Zen and the Roman Emperor
2026-01-14 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Zen and the Roman Emperor: Marcus Aurelius, Journaling, and Stoicism for the Zen Practitioner

Online. Alternating Wednesdays from January 14 – March 25, 2026 (1/14, 1/28, 2/4*, 2/25, 3/11, 3/25) from 6:30-8p CT.

This winter you are invited to join the inaugural offering for the Men’s Study Group at Hokyoji. Over the course of 3 months, we will read Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations and look at the Stoicism, Zen, and their intersection, through various journaling practices (no, not “dear diary!”).

Marcus Aurelius was one of the Five Good Emperors (out of 82 and a 500 year span). He as an avowed Stoic, a school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in 300 BCE. It had counted everyone from slaves to emperors amongst its contributors. Stoicism had a profound influence on St. Augustine and therefore Christianity.

Zen has its roots in China, with the arrival of Bodhidharma (d. 530 CE) from India during the Northern & Southern Dynasties period. It further developed throughout the Sui & Tang Dynasties, the Five Dynasties Period, and reached its zenith during the Song Dynasty. Dogen Zenji (1200-1253 CE) brought Chan to Japan from Song China in 1228 founded the Soto School of Zen Buddhism.

At first blush, it doesn’t seem like these two traditions would have anything in common but over the course of the study group we hope to demonstrate that they do and that Stoicism can help Zen practitioners and Zen can help Stoics.

Main text – Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, translated by Gregory Hays, Forward by Ryan Holiday. You need not purchase the book through Amazon. You will also need a notebook. It can be as nice as you like but not so nice you don’t want to write in it…

The group will be led by Rev. Jushin Stephyn Butcher, Associate Teacher. Questions? reach out to Jushin through the contact page.

Private Retreat
2026-01-16 09:30 - 2026-01-18 10:00
Closed for a private retreat

Winter Practice Period 2026
2026-02-02 15:00 - 2026-02-15 16:00
Hokyoji’s Winter Practice Period (Week 1: February 2-8. Week 2 sesshin, February 9-15). Come for Week 1, Week 2 or both. Week 1 is also available online.

We will explore Dogen Zenji’s fascicle, Hachi Dainin Gaku: Eight Qualities of a Great Person. Dogen Zenji invites ordinary people (like us) to engage our bodhisattva vow through our lived experience. We are living in times that offer us continuous opportunities to live by vow in innumerable ways. We are not separate from our ancestors and are continually supported in known and unknown forms.

Please join us in this wondrous inquiry into the qualities of a great person. Dogen Zenji fascicle welcomes all into this timely investigation.

The recommended text is The Roots of Goodness: Zen Master Dogen’s Teaching on the Eight Qualities of a Great Person, commentary by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, translated with an introduction by Daitsu Tom Wright.

The first week will be led by Hokyoji’s Associate Teacher Rev. Onryu “GD” Kennedy. The second week will be a sesshin led by Associate Teacher Rev. Jushin Stephyn Butcher.

Week 1 – Hybrid Option. For those who would like to participate to some degree but whose circumstances prevent them from taking a week or two off, we will be offering the opportunity for hybrid participation. See the schedules below with Hybrid participation for Week 1 highlighted in gold. Suggested Ticket Price: $150 (or as your circumstances permit). Click registration below and select a Online Ticket.

Schedules for each week are above. Click to enlarge or right click and select “Save image as…” to your local computer.

Retreat Leaders:

Onryu “GD” Kennedy (Week 1) has received transmission in both the Katagiri and Uchiyama Roshi lineages. In 2019 and 2020, she attended three-month practice periods at Toshoji International Zen Center (Japan) and in 2017 at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (California). In the Spring 2020 practice period at Toshoji she was Shuso, head monk, for the practice period. She completed zuise in January 2023, and in February 2024 her application for Kokusaifukuyoshi was approved by the Japanese Sotoshu. Throughout her life she has valued social justice work as an expression of her vow. She is currently an Associate Teacher at Hokyoji Zen Practice Community. She experiences great joy in the opportunity to learn and teach Buddhist practices.

