Events for February 28 - April 22, 2022

with Tuere Sala

Saturday, April 24th 2021 from 9:00am - 4:00pm ET

Have you ever wondered, "What is nirvana?" Is it something concrete or some elusive concept about the afterlife? Is nirvana, sometimes called awakening, even possible? During this daylong, we will explore this nirvana by looking deeper at the 3rd Noble Truth. We will look at why it is so important in today’s urban world to practice towards awakening.

with Joan Griffiths Vega

Sunday, April 25th, Wednesday, April 28th, Sunday May 2nd, 2021 from 10:30am - 12:30pm ET each day

Acute or chronic pain needs a multifaceted approach to minimize its domination. In our time together we will explore the ways to turn towards the pain with kindness and curiosity to reduce the pain. When acceptance of pain is present, the exhausting war stops. New choices arise.

with Peter Doobinin

Thursdays, June 3rd-24th from 6:00pm - 7:30pm ET

As the Buddha came to discover, we have to learn to establish a skillful relationship to pleasure if dharma practice is going to thrive and if we’re going to know happiness in life. In this three-hour class, we’ll learn about skillful pleasure, what it is, how we cultivate it, and why there’s such great benefit in doing so.

with Jill Satterfield

Saturday, June 12th, 2021 from 1:00pm - 4:00pm ET

Join Jill Satterfield for an online program exploring the physical embodiment of thoughts and feelings and how we can respond without getting caught up in a story or discursive thinking.

with Bhante Suddhaso

Sunday, June 20th, 2021 from 9:00am - 11:00am ET

In celebration of LGBTQ Pride Month, Buddhist monk Bhante Suddhaso will share some reflections on how to recognize and uproot shame while sowing seeds of pride and appreciation for our wholesome qualities of mind.

with Bodhipaksa

Thursdays, July 8th - July 29th, 2021 from 7:00pm - 8:30pm ET

Drawing on lessons from life, the Buddhist tradition, and neuroscience, Bodhipaksa offers a four-step approach to the practice of self-compassion during this special four-week online course to sustain us during times of suffering and help us to deepen the compassion we offer not just to ourselves, but to others as well.

with Joseph Goldstein and Gail Stark

Tuesday, July 13th, 2021 from 7:00pm-8:30pm ET 

Join Joseph Goldstein and Gail Stark for a free online evening in conclusion of their yearlong course as they discuss the 10 Paramis, talk about their view of the process a year later, and hear students ask questions and share their insights after a year of wholehearted practice.

with Bhante Suddhaso

Sunday, July 18th, 2021 from 9:00am - 11:00am ET

Join Buddhist monk Bhante Suddhaso for a discussion of the step-by-step path the Buddha laid for spiritual growth, a path that leads onwards to the highest goal.

with Oren Jay Sofer

Saturday, July 24th, 2021 from 10:00am - 1:30pm ET

What role does devotion play on the Buddhist path? How can we understand and cultivate this quality in a direct and meaningful way in our lives? This half-day program will explore these and other questions related to devotion and its role in contemplative practice.

with karen g. williams, Peace Twesigye, and Kiki Williams

Friday, July 30th, 2021 from 6:30pm - 8:30pm ET
Saturday, July 31st, 2021 from 11:00am - 5:00pm ET
Sunday, August 1st, 2021 from 11:00am - 1:00pm ET (optional)

Do to unforeseen circumstances, this program will be postponed to a later date. We will be in touch with all program registrants to give a refund or credit. We apologize for any inconvenience.

with Rev. Duncan Ryuken Williams

Wednesday, August 4th 2021 from 7:00pm - 8:30pm ET

Rev. Duncan Ryuken Williams draws on Buddhist teachings to offer a perspective that can heal the karmic legacy of racial violence, division, and trauma of the United States. He will offer insight from the history and lived experiences of Asian American Buddhist ancestors who built the foundations of the American sangha.

