life as a Practice: Teachings from the Buddha's Life

An Online and In-Person Offering

with Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison

One Saturday a month, September 18th, 2021 – June 11th, 2022 from 9:00am-4:00pm Eastern Time (includes monthly Half Day Retreats)

Dates: Sept 18th, Oct 16th, Dec 11th, 2021

and Jan 22nd, Feb 12th, March 12th, April 23rd, May 14th, June 11th, 2022

Although the Buddha lived roughly 2,600 years ago, his life and teachings are as relevant today as ever. The Buddha was born into a life of distraction and privilege and saw that material prosperity and inattention cannot address life's tangles. Acutely aware of the deep dissatisfaction that often pains our humanness, he pivoted and devoted his life to healing the causes of suffering and how to pivot these tangles into untangling through meditation, insight, and leading a life of compassion and love. This year of practice explores the Buddha's life and his disciples and his core teachings, showing the intimacy of these teachings to our inner and outer worlds.

In this ten-month journey, we will meet once a month for a morning of practice, an afternoon of study, and, of course, we welcome you to practice Zazen each day in the online zendo.

Open to anyone, this class is part of our Certificate in Contemplative Care.

Online and In Person: This hybrid model class allows students to attend the program remotely or in person. Please choose which option best suits your needs during registration. There are a limited number of in person spots available for fully vaccinated individuals. If you'll be attending in person, you must complete this Vaccination Verification Form. Students that choose the in person option are required to be on site for all sessions.

We understand that there are many reasons people may choose not to be vaccinated. For now, we can only invite vaccinated community members into the Center in order to ensure everyone's safety and limit the spread of COVID-19. For others, we hope you continue to join us online!

Financial Support: New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care endeavors to make our programs accessible. If the cost of this program is prohibitive, please choose the scholarship tier that would make it possible for you to attend. Please note that there are a limited number of scholarship seats available.

60.5 Continuing Education Credits (CEs) are available for Social Workers. Please be sure to add this to your registration if you'd like to receive CEs for this course. You will also be required to complete an evaluation form at the end of the semester in order to receive CEs.
NYZC is an approved provider of SW CEs through the NYSED State Board for Social Work. If you are licensed outside of New York State, please check with your local SW Board to make sure they'll accept these CEs.