Jushin Stephyn Butcher (Week 2) started his Buddhist journey nearly 35 years ago in the Tibetan tradition. He found his way to Hokyoji, where he became a student of Rev. Dokai Georgesen. Jushin received jukai in 2013, ordination in 2017, and dharma transmission in 2025. He is an Associate Teacher at Hokyoji. He lives in Cambridge, Maryland, along with his husband, dog, chickens, and garden.

Registration fees cover lodging and food. Hokyoji compensates teachers through the dana system. If you would like to contribute, you may do so before, at, or after the retreat. If you would like to donate online, please click here.

Online Study Group - Uji (Being-Time)
2026-04-06 19:00 - 2026-05-11 20:30
Being in Minnesota in 2026 has demanded so much of us it can be overwhelming.

Dogen’s concept of “Uji” (being-time) expresses the relationship between existence and time, where each moment simultaneously contains both its particular nature and the totality of all being-time.

This is true of any “dharma position” or a specific moment, thing or event—like standing by a river, sitting in zazen, witnessing suffering, participating in non-violent action—which is both independent and interpenetrating with everything else.

In studying the Uji fascicle together through our lives now, we invite it to penetrate and manifest in real time.

This Online Study Group runs for six weeks on Mondays at 7:00-8:30p CT, starting April 6. Your facilitors will be Associate Teacher Onryu Kennedy, Musho Darin Podulke-Smith, Isshin Adam Kokotovich, JunKan Dan Mattimirro, and Seiren Rachel Vilsack.

We will be using Kaz Tanahashi’s translation from “Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo”. A PDF of the fascicle will be provided.

Hokyoji's Annual Membership and Board Meeting
2026-04-11 13:00 - 15:00
Meeting will be in the Twin Cities and by Zoom, all are invited. Hokyoji members get to vote on new Board Members.

In person at:

Linden Hills Park Facility (Minneapolis Park Board)3100 43rd St WestMinneapolis, MN 55410

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81202856762?pwd=[REDACTED]

.

Caring for the Land
2026-04-16 15:00 - 2026-04-19 12:00
We warmly invite you to join us for our upcoming Caring for the Land weekend! Our next event is scheduled from Thursday, April 16, to Sunday, April 19. This year, we are constructing a new zendo, and depending on the weather and construction progress, there may be opportunities for volunteer work, including landscaping, painting, and other emerging needs. As always, there will be plenty of work available for clearing trails, cutting up deadfalls, and eradicating invasive species.

The Hokyoji Zen Practice Community is situated in the scenic bluff country of southeastern Minnesota, near the Mississippi River. Spanning 105 acres of heavily wooded bluffs, wetlands, and abandoned farmland, Hokyoji hosts diverse wildlife habitats, including old-growth oak and walnut trees. However, the environment at Hokyoji faces challenges due to the overgrowth of non-native species, such as European buckthorn, Japanese honeysuckle, multiflora rose, and others. These invasive plants are choking out the regrowth of native species and hindering the re-establishment of the original ecosystem. Additionally, the construction of the new zendo has created some site disturbances and altered certain landscape features that will need to be addressed.

We provide accommodations in the Guest Hall and offer ovo-lacto-vegetarian meals, fostering companionship and engagement in meaningful, satisfying work. At the end of each day, after a rewarding day’s labor, you can enjoy a quiet period of meditation to soothe your tired muscles!

Here is a photo taken in late winter showing the new zendo under construction. There will be a need for landscape work and site improvement, depending on the weather and construction status.

The area depicted in the accompanying photo shows a hillside at Hokyoji, where the undergrowth is tangled with young honeysuckles, buckthorn, plum, and various thorny plants. Young walnut trees are also trying to emerge. Without intervention, this area is likely to become dominated by honeysuckle, making it nearly impenetrable!

Private Taichi/Yoga Retreat
2026-04-23 12:00 - 2026-04-26 10:00, 2026-09-24 15:00 - 2026-09-27 10:00
Reserved for a private retreat.

