Zazen is a central practice in our lineage and offered at all of our physical locations as well as online most mornings. We regularly offer zazen instruction, which can be helpful for both newcomers and those who have been sitting a while.
Building a steady zazen practice, whether in community, at home, or both, cultivates the grounded awareness that supports life inside and outside the temple.
Upcoming ZazenRetreats, or sesshin (literally, “gathering the heart”), are a powerful way to deepen practice, sit for longer periods of time, see a teacher for dokusan (“face-to-face discussion”) and engage in communal activity. We offer retreats almost every month.
We recommend newcomers begin with a one-day retreat. For those interested in longer sits, we offer an annual residential retreat in partnership with the Watershed Center, regular three-day retreats, as well as a five-day Rohatsu Sesshin celebrating the Buddha’s awakening.
Classes at BZC engage text, lineage, and history with an orientation toward practice, rather than purely academic or objective study. They generally incorporate discussion and explore the issues of the day, both personal and social, through the dharma.
We offer both in-person and online classes on a large rotation of subjects, from studying Women Ancestors to Socially Engaged Buddhism to practicing with the Bodhisattva Precepts. Classes are led by either a pair of senior practitioners or a Dharma Teacher.
Upcoming Classes
BZC is committed to supporting the ongoing bodhisattva work of transforming the suffering born out of complex social and historical causes, including conditioning and traumas associated with them. Our commitment to this bodhisattva work shows up in our Engaged Practice Groups, which examine particular social identities through the dharma.
White and Awakening Monthly Sangha: In collaboration with the East Bay Meditation Center, we are a group of self-identified white practitioners who gather and discuss our dilemmas and successes in waking up to whiteness and making a difference in undermining white supremacy culture in all of its many manifestations, including in our sanghas. Our intention is to create a supportive space that allows us to do the hard and painful inner work that frees us to take action in the world.
Open to all self-identified white practitioners and to those for whom whiteness is an important part of their identity.
More information about the program is available here.
B-12: Buddhism and the 12 steps of recovery is a practice group exploring the connections between Buddhist practice and recovery. We will begin our evenings with brief meditation instruction, followed by a period of meditation, a short talk and discussion. Our meetings are open to all members of a 12-Step recovery program. The group is led by senior practitioners in recovery. B-12 offers online meetings via Zoom every Sunday evening, and daily (Mon-Fri) morning meditation. For more information please contact us here.
Dharma Queer and Trans Sangha: Dharma Queer & Trans Sangha (formerly Queer Dharma Share), also known as DQT Sangha, we are a group of people who identify across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum to gather for zazen and dharma discussion amidst challenging times. With Dharma Teacher, Dawn Haney (they/she) facilitating, we continue our commitment to queer sangha while deepening our dharma exploration.
Click here for more info or reach out with questions at info@brooklynzen.org.
Parents Practice: We are a group of parent practitioners who support each other’s practice rooted in Bodhisattva vows and precepts. Our group emerged out of the context of Covid hardship—we took refuge in each other’s practice to care for the struggles and challenges we were facing, living in intense circumstances where most of us were locked up in our homes. We offer early morning online zazen (sitting meditation) Mondays–Fridays, as well as evening meetings. Click here for more information or reach out with questions at parentgroup@brooklynzen.org.
Zen Students of Color: Zen Students of Color began as a one-year study group on Soto Zen texts, rituals, and histories for students of color. This eventually evolved into a group for BIPOC students in leadership roles at BZC to find support and to hold the diversity of experience within the coalition of “BIPOC.” This group formally sunset in September 2025. Presently, BZC members and leadership are in the process of creating a peer-led support group for BIPOC practitioners at BZC. Please reach out to cityadmin@brooklynzen.org for more details. Thank you.
Undoing Patriarchy: We are a group for male-identified practitioners who want to explore patriarchy’s effects, connect to the sacred masculine and feminine, and repair the damage patriarchy has done to everyone along the gender spectrum. We use meditation, dialogue, personal storytelling, and ritual to explore our relationship to violence, domination, emotions, love, and sexuality. More information about the monthly group is available here.