with Devon Hase

Three Wednesdays, September 1st, 15th & 29th, 2021 from 7:00pm-8:30pm ET

Through small group practice, stories, silent meditation, and mindful speaking and listening, we’ll explore the multi-faceted world of relational mindfulness, including embodied awareness, the art of radical self-acceptance, and the possibility of finding freedom right in the middle of the tangle and dance of day-to-day relating.

with Ralph De La Rosa

Saturday, September 4th, 2021 from 1:00pm - 5:00pm ET

Whether it's falling in love, surviving a pandemic, claiming your identity, having a child, re-entering society, or having a difficult conversation... life throws us into vulnerable and uncertain situations over and over again. Join author and psychotherapist Ralph De La Rosa for a half day workshop exploring how to meet the challenges we face in this unique moment and excavate them for awakening.

with Martin Aylward

Saturday, September 11th, 2021 from 10:00am - 1:00pm, ET

During this program we will explore how to wisely and lovingly respond to our own and others’ suffering, and contemplate the traditional Buddhist ’triple gem’ of refuge as a way to steady, gladden and liberate the heart, amidst the ongoing and infinite challenges of our imperfect and unperfectable world.

with Lin Wang Gordon and Jon Aaron

Saturday, September 11th, 2021 from 2:00pm–5:00pm

For this month's Sacred Earth Sangha meeting, we will have a special gathering in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn as we cultivate relationships with our personal genealogical ancestors as well as practice reflections and meditations that touch the truth of the whole of nature as "all my relations."

with Gary Singer

Wednesdays, September 15th - October 20th, 2021 from 10:00am - 12:00pm ET

The ten perfections (paramis) are ten qualities of character which support both your practice and your compassionate involvement in the world, whether you’re working with your family at home, at the office, or on the cushion. In this 6 week course, we’ll investigate the paramis with an emphasis on how we can bring them practically into our lives.

with Jon Aaron and Elaine Retholtz

Thursday, September 16th 2021 from 10:00am – 7:00pm ET

Yom Kippur is the Jewish Day of Atonement, a day when, as a community, Jews are asked to reflect on their actions of the past year and to ask for atonement for any actions that were unskillful. In support of this day, NYI hosts an online day of silence and reflection.

with Bodhipaksa

Thursday, September 16th 2021 from 7:00pm - 8:30pm ET

There’s no way to instantly forgive ourselves. It takes time and practice. But on this evening with Bodhipaksa we’ll explore several powerful tools, drawn from Buddhist teachings, to help us let go, move on, and be more at peace with ourselves.

with Peter Doobinin

Saturday, September 18th, 2021 from 10:00am - 1:00pm ET

In this program, we’ll learn about the qualities, in the teaching of the Buddha, that comprise our inner worth. We’ll learn how we develop these qualities and about the benefits in doing so.

with Scott Tusa

Saturday, September 18th, 2021 from 2:00pm - 5:00pm ET

In this online workshop, we will dive deep into transformational embodied awareness practices that engage a unified and joyful loving presence. Through periods of meditation and discussion we will explore and develop our connection to a calmer, more resilient, and interconnected state of being and learn how to move beyond the self-fragmentation that causes unnecessary suffering.

with Bhante Sumitta

Sunday, September 19th, 2021 from 9:00am - 11:00am ET

What do you get when you combine kindness and mindfulness? Kindfulness! Bhante Sumitta, a senior monk from Sri Lanka, explains how to cultivate "kindfulness" and why it's a critical part of Buddhist practice.

with Elaine Retholtz

Mondays, September 20th - October 25th, 2021 from 9:30am - 11:30m ET

Forgiveness can allow us to come more fully into our hearts and can be a catalyst that transforms bitterness, anger, and grief into compassion and lovingkindness. Join us for an online course examining forgiveness and how to heal our relationships with others, ourselves and the past.

with Tara Mulay

Saturday, October 2nd, 2021 from 10:00am - 2:00pm ET

During this practice period together, we will explore the conditions that progressively lead to awakening. When we practice mindfulness with these as our foundation, we begin to develop a sense of empowerment based on an initial confidence in the practice, which leads to joy and stillness.

with Bodhipaksa

Wednesdays, October 6th - October 27th, 2021 from 7:00pm - 8:30pm ET

On each of the four evenings of this course, Buddhist teacher Bodhipaksa will explore one of the myths that bind us to resentment and keep us mired in the suffering it causes. He will also offer tools and perspectives for finding our way to peace and forgiveness.

with Walt Opie

Thursday, November 18th, 2021 from 7:00pm - 9:00pm ET

The very purpose of cultivating mindfulness is to enable us to see the impermanent nature of things--their arising and passing away--directly in our own experience. This leads to the liberating understanding that there really is nothing worth clinging to because everything will inevitably change.

with Lin Wang Gordon

Sunday, November 28th, 2021 from 10:00am - 3:00pm ET

Enjoy the magnificent fall foliage in the peaceful beauty of the Hudson Valley with a guided, meditative hike to connect with nature and ourselves.

with Dr. Eliot Tokar

Thursday, December 9th, 2021 from 7:00pm - 9:00pm ET

Tibetan medicine provides the modern world with an enormous wealth of accumulated information regarding health and healthcare, contextualized within a Buddhist perspective that becomes even more relevant as we face this watershed moment in public health worldwide.

with Bodhipaksa

Saturday, December 11th, 2021 from 9:30am - 1:00pm ET

On this half-day retreat, Bodhipaksa will introduce us to what it means to practice “wise self-care,” so that in forgiving others we don’t inadvertently invite them to behave in ways that are harmful to us.

with Ayya Soma

Sunday, December 19th, 2021 from 9:00am - 11:00am ET

During this talk, Buddhist monk Ayya Soma will share some verses and stories of enlightened bhikkhunis and eminent lay disciples from the time of the Buddha. These stories provide inspiration and guidance for our own practice of attaining awakening.

Friday, December 31st, 2021 from 9:00pm - 12:15am ET

We are excited to present this evening, including meditation, chanting, time for silence and connection, time to set intentions for the new year, and our wonderful surprise ending in which all are invited to participate.

with Mona Chopra

Saturday, January 8th, 2022 from 10:00am - 2:00pm ET

Similar to what we observe in the natural world, the winter offers us a precious time to connect with the deeper layers of our experience, our consciousness, our being - to tend to the vast depths of the ocean underlying the surface waves of our experience. This half day retreat will support us in opening up to these depths within as we move into the new year.

with Peter Doobinin

Saturday, January 15th, 2022 from 10:00am - 1:00pm ET

As we make our way along the path to a greater happiness, it’s essential that we learn to practice acceptance. In this three-hour class, we’ll learn about the skill for developing acceptance, in meditation practice and in life.

with Ayya Soma

Sunday, January 16th, 2022 from 9:00am - 11:00am ET

Buddhist monastic Ayya Soma will discuss the purpose of precepts and explore the difference between letting go and deprivation.

with Nikki Mirghafori

Thursday, January 20th, 2022 from 6:00pm - 8:00pm ET

The Buddha advised all practitioners, lay and monastic alike, to engage with the Five Daily Reflections. The more we welcome these five friends into our awareness, the more they shake us out of complacency of wasting time, motivate us to live aligned with our values, open our hearts in generosity and letting go, keep us from falling into the trap of self-pity, moisten our hearts in compassion for ourselves and others, and more.

with Patricia Mushim Ikeda

Thursday, January 27th, 2022 from 7:00pm - 9:00pm ET

Our worlds have changed completely in the last two years. How can social justice-informed mindfulness practices help us regain a sense of wholeness and daily well being in a deeply wounded and polarized society and world? How can self-healing and community-healing be understood as two ways of describing the same thing that is needed to go forward? During this evening with Patricia Mushim Ikeda, we'll explore these inquiries, and more, together.