Jizo-an Zen Community
Meditation - Mindfulness - Benevolent Service - Community
Jizo-an Zen Community now makes its home in Cherry Hill, NJ, offering all our events at the new Zendo. Please see below for the latest information on In-Person and Livestreamed Zendo Events, and other ways to connect. You can also keep up with us through our Newsletter, our podcast, as well as Patreon and social media. If you are not currently receiving our Newsletter, you can add your name to our mailing list.
All of the following programs are offered at low cost or without a fee requirement. If you would like to make a donation, you can do so through the registration process, or via our Donation Page. Thank you for your support!
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Please note that if you are planning on attending any program in person, you can pay the program registration fee in person at the door. Registration online is only required if you will be attending the program online via Zoom. In-person registration can be paid by cash, or check made out to The Zen Society.
Upcoming In-Person & Online Zendo Programs (Zoom) for October 2025
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THE EASE AND JOY OF MORNING MEDITATION
(Virtual Meditation Online Only)
Livestream Meditation Schedule:
Every day (7 Days/week, at 5:30am Online)
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Zazen is the dharma gate of great ease and joy
— this is the standard that Master Dogen lays down.
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Join us for a morning of meditation where we sit with ease and intimacy. We spend this time together in self-exploration and investigation. It is ideal for beginners, intermediate, and experienced meditators who wish to deepen their practice. The Ease and Joy of Mornings is open to everyone.
We come together as community to sit Zazen, or silent illumination, for 25-30 minutes. On some mornings, Zazen is followed by a short reading and reflection, and we close with a recitation of the Four Great Vows and the Benefit for All. ​
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REGISTRATION NOT REQUIRED. DONATIONS WELCOME AND APPRECIATED.
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THE EASE AND JOY OF EVENING MEDITATION
​Virtual Meditation and a brief Evening Dharma Discussion
(Online Only)​
Tuesday & Thursday Evenings 7:00pm - 8:00pm
EVERY WEEK OF THE MONTH
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Practice and enlightenment, the masters have long said, are both solitary and social endeavors. We need each other for reflection, encouragement and inspiration. Though some may have a strong capacity for seclusion, Sangha is one of the three precious gems for a very good reason—we depend on each other to wake up. "We Are More Together Than Alone."
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Guidelines for Participating (Zazen) Meditation Over Zoom:
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Please join sittings a few minutes before the scheduled time, so as to be seated and settled in place before the period of zazen begins.
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Please keep your microphone muted until the very end.
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The group leader will ring three bells to begin zazen & one bell to signal the end of zazen.
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REGISTRATION NOT REQUIRED. DONATIONS WELCOME AND APPRECIATED.
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​CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE 7:00PM MEDITATION
ZEN STUDIES PROGRAM- ONLINE and *IN-PERSON
Wednesday OCTOBER 1st 2025, 7:00PM - 9:00PM
Join RICHARD 'SENSEI EMYO' BIZUB for one of our monthly Dharma talks...
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​"Becoming the Mountains and Rivers"
Eihei Dogen, the great master of Soto Zen, taught that when we know something intimately, it ceases to exist in the old way and, as a result, so do we. Dogen was a lover of nature. He built his monastery deep in the mountains near streams. In the Mountains and Rivers Sutra he wrote about the mountains and rivers, the wind and clouds, as direct expressions of the great body of the Buddha, the whole earth body as well as your body, and my body. These mountains and rivers of the present are the manifestation of the way of the buddhas and ancient sages. Each abides in its own, dharma state, exhaustively fulfilling its virtues. What Dogen is pointing to is the immediate, non-dual experience of our lives using the language of our natural world.
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Join us for an evening of Zazen, (seated meditation) Kinhin (walking mediation) chanting of the Sutras and a Dharma discussion...both in-person and online.
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REGISTER FOR ONLINE EVENT (click here)
*IN PERSON NEED NOT REGISTER
​​​ZEN STUDIES PROGRAM- ONLINE and *IN-PERSON
Wednesday OCTOBER 8th, 2025, 7:00PM- 9:00PM
Join REVEREND KEVIN "GENJO" LEBLANC for one of our monthly Dharma talks...
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"The Lankavatara Sutra- The Form and Formless"
"You are Buddha, you are perfect and complete". Most of us would vehemently disagree... for good reason too. We spend lifetimes unconsciously creating fantasies about who we think we are. Just like if you took a dog and trained it to be a killer, there would be no surprise if that were to actually occur. But the dog's true essence is not a killer.
We too have 'trained' ourselves to see life through certain filters and so our actions turn out to be direct responses to the distorted lens that we unconsciously created. To understand this, one simply needs a new way of looking. Zazen was created for this exact purpose...it is the ability to recognize the formlessness in the form.
Right here, right now, a mental formation...does it contain anything at all?
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Join us for an evening of Zazen, (seated meditation) Kinhin (walking mediation) chanting of the Sutras and a Dharma discussion...both in-person and online.
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JOIN THE ONLINE EVENT (CLICK HERE)
*IN-PERSON NEED NOT REGISTER
​HALF-DAY ZAZENKAI- ONLINE and *IN-PERSON
Saturday, OCTOBER 11th, 2025 9:00am - 12:00pm
Join the Monks of Jizo-an Zen Community for an extended period of Zazen
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HALF-DAY ZAZENKAI
Zazenkai is the coming together of the Sangha as well as anyone with an interest in Zen and to experience Zazen in the Meditation hall. It allows those who have never sat for an extended period to do so with other practitioners so as to give support and a conducive space for that purpose. It seems also that without these extended periods of meditation, finding ease and joy in Zazen can take a very long time.
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Suggested donation of $15 is appreciated.
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​​JOIN THE ONLINE EVENT (CLICK HERE)
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*IN-PERSON NEED NOT REGISTER
​ZEN STUDIES PROGRAM- ONLINE and IN-PERSON*
Wednesday OCTOBER 15th, 2025, 7:00PM - 9:00PM
Join REVERAND BETSY "GESSHO" NIEVES for one of our monthly Dharma Talks...
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"The Power of the Word"
In our current state of the world, we are witnessing how misinformation spreads like a virus. We witness again and again how easy it can be to manipulate others, to create division, and to spread hatred through wrong or unskillful speech. In the Noble Eightfold Path, the Buddha instructed us on the importance of Right Speech. When we pay close attention to our words and use them skillfully, we can create heaven on Earth. Let us understand and realize the power that lies in the word and how to utilize this power for the benefit of all humanity.
Join us for an evening of Zazen, (seated meditation) Kinhin (walking mediation) chanting of the Sutras and a Dharma discussion...both in-person and online.
REGISTER FOR ONLINE EVENT (CLICK HERE)
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*IN PERSON NEED NOT REGISTER