Private Centering Prayer Retreat
2026-05-03 15:00 - 2026-05-09 10:00

True Heart Women's Retreat 2026
2026-05-14 15:00 - 2026-05-17 12:00
In the book Returning to Silence, Katagiri Roshi says, “Whatever kind of question you ask or whatever you think, finally you have to return to silence.” Katagiri points to a simple truth we often overlook in this exceedingly noisy world of ours: we need to be intentional about carving out space to slow down and catch up with ourselves.

That is the intention of Hokyoji’s annual True Heart Women’s Retreat, which I have the privilege of leading this year. The retreat begins with supper on Thursday, May 14 and ends at noon on Sunday, May 17. Though not strictly a silent retreat, it is an invitation to enter into stillness of being and connection with nature, with yourself, and with each other. The retreat is lightly structured to include periods of silent and guided meditation as well as personal time, body work, and group conversation. And yes, there will be laughter.

The fee includes accommodation in a simple private room and nourishing vegetarian meals. Women of all backgrounds are welcome, including those with no or very little experience in meditation or Buddhism.

Return to the silence of your true heart in the supportive company of other women in the springtime beauty of Minnesota’s Driftless Region. Hokyoji welcomes you with open arms.

Registration fees cover lodging and food. Hokyoji compensates teachers through the dana system. If you would like to contribute, you may do so before, at, or after the retreat. If you would like to donate online, please click here.

Just Sitting Retreat - Spring 2026
2026-05-24 18:00 - 2026-05-31 11:00
Please join us in a retreat of mindful meditation within an environment of deep silence and community. A sitting schedule and silence are the bones of the retreat. The principles guiding the retreat are tranquility, harmony and respect. These principles apply to both ourselves (internally) and to others (externally) through our actions. There are no services, dharma talks, interviews with a teacher or work periods. Meals, silence, sitting and sleep are the support for our individual and collective practice. That said, participants are free to practice as they see fit augmenting their day with walks, naps, bird watching, botanizing, looking…meeting one’s needs mindfully as retreat activity.

All participants should have experience sitting multi-day mindfulness retreats or sesshins.

Cost: $763/person. Single occupancy, unless otherwise arranged. Contact Lee Lewis (leestevenlewis@gmail.com) if the cost poses an economic hardship.

Space is limited. Vegetarian meals. Full retreat (6+ days/7nights).

Private Healing Sound and Yoga Retreat
2026-06-03 15:00 - 2026-06-07 10:00

Loring Park Group Retreat
2026-06-11 15:00 - 2026-06-14 10:00
Please contact Bill Tresch (bftresch@hotmail.com) if you’re interested in attending this retreat.

Practicing the Way Retreat
2026-06-17 15:00 - 2026-06-21 16:00
All Beings are Manifesting Buddha Activity

Co-lead by Associate Teacher, Rev. Onryu Kennedy and Rev. Musho Darin Podulke-Smith

Buddha activity is embodied liberation, awakening to the living dignity and infinite potential in all beings. We will explore how Buddhist practices are interpenetrating and manifesting in each moment. There will be opportunities in this retreat for zazen, discussion, dharma talks, buffet style meals and co-creating communal space.

This retreat will be hybrid. The schedule is here:

Suggested reading in preparation for this retreat:

Eihei Dogen, “The Dignified Presence of Acting Buddhas”: http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Dogen_Teachings/Shobogenzo/022gyobutsu.pdf

Eihei Dogen, “The Bodhisattva’s Four Embracing Actions” https://hokyoji.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/TheBodhisattvasEmbrace.pdf

Vaclav Havel, “The Power of the Powerless”: https://mrdivis.yolasite.com/resources/Vaclav%20Havel’s%20Power%20of%20the%20Powerless.pdf

Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” https://hokyoji.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/1963_mlk_letter.pdf

Registration fees only cover our basic costs. Hokyoji compensates teachers through the dana system. If you would like to contribute, you may do so before, at, or after the retreat. If you would like to donate online, please click here.

Clouds in Water Retreat
2026-07-25 15:00 - 2026-08-01 16:00
For information and registration, please visit Clouds’ website or the retreat registration page.

Jewel Mirror Sesshin
2026-08-08 15:00 - 2026-08-15 10:00
According to tradition, when Dogen Zenji returned from China, he wrote the Fukanzazengi, “Universal Recommendations for Zazen”. A few years thereafter he composed his first work in Japanese, Bendōwa, “Discourse on the Practice of the Way”. Framed as a series of 19 questions and answers, Bendōwa lays bare the themes he would spend a lifetime exploring in his magnum opus, Shobogenzo.

Come explore Dogen Zenji’s Bendōwa this Summer with three inspiring teachers of the Soto lineage: Rev. Dokai Georgesen (Hokyoji), Rev. Daigaku Rummé (Confluence ZC, St. Louis), and Rev. Reirin Gumbel (Milwaukee ZC)

About sesshin…

Hokyoji supports a variety of retreats, each with its own distinctive practice vision, perspective, and teaching style, formal and informal. Jewel Mirror Sesshin is on the more formal side. Zazen is practiced throughout the day, interspersed with services, oryoki-style meals, and a work practice each afternoon.

This is a cherished opportunity to cultivate an atmosphere of deep silence and introspection. We look forward to practicing with you.

About the teachers…

Reirin Alheidis Gumbel has been the Resident Priest at Milwaukee Zen Center since 2015. After many years of being a lay practitioner, she was trained at the San Francisco Zen Center, where she lived as a monastic for almost 12 years. She was ordained as a Soto Zen Priest by Furyu Nancy Schroeder in 2007 and received Dharma Transmission in May of 2019. Reirin attempts to be an example for her sangha by maintaining a strong sitting practice and bringing it into the world that so urgently needs the dharma.

Dokai Georgesen started practicing Zen with Dainin Katagiri Roshi in 1974 and was ordained in 1984. He received transmission from Katagiri Roshi in 1989. He is the Guiding Teacher at Hokyoji and has resided there since 2003. He is a past President of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association (SZBA).

Daigaku Rummé was ordained a Soto monk by Harada Sekkei Roshi in 1978 and trained with him for over 27 years at Hosshinji Monastery in Japan. In 2003 he began working at the Soto Zen Buddhism International Center in San Francisco. He then moved to L.A. in 2010, where he was Director of the Soto Zen Buddhism North America Office and Head Priest of Zenshuji Soto Temple. In 2015, he moved to St. Louis and founded Confluence Zen Center where he is the guiding teacher.

We are committed to the access to our retreats regardless of economic circumstances. If you need a scholarship to attend, please contact us. If you would like to make the retreat accessible to others, please consider a donation at checkout with the comment “Scholarship”.

At Hokyoji we compensate our teachers and retreat leaders through the dana system. “Dana” is Sanskrit for “pass the hat” (more precisely, generosity). If you would like to donate online, you can do so here before, during, or after the retreat. You can also donate at the retreat via cash, check, or Paypal.

Compassionate Ocean Sesshin
2026-08-31 15:00 - 2026-09-06 11:00
For more information, see https://www.oceanzen.org/hokyoji

MZMC Retreat
2026-09-15 15:00 - 2026-09-20 10:00
For more information, visit https://www.mnzencenter.org/

Zen & the Arts Retreat: Ikebana
2026-10-01 15:00 - 2026-10-04 10:00
TBD

Private Zen/Mindfulness Retreat
2026-10-07 15:00 - 2026-10-11 11:00

Caring for the Land - Fall
2026-10-16 12:00 - 2026-10-18 10:00

Just Sitting Retreat - Fall
2026-10-20 15:00 - 2026-10-25 10:00

Practicing the Ways Retreat
2026-11-12 15:00 - 2026-11-15 10:00

Rohatsu Sesshin 2026
2026-11-30 15:00 - 2026-12-06 10:00
