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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261001T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261004T100000
DTSTAMP:20260706T191552Z
CREATED:20260106T194910Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260706T191552Z
UID:8885-1790866800-1791108000@hokyoji.org
SUMMARY:Art & Zen 2026 - Where Stillness Takes Root - A Zen & Ikebana Retreat
DESCRIPTION:Both zazen and Ikebana ask us to practice in the same essential spirit by abandoning our ideas about the world to meet the world where it is. The Zen practitioner sits\, releasing the urge to grasp or fix\, simply present with what arises. The Ikebana practitioner empties their mind before the flower\, listening for what the branch already knows about itself. These are not two practices—they are one practice with different hands. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOver two full days\, this retreat will sow the seeds of both Zen meditation and Ikebana\, the Japanese art of flower arranging\, in their shared soil: the cultivation of presence\, the dissolving of the gap between self and nature. Under the guidance of Revs. Keidō Jeromy Thotland & Jūshin Stephyn Butcher and certified Sogetsu instructor Trân Huỳnh\, we will sit in stillness each morning before turning that same quality of attention to stems\, leaves\, and blooms.  \n\n\n\nAs ikebana master Suido Yamane taught\, the essence of Ikebana lies not in what we do to nature\, but in what we find there–sensing what he called “eternal life” within the materials and learning to harmonize with it [1]. This is the same “eternal life” that Katagiri roshi taught streamed forth wherever we might find ourselves and that we could taste in zazen [2]. \n\n\n\nTrân brings over fifteen years of ikebana practice to this work\, exhibiting throughout the Twin Cities and serving on the board of Ikebana International’s Minneapolis-St. Paul chapter. Together\, we will explore how the meditation cushion and the vase ask the same question of us: Can you get out of the way? \n\n\n\nNo prior experience with meditation or ikebana is required—only the willingness to meet flowers\, silence\, and yourself with fresh eyes. \n\n\n\n[1] Art of meditation: Attitudes to nature in Japanese gardens & Ikebana\, Shoso Shimbo\, 1 June 2024.[2] Blue Cliff Record Case 3: Master Ma Is Unwell\, Talk 1\, April 19\, 1980 Dharma Talk by Dainin Katagiri Roshi. \n\n\n\nRetreat Leaders \n\n\n\n\nTrân Huỳnh is a certified Sogetsu ikebana teacher with over 15 years of experience. She regularly exhibits throughout the Twin Cities including at the Como Ikebana Mum Show and Art in Bloom at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. She serves on the board of the Ikebana International Chapter #121 of Minneapolis-St. Paul and is a member of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Sogetsu Study Group and the Sogetsu Teachers’ Association. \n\n\n\n\n\nRev. Keidō Jeromy Thotland was born and raised in Minneapolis. His life includes experiences in the US Navy\, retail\, labor union work\, and research. He depends on these\, including family and sangha life\, to remind him of the many ways of being. His focus is on the intersection of the everydayness of life and the everydayness of Zen\, and the wonder that each moment can bring. \n\n\n\nKeidō serves as a Senior Priest at MZMC in Minneapolis\, MN and an Associate Teacher and Board member at Hokyoji Zen Practice Community in Eitzen\, MN. He was Ordained and Transmitted by Ted O’Toole. \n\n\n\n\n\nRev. Dr. Jushin Stephyn Butcher was ordained in 2017 and received dharma transmission in the Katagiri lineage in 2025 from Hokyoji’s Guiding Teacher\, Rev. Dokai Georgesen. \n\n\n\nHis first exposure to Eastern thought was through the TV Series Kung Fu starring David Carradine. In his 20s and 30s\, he followed a winding path through Taoism and Tibetan Buddhism that eventually lead him to Hokyoji in 2008\, courtesy of a blog post by Brad Warner. \n\n\n\nA double rainbow member of Gen X\, Jushin brings a latch-key kid aesthetic to his practice of Zen\, including shikantaza\, movement\, and art. His understanding of the Way fuses traditional sources with neuroscience\, evolutionary psychology\, and Stoicism. \n\n\n\n\nAbout Art & Zen \n\n\n\nArt & Zen is a retreat series that seeks to explore the interrelationship between Zen practice and the Arts\, both Traditional and Modern. “Zen & Ikebana” is the first in the series with two more planned for 2027 and more beyond. \n\n\n\nRegistration 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.
URL:https://hokyoji.org/event/zen-the-arts-retreat-ikebana/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261005T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261026T200000
DTSTAMP:20260826T210636Z
CREATED:20260820T113923Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260826T210636Z
UID:9351-1791225000-1793044800@hokyoji.org
SUMMARY:Online Study Group - Living By Vow: Studying our relationship to Liturgy
DESCRIPTION:The liturgy used in any spiritual practice can often become wearisome or flat\, a recitation of memorized words or phrases that leave us wondering\, “What’s the point? How is this connected to my practice? How does it help to nourish life?” In this autumn online study group\, using excerpts from Shohaku Okumura’s “Living by Vow”\, we’ll take time to reflect on how the chants used in Zen liturgy are there to help uplift our practice rather than being obligatory passages to recite. \n\n\n\nJoin us as we explore how chanting offers us the opportunity to redirect our habit minds\, deepen our understanding of them\, and to engage more fully with the present moment\, connecting with why we have taken up this spiritual practice to transform the suffering of the world. \n\n\n\nHokyoji’s Associate teacher Onryu Kennedy\, along with Darin Musho Podulke-Smith\, Adam Isshin Kokotovich\, and Dan JunKan Mattimiro will be facilitators for this four week study group. We will meet via Zoom for four Mondays: October 5\, 12\, 19\, 26 @ 6:30 – 8:00PM Central Time \n\n\n\n\n\n\nRev. Onryu Kennedy has received transmission in both the Katagiri and Uchiyama Roshi lineages. She was shuso in 2020 and completed zuise in 2023. She was approved as Kokusaifukuyoshi in 2024 by Soto-shu. 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. \n\n\n\n\n\nRev. Musho Podulke-Smith completed the Upaya Buddhist Chaplaincy Program in March of 2023. He took Tokudo under Rev. Onryu Kennedy later that year. He works with inmates at the Federal Medical Prison in Rochester and leads a sitting and study group in Rochester. \n\n\n\n\n\nAdam Isshin Kokotovich began practicing Soto Zen in 2014 and received jukai from Byakuren Judith Ragir in 2017. He currently studies with Rev. Onryu Kennedy and manifests his practice in his work\, family\, parenting\, and involvement with the Hokyoji community. \n\n\n\n\n\nJun’kan Dan Mattimiro began his practice at Clouds in Water in 2016\, receiving jukai from Keiyu Ken Ford in 2017. There he served on the tenzo ryo and board of directors. At Hokyoji\, he has been tenzo for Practicing the Ways and has co-facilitated online study groups at Hokyoji\, the most recent being Dogen’s Uji/Time-Being. When not running with his dog or enjoying time with his ever-expanding family\, he continues to teach high school biology and must remind himself that the students aren’t getting older\, he is.
URL:https://hokyoji.org/event/online-study-group-living-by-vow-studying-our-relationship-to-liturgy/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261007T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261011T110000
DTSTAMP:20260323T135441Z
CREATED:20260323T135438Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260323T135441Z
UID:9037-1791385200-1791716400@hokyoji.org
SUMMARY:Private Zen/Mindfulness Retreat
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://hokyoji.org/event/private-zen-mindfulness-retreat/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261020T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261025T100000
DTSTAMP:20260818T153759Z
CREATED:20260106T195056Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260818T153759Z
UID:8889-1792508400-1792922400@hokyoji.org
SUMMARY:Just Sitting Retreat - Fall
DESCRIPTION: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\, respect\, care and harmony. There are no services\, lectures\, interviews with a teacher or work periods. Meals\, silence\, sitting and sleeping 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. \n\n\n\nAll participants must have experience sitting multi-day mindfulness retreats or sesshins. First time participants will receive a phone call further explaining the nature of the retreat. \n\n\n\nVegetarian meals. Single occupancy. Double occupancy available on request. \n\n\n\nMaximum participants: 13±
URL:https://hokyoji.org/event/just-sitting-retreat-fall-2/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20261030T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20261101T130000
DTSTAMP:20260902T141255Z
CREATED:20260106T194958Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260902T141255Z
UID:8887-1793361600-1793538000@hokyoji.org
SUMMARY:Caring for the Land - Fall
DESCRIPTION:TBD
URL:https://hokyoji.org/event/caring-for-the-land-fall/
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