For more information on program and registration, please visit the festival site here.
This event is open to Smith College students, faculty and staff, and to vaccinated members of the public.
More information coming soon.
Buddhist traditions have sometimes characterized the dharma—the teachings of the Buddha—as beyond the realm of language and thought. If this is so, then why have so many Buddhists articulated their understanding of the dharma through literature, in poetry, discourses, plays, and fiction? Might the transformed modes of perception described in doctrinal texts be experienced through literature, through deeply engaging literary texts that blur boundaries between the imaginary, the representational, and the real? Join Ruth Ozeki, Zen Buddhist priest and novelist, and Francisca Cho, professor and one of the most prominent contemporary scholars on Buddhism and literature, as together, they explore emptiness and form, and the many ways that reading and writing literature can teach the dharma.
Dharma talks take place on Wednesday evenings. Please see the meditation schedule for details. No registration required. Click here for live stream – streaming will begin shortly before 5:30 p.m. Mountain Time. Event will start with a 15 minute silent sitting meditation. To review the Online Zendo FAQ, click here.
Join poet Norman Fischer and novelist Ruth Ozeki for a unique writing retreat based in Zen meditation, deep wisdom, and the path toward the greater good. Both teachers are Zen priests, and the retreat itself will consist of workshops, feedback, and time apart for solitary reflection and work. All levels of meditators and writers are welcome.
For more information and registration details, please visit The Garrison Institute website.
This series will bring four eminent writers whose work explores or is inflected by themes deriving from Buddhism to Smith and the Five Colleges for one to two week visits to share their ideas and practice with our students, faculty and the wider community.
Each visitor will stay for one to two weeks and each will:
Present a public lecture;
Give a public reading from her or his writing;
Offer a faculty session of a Smith College Kahn Liberal Arts Institute short-term project to be distributed over the four visits;
Offer a student seminar, with credit available to students who participate in all four classes with visiting writers and some supplementary sessions and who register for a Buddhist Studies Program special studies course;
Present work at a meeting of the Five College Buddhist Studies Faculty Seminar;
Make class visits.
*Public Reading at Amherst College, Workshops & Seminars at Amherst College
Wednesday, November 7, 7:30 p.m., public reading from her work, Frost Library, CHI Think Tank, Amherst College
Saturday, November 10, 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m., faculty seminar/workshop, Kahn Institute.
Monday, November 12, 5 p.m., public lecture, Seelye 201: "The Contemplative "I": Zen and the Art of Autobiographical Fiction"
Wednesday, November 14, 7–9 p.m., student seminar, Dewey Common
Thursday, November 15, 5:30–7 p.m., Five College Buddhist Studies Faculty Seminar, Philosophy Lounge, Dewey
For more information, please visit Smith College Buddhist Studies page.
A full weekend of events celebrating this historic milestone. Activities will include talks by two Zen Masters visiting from Japan, a keynote address by noted astrophysicist Adam Frank, readings by authors Ruth Ozeki and Larry Shainberg, and an all-day sit. An exhibit of important historical documents related to ZSS and the establishment of Zen in America will also be on view.
Ruth Ozeki's event will be held on Saturday 9/15 at 2:00 PM.
For full schedule, more information, and tickets, please click here.
Sunday Practice will include sitting meditation (zazen), walking meditation (kinhin), a Dharma talk given by Ruth Ozeki, and a brief Zen service (liturgy). Newcomers are welcome.
For full schedule and further details, please visit the Seattle Soto Zen website.