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!
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 September 2026
THE EASE AND JOY OF MORNING MEDITATION: Online Only
Every day (7 Days/week, at 5:30am Online)
Zazen is the dharma gate of great ease and joy— this is the standard that Master Dogen lays down.
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.
REGISTRATION NOT REQUIRED. DONATIONS WELCOME AND APPRECIATED.
THE EASE AND JOY OF EVENING MEDITATION
Meditation and a brief Evening Dharma Discussion: Online Only
Every Tuesday & Thursday Evening, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
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."
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.
REGISTRATION NOT REQUIRED. DONATIONS WELCOME AND APPRECIATED.
CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE 7:00PM MEDITATION
ZEN STUDIES PROGRAM: ONLINE and *IN-PERSON
Wednesday September 2nd 2026, 7:00PM- 9:00PM
Join Sensei Richard Emyo Bizub for one of our monthly Dharma talks...
Cultivating Right View
Right View is the first aspect of the Noble Eightfold Path. When we take the Dharma to heart, the whole Buddhist path flows out of our application of Right View. When we embrace the components of Right View—the karma we struggle with, the impermanence we'd rather avoid seeing -- we can begin releasing ourselves from fear and aversion, seeing through the cherished opinions we usually take for real. This leads to freedom of mind. "Cultivating Right View" is the theme of our upcoming Fall Ango.
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Join us for an evening of Zazen, (seated meditation) Kinhin (walking mediation), and a Koan discussion...both in-person and online.
REGISTER FOR THE ONLINE EVENT (CLICK HERE)
*IN-PERSON NEED NOT REGISTER
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FULL-DAY ZAZENKAI: ONLINE and *IN-PERSON
Saturday September 12th, 2026 9:00AM - 4:00PM
Join the Monks of Jizo-an Zen Community for an extended period of sitting meditation and sutra service
Zazenkai & Sutra Service
You are invited to sit with the community for a full-day of zazen and chanting of the sutras. A free vegetarian lunch is provided; if you wish to attend, please notify Gessho via email so that adequate and appropriate meal items can be planned.
Please arrive 10-15 mins early so we can all begin together on time...cushions and chairs are provided.
REGISTRATION NOT REQUIRED. DONATIONS WELCOME AND APPRECIATED.
CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE 9:00AM MEDITATION
ZEN STUDIES PROGRAM: ONLINE and *IN-PERSON
Wednesday September 9th 2026, 7:00PM - 9:00PM
Join Rev Orlando Donen Nieves for one of our monthly Dharma talks...
Living an Awakened Life - The Eight Realizations of Awakened Beings
What does it mean to live an awakened life, to live in an awakened way? How do we bring our practice and the Dharma teachings into our everyday lives? How do we realize or actualize our practice in the world? Fortunately for all of us, the Buddha and our many ancestors left us a great treasure trove in the many Dharma teachings, sutras, and commentaries that have been handed down for generations. Those teachings are like a guide-map for us, not simply instructing us on exactly what to do, but rather pointing the way toward our own discovery of living an awakened life.
Join us for an evening of Zazen, (seated meditation) Kinhin (walking mediation) chanting of Sutras and a Dharma discussion...both in-person and online.
REGISTER FOR ONLINE EVENT (click here)
*IN PERSON NEED NOT REGISTER
SUNDAY MORNING ZAZEN: ONLINE and *IN PERSON
Sunday September 20th 2026, 9:00am - 10:30am
Join the Monks of Jizo-an Zen Community for a morning of silent meditation at the zendo
Zen Meditation
Zazen is at the core of Soto Zen Buddhism. It has been refined and well honed over thousands of years and because of these endless offerings down through the ages, we are invited to a way to show up to ourselves that actually works. It has been said that a Zendo (meditation hall) is a conducive space for enlightenment and so we come together in community, for community, for that very purpose.
Open to both beginners and experienced practitioners.
Please arrive 10-15 mins early so we can all begin together on time...cushions and chairs are provided.
REGISTRATION NOT REQUIRED. DONATIONS WELCOME AND APPRECIATED.
CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE 9:00AM MEDITATION
ZEN STUDIES PROGRAM: ONLINE and *IN-PERSON
Wednesday August 16th 2026, 7:00PM- 9:00PM
Join Rev Kevin Genjo Leblanc for one of our monthly Dharma talks...
The Ceaseless Flow Of Mind
"Ash abides in the phenomenal expression of ash, which fully includes future and past. Just as firewood does not become firewood again after it is ash, you do not return to birth after death." You are not who you were. You have never been static….this was Master Dogen''s meaning about ashes returning to firewood. All life forms are complex manifestations of the many aggregates coming together to create each individual form. Whether it is a mountain or a liver, its uniqueness depends on the life force of the complexity. The dynamic practice of meditation is no different… except that the complex "I" gets set aside for stillness, which allows one to observe the ceaseless flow of the mind.
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 THE ONLINE EVENT (CLICK HERE)
*IN-PERSON NEED NOT REGISTER