March Zazenkai
Date: March, 29th, 2026
Join us for a short period of focused Zen practice—a morning zazenkai designed to help you slow down, breathe, and restore your energy.
This isn’t an all-day retreat, but a concentrated morning of sitting meditation, chanting, calligraphy, and a short Zen talk. It’s a chance to ground yourself, and to step into your life with clarity rather than stress.
It’s also a meaningful opportunity to experience how Zen practice softens the obstructions of dualistic seeing and loosens mental fixations, allowing a more integrated and clear state of mind to emerge. These are the tools Zen practitioners rely on to meet the world—steadily, day by day.
Schedule:
8:55 am – Arrival and orientation
9:00 am – Opening Tea, Zazen
9:30 am – Okyo (chanting of sutras)
10:00 am – Shodo (Zen calligraphy)
10:45 am – Zazen
11:15 am – Lunch (a temple style vegetarian lunch will be served)
11:45 am -Samu (clean up)
12:00 pm – Zazen
12:30 pm – Zen talk / closing tea
1:00 pm – End
Location: Rhode Island Zen Dojo, 201 Waterman Ave. East Providence, RI, 02914.
We have limited space, so please register to attend this zazenkai.
Conversations with the Brush
Date: Sunday, January 11th, 2025
Time: 9:00 am – 10:30 am
Join us for a short lecture and calligraphy demonstration of Zen topics that guide us in our practice. The topic of this month is Samadhi, the a deep meditative state used as vehicle for Zen practice . Martinez Sensei will demonstrate how to write ZANMAI (Samadhi in Japanese) in Zen calligraphy. Each participant will receive a small calligraphy piece to take home as a keepsake and reminder of the practice.
These gatherings are open to everyone. No prior experience in meditation or calligraphy is needed.
We will begin with a short period of meditation, followed by the talk and live calligraphy demonstration.
Full Day Zazenkai
Date: Winter 2026 – Date TBD
Location: Zenshinkan Dojo
Zazenkai is a mini Zen retreat designed for students to experience a short but intensive period of Zen training. Training begins at 7:30 pm on Friday and ends at 8:00 am on Saturday. This 12-hour training is an excellent opportunity for students to deepen their meditation practice and experience intensive yet transformative Zen training.