Practicing the Way in this Very Moment

Rev. Onryu Kennedy and Rev. Genjo Sam Conway will co-lead a 4-day retreat beginning November 16 at 5pm and ending on November 19 at 11am.

This retreat will include zazen, walking meditation, 2 dharma talks offered by each co-leader, and buffet style meals.

During this retreat Musho Darin Podulke-Smith will recieve priest ordination beginning at 2pm on November 18. Here is the link for the ordination; it is open for attendance by all:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89544682685?pwd=T3g2aEQ4NHdwcW9tLzlVS2hXNXU5UT09

We invite all practitioners into this space of practice. Everyone is welcome.

Thursday to Sunday Retreat – $195, Hokyoji Members $156

Retreat Leaders

Rev. Onryu Kennedy received transmission from Rev. Byakuren Ragir in October 2018 in Katagiri Roshi’s lineage and from Rev. Eido Reinhart in January 2021 in Okumura Roshi’s lineage. She participated in zuise at Eiheiji on January 11, 2023 and at Sojiji on January 14, 2023.

She trained at Clouds in Water Zen Center, Hokyoji Zen Practice Community, Sanshin Zen Community, Tassajara Zen Monastery, and Toshoji International Zen Monastery.

In February 2022 she completed a year-long study of Engaged Buddhism at Upaya Zen Center. She has participated in Bearing Witness Retreats at Wounded Knee, SD and Auschwitz/Birkenau and a street retreat in San Francisco.  

In 2016, she coordinated an interfaith Bearing Witness Retreat led by Indigenous Nations. In 2019, she coordinated the Winyan Awanyankapi: Protecting the Lifegivers conference. This conference was Indigenous led with white allies offering logistical support.

Kennedy has worked as a social worker for over 30 years with children and families and has an MA in counseling psychology.

She is committed to beneficial actions on behalf of all beings. This emerges from her relationship with Indigenous peoples around climate and racial justice issues.  Also, she is committed to supporting the next generation of dharma practitioners and continuing to deepen our connection with our Japanese dharma relatives.

Rev. Genjo Sam Conway was ordained by his teacher Byakuren Roshi Judith Ragir in September 2016 at Clouds in Water Zen Center in St. Paul, MN. He completed his shuso ceremony at Hokyoji Zen Practice Community in September 2021. Genjo has participated in and supported retreats at Clouds in Water, Hokyoji, Sanshiji, and Ryumonji. He is deeply committed to integrating traditional Soto Zen practice into contemporary American life, especially working with the karma of white convert Buddhists within white supremacy and with settler Buddhists on Indigenous land.

Genjo works as a psychotherapist, predominately with clients struggling with opioid and meth addiction alongside their emotional and psychological difficulties. He believes strongly, following Byakuren Roshi’s teaching, that American Buddhism is in deep need of integrating the psychological with the spiritual.

An avid mushroom hunter, swimmer, and cook, Genjo lives in South Minneapolis on occupied land traditional to the Dakota People with his three children, loving partner, adorable dog, and many, many plants.