Activities

Ongoing activities at Chan Meditation Center

Retreats at CMC and DDRC: 

Special Events

Sunday Open House:

Every Sunday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm 
(Except Jan. 25 for Lunar New Year Celebration)
Our Sunday Open Houses are for people to explore and join our various programs. Everyone is welcome to participate. Please call in advance or visit our website for information about topics and speakers for Sunday lectures.

• 10:00 - 11:00am   Sitting Meditation
• 11:00 - 12:30pm   Dharma talk
• 12:30 - 1:00pm     Lunch Offering & Announcements
• 1:00   - 1:45pm     Vegetarian Lunch ($5 donation requested)
• 2:00   - 4:00pm     Devotional chanting of the Lotus Sutra: Chapter 25 - "Universal Gateway"
  *The second Sunday of every month is devoted to the chanting of the Great Compassion Dharani.
  *The last Sunday of every month is devoted to the reciting of the Bodhisattva Precepts.

Monday Night Chanting:

Every Monday 7:30 - 9:15 pm. Free of charge.
Devotional chanting of Amitabha Buddha's name. 
Chanting of 88-Buddha's Names and Repentance on the last Monday of every month.

Tuesday Night Sitting:

Every Tuesday. 7:00 - 9:00 pm. Free of charge.
All who have previous experience in meditation are welcome. Activities include sitting and walking meditations, yoga exercises, chanting of the Heart Sutra, and