Seizing Our Opportunity to Live | Koshin Paley Ellison

Beginner's Mind Online Sesshin: A Winter Silent Retreat of Wholehearted Practice

When

Wednesday, January 13, 2021 6:00PM to

Sunday, January 17, 2021 2:00PM

Where

Online via Zoom

koshoji temple in the snow

Beginner's Mind Online Sesshin: A Winter Silent Retreat of Wholehearted Practice

with Sensei Chodo, Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison, Sensei Dorothy Dai-En Friedman and Sensei Jose Shinzan Palma

Wednesday, January 13th – Sunday, January 17th, 2021



A cornerstone of Zen practice, the Japanese word for “sesshin” means “touching the heart-mind.” This is a rare opportunity for deepening our practice with a community of supportive practitioners. Our time together will highlight the teachings of the Wholehearted Way as we consider intimacy always within reach and the joy of living out the fresh reality of life.

Through sitting and walking meditation, Dharma talks, and dokusan (one on one meetings) with the Teachers, enter into Noble Silence as we practice together, right here, right now.

It is recommended that participants attend the entire retreat but we understand that people may have to occasionally step away from the retreat. With this in mind, we do allow partial participation although no discounts or reimbursements will be given for missed days.

RETREAT SCHEDULE (all times listed are Eastern Time)

Wednesday, Jan. 13

6:00 - 6:15 PM - Welcome, Heart Sutra
6:15 - 7:30 PM - Zazen and Kinhin (seated and walking meditation)
7:30 - 8:15 PM - Teisho (dharma talk)
8:15 PM - Noble Silence begins


Thursday - Saturday, Jan. 14-16

7:30 - 8:45 AM - Zazen / Kinhin / Verse of the Kesa / Morning service
8:45 - 10:20 AM - Breakfast / Rest
10:20 - 12:00 PM - Zazen / Kinhin / Teisho
12:00 - 2:45 PM - Lunch / Rest / Physical practice
1:45 - 2:45 PM - Optional Yoga Class
2:45 - 5:30 PM - Zazen / Kinhin / Dokusan (private interview with a teacher)
5:30 - 5:45 PM - Evening service
5:45 - 7:00 PM - Dinner
7:00 - 8:10 PM - Zazen / Kinhin/ Dokusan
8:10 - 8:15 PM - Four Vows, Three Bows


Sunday, Jan. 17

7:30 - 8:45 AM - Zazen / Kinhin / Verse of the Kesa / Morning service
8:45 - 9:45 AM - Breakfast
9:45 - 10:40 AM - Teisho / Zazen / Kinhin
10:40 - 11:45 AM - Open Sozan (conversation with teachers) - End of Noble Silence
11:45 - 12:00 PM - Daikaijo and Nenju (ceremony of completion and gratitude)
12:00 - 1:00 PM - Sangha celebration



Sesshin Teachers:


ChodoSensei Robert Chodo Campbell, co-founded the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. The organization delivers contemplative approaches to care through education, direct service, and meditation practice. In order to bring the work to a broader audience, he co-developed the Foundations in Contemplative Care Training Program. Chodo is part of the core faculty for the Buddhist Track in the Master in Pastoral Care and Counseling at NYZC’s education partner, New York Theological Seminary. He teaches in the University of Arizona Medical School’s Center for Integrative Medicine’s Integrative Medicine Fellowship. Chodo is a dynamic, earthy, and visionary leader and teacher, Chodo has traveled extensively in the U.S teaching in various institutions as well as bearing witness to the suffering of HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe and South Africa. His public programs have introduced thousands to the practices of mindful and compassionate care of the living and dying. 30,000 people listen to his podcasts each year. His passion lies in bereavement counseling and advocating for change in the way our healthcare institutions work with the dying. His work has been featured in the New York Times, PBS, Tricycle, Parabola and other media outlets. He is a recognized Soto Zen Teacher with the American Zen Teachers Association, White Plum Asanga, and Soto Zen Buddhist Association.

KoshinSensei Koshin Paley Ellison, MFA, LMSW, DMIN, co-founded the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, the first Zen-based organization to offer fully accredited ACPE clinical chaplaincy training in America. NYZC delivers contemplative approaches to care through education, direct service, and meditation practice. Paley Ellison is the academic advisor for the Buddhist students in the Master in Pastoral Care and Counseling program at NYZC’s education partner, New York Theological Seminary. He has served as the co-director of Contemplative Care Services for the Department of Integrative Medicine and as the chaplaincy supervisor for the Pain and Palliative Care Department at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center, where he also served on the Medical Ethics Committee. He is currently on the faculty of the University of Arizona Medical School’s Center for Integrative Medicine’s Integrative Medicine Fellowship, and he is a visiting professor at the McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics, of the University of Texas Health Science Center of Houston Medical School. Paley Ellison is a dynamic, original, and visionary leader and teacher. Koshin is the co-editor of Awake at the Bedside: Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End of Life Care (Wisdom Publications, 2016). His work has been featured in the New York Times, PBS, Tricycle and others. Through his six years of training at the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association as well as clinical contemplative training at both Mount Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center and NewYork Presbyterian Medical Center which culminated in his role as an ACPE Certified Educator, chaplain, and Jungian psychotherapist. He began his formal Zen training in 1987, and he is a recognized Soto Zen Teacher by the American Zen Teachers Association, White Plum Asanga, and Soto Zen Buddhist Association. He serves on the Board of Directors at the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care and Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.

Shinzan PalmaSensei Jose Shinzan Palma was born in Veracruz, Mexico. He is a Zen priest and Dharma Successor of Roshi Joan Halifax. He has been practicing Zen since 1996. Shinzan lived in the Toronto Zen Buddhist Temple for 4 years. He was ordained in 2004 as a Zen Buddhist Priest by Ven. Samu Sunim.

In 2006, he became a resident and student of Roshi Joan Halifax. He lived and trained for over 8 years at Upaya. He received the Dharma transmission on Jan 2015 from Roshi Joan Halifax.

Shinzan co-teaches a teenagers retreat for the Inward Bound Mindfulness Education, and weekends retreats in several parts of the country. Currently, he lives in San Diego and teaches at the Carlsbad Zen Community and Sweetwater Zen Center.

His vision is to teach youth and create a zen Hispanic community in the USA and Mexico.

Dorothy Dai En FriedmanSensei Dorothy Dai-en Friedman’s spiritual journey began in the 60s when she was forced to seek help for a back injury. This event proved to be a wonderful preparation for her eventual immersion 20 years later in Buddhist Vipassana practice at Insight Meditation Center.

After she established her Vipassana practice, she then began her journey into Zen practice. Her teachers include Peter Mathiessen, Joseph Goldstein, Matt Flickstein, and Maureen Stuart Roshi.

Dai-en is now a Sensei at Ocean Zendo, located on Eastern Long Island. She is honored to be invited teach with Koshin and Chodo in the wonderful work at NYZCCC, for the benefit of all beings, as we live and die.

Scholarships and Payment Plans

To apply for a scholarship, please fill out the application form. If you have any questions or would like to inquire about a payment plan, please contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

* The retreat price does not include Dana for the teachers.

Event Registration

Ticket Type Price
Tuition: Sustaining
$390.00
Tuition: Mid-level
$285.00
Tuition: Base-level
$235.00
Tuition: NYZC Formal Students & Sustaining Members
$210.00
  • Online registration is closed for this retreat. For questions about Winter Sesshin please contact the NYZCCC office at (212) 677-1087.