Several times a month, typically on a Thursday evening or a Saturday afternoon, Dharma Rain Zen Center offers introductory workshops on Zen practice.
- Intro to Zen Meditation covers the essentials of zazen (sitting meditation).
- Starting A Practice describes how to bring zazen practice into daily life with an explanation of the forms used in the zendo and during services.
- Basic Buddhist Teachings introduces the basic teachings of Buddhism.
These workshops are open to all and offered free of charge (donations are gratefully accepted). You do not need to register. Our address is 8500 NE Siskiyou. The workshops are held in the Sodo (the large temple building at the end of the driveway on the left).
See the calendar below to find out when an introductory workshop you are interested in is scheduled.
More about Workshops and Classes …
Classes and Workshops Calendar
The class registration has now closed.
History Through Texts is one of the five required core classes in Part 1 of the Seminary Program. It meets weekly on Tuesdays as a group. Instruction is a combination of lecture and group discussion. Weekly reading assignments are required as are writing assignments. Students are often required to make a class presentation on a topic of their choosing.
Sosetsu will be teaching this class.
This class is open to enrolled seminary students as well as those not enrolled in seminary who can take it not-for-credit as a Dharma Studies student.
This Wednesday evening class series will be studying sutras. The Active Dharma Rain Teachers will be presenting some of their favorite teachings from the sutras, so there will be a lot of variety. At that, it will be only a taste of each sutra and a small sample of all of the sutras out there. Still, we hope to get into some depth and have some good discussion and an enhanced understanding of the richness of the teachings in Buddhism.
All Wednesday night classes are open to the public. There is no charge, though donations are gratefully accepted.
February 21 – Jiko leads off with What is a Sutra?
February 28 – Genko explores the Rhinoceros Sutra.
March 6 – Shin’yu leads a discussion of the Diamond Sutra.
March 13 – Flying Fish
March 20 – Hogetsu Rich Mitchell, Platform Sutra
March 27 – Tsuho, Satipatthana Sutta
April 3 – Jyoshin, Sutra of Golden Light
This class is in-person only, no Zoom option, though it is recorded. Audio files can be found here.
We meet on this schedule:
7-7:10pm Evening Service
7:10-7:40 Zazen
7:40-7:50 Tea, Announcements
7:50~9 Class
9-9:10 Vespers
The Starting a Practice workshop offers a way to cultivate insight by looking at our own actions in the light of the Buddhist Precepts. We also look at the forms used at Dharma Rain, including an explanation of the altar and other items found in the zendo (meditation hall), chanting, bowing, and other practices. Advance registration is not required.
For Zoom attendance, clicking the link brings up a form to provide your first name and email before joining the meeting.
This advanced study group will examine the first ten fascicles of Dogen’s Shobogenzo. Each week, a different member will lead the group discussion.
If you would like to join this study group, we ask that you:
-Be a Dharma Rain member
-Have Seminary or similar dharma study experience.
If you have any questions about the class or joining the class, please contact Tsuho at above email.
Required Text
Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo Book 1 and Book 2, translated by Gudo Nishijima and Chodo Cross, Published by Dogen Sangha, 1994
You can purchase the bound version, download the pdf , or borrow from the library.
Note: Participating in this study group does not count for seminary credit.
March 5 – Den-e (Transmission of the Robe)
March 19 – Sansuigyo (Sutra of Mountains and Water)
March 26 – Busso (The Buddhist Patriarchs) and Shisho (Certificate of Succession)
April 2 – Hokke-Ten-Hokke (Flower of Dharma Turns the Flower of Dharma)
April 16 – Shin-Fukatoku (Mind Cannot Be Grasped – The Former and The Latter)
April 23 – Kokyo (The Eternal Mirror)
April 30 – Kankin (Reading Sutras)
May 7 – Bussho (Buddha-nature)
May 14 – Gyobutsu-Yuigi (Dignified Behavior of Acting Buddha)
May 21 – Bukkyo (Buddha’s Teaching)
Registration (required) for the class closes March 3.
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This Wednesday evening class series will be studying sutras. The Active Dharma Rain Teachers will be presenting some of their favorite teachings from the sutras, so there will be a lot of variety. At that, it will be only a taste of each sutra and a small sample of all of the sutras out there. Still, we hope to get into some depth and have some good discussion and an enhanced understanding of the richness of the teachings in Buddhism.
All Wednesday night classes are open to the public. There is no charge, though donations are gratefully accepted.
February 21 – Jiko leads off with What is a Sutra?
February 28 – Genko explores the Rhinoceros Sutra.
March 6 – Shin’yu leads a discussion of the Diamond Sutra.
March 13 – Flying Fish
March 20 – Hogetsu Rich Mitchell, Platform Sutra
March 27 – Tsuho, Satipatthana Sutta
April 3 – Jyoshin, Sutra of Golden Light
This class is in-person only, no Zoom option, though it is recorded. Audio files can be found here.
We meet on this schedule:
7-7:10pm Evening Service
7:10-7:40 Zazen
7:40-7:50 Tea, Announcements
7:50~9 Class
9-9:10 Vespers
The Introduction to Zen Meditation workshop is designed for complete beginners, but it is also recommended for anyone who has not received instruction in the Soto Zen style of zazen. No previous experience is necessary.
This meeting is available both in person and online. Advance registration for attendance, whether in person or on Zoom is not required. Clicking the link for Zoom attendance will bring up a form to provide your first name and email before joining the meeting.
Kakumyo offers this Qigong workshop open tor beginners as well as advanced practitioners, and all the physical postures can be modified to fit individual needs or limitations.
We will focus on “the 14” (ie., the JinJing Gong Shi Si Shi), but do pieces of a few other forms as well. The goal is to have you leave with:
- an exposure to the types of breathing and basic postural principles
- a felt sense of what we mean by “tendon-meridian”
- basic introduction to a variety of qigong techniques (shaking, walking, standing, percussion, sound, visualization) that can be used to support vitality and transformation
- enough familiarity with the “14” and the “7” that you could practice on your own, (perhaps with the handout that will be provided)
The style is from the JinJing Gong lineage. Kakumyo is a fully authorized teacher, with 20 years of qigong practice. His teacher was Bill Frazier, who learned from Wang Shifu in China, whose teacher was Li Jie, a Taoist priest of the Quanzhen pai school, Longmen Pai sect.
The JinJing Gong lineage is small, based around Chengdu, China, but a practice community has sprung up around Portland, OR, over the last 20 years. This is a vigorous style of qigong, with a variety of different forms/sequences. It has martial, medical and contemplative roots, incorporating graceful movements, challenging breathing, detailed mindfulness, and other elements into the overall exercise.