Class

Beginner’s Mind

Recurrent

9:30 AM - 11:00 AM

Location
Boundless Mind Temple
326 Clinton Street
Brooklyn, NY 11231
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Description

In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.
—Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

Join us for a four-week class for newcomers to Zen practice. Boundless Mind Temple’s guiding teachers, Sarah and Charlie Senseis, will offer students a basic understanding of and orientation towards Zen practice and history. We invite you to join whether you are totally new to meditation, have practiced in other Buddhist traditions, or want an overview of the different forms and practices at our temples.

Each class will take place Saturday morning, 9:30–11am EST, at Boundless Mind Temple, and students are encouraged to stay for the regular dharma talk, temple cleaning, and tea time afterwards.

Class dates: January 27, February 3, February 10, February 17

Class 1, Zazen (Meditation): Guidance, forms and home-practice
Class 2, Embodiment: The three treasures, bowing, chanting and ritual
Class 3, Lineage: An overview of Buddhist traditions and the development of Zen
Class 4, Community: Precepts, the Sangha treasure, meeting with teachers

Registration closes January 24 at midnight.


COVID Protocol: We ask that all participants be fully vaccinated and boosted. Masks are optional. Please see the BZC Covid Protocol for more information.

Our Location: Boundless Mind Temple is located in the Parish House of Christ Church Cobble Hill, next to 326 Clinton Street. Enter the driveway on Clinton, go past the scaffolding, and through the double doors. There are two flights of stairs leading to the center, located on the second floor. The closest subway stop is the F/G at Bergen Street.


Equitable Pricing Model

BZC is committed to offering classes, workshops, and retreats on a sliding scale in an aspiration to move towards equity within our sangha. To that end, we offer an equitable pricing model as a mindfulness practice and a mirror of our relations to histories of wealth. Please see the Equitable Pricing Model to determine your registration rate level.

If you’re unable to pay at the lowest rate, please use this form to apply for an exemption.

Instructors

Charlie Korin Pokorny grew up in Hyde Park on the South Side of Chicago. He was ordained as a priest by Reb Anderson in 1999 and received dharma transmission in 2018. He practiced as a resident at Tassajara and Green Gulch Farm and studied koans with Daniel Terragno. Charlie and Sarah served as head priests at Stone Creek Zen Center 2014-2022. He teaches at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley (including courses on Buddhist philosophy, history, meditation and ritual practice). Charlie, Sarah and their children moved to Brooklyn in 2022.

Sarah Dōjin Emerson’s formal practice in Soto Zen began in 1996. She lived and trained at Tassajara Zen Mountain center and other sites of the San Francisco Zen Center from 1997-2007. She received Dharma Transmission from Abbott Konjin Gaelyn Godwin of the Houston Zen Center in 2015. She has a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology from California Institute of Integral Studies, and has worked in the fields of mental health and pastoral care with children and adults. She experiences Bodhisattva Zen practice as deeply supportive to inquiring into, challenging and transforming systems of oppression, particularly racial inequities and the harm they cause within convert Buddhist sanghas, and in U.S. society generally. Sarah has also worked for many years in grief support- clinically, ritually and in community- specializing in child loss. She lives with her partner, Charlie Pokorny (who is also a Soto Zen Buddhist priest), their children (who are her most profound and constant teachers) and numerous pets in Brooklyn, NY.

Fee
$100 — $190
Questions?
info@brooklynzen.org

To request a refund for this program you must notify BZC in writing at least 2 days before the beginning of the program. This supports the organizing effort involved in managing registrations and cancellations.

We are in an historical building which is not wheelchair accessible. There are two flights of stairs leading to the center, located on the second floor. Chairs, benches, and extra support cushions are available. If you have any additional questions about accessibility, please contact us at info@brooklynzen.org.
Beginner’s Mind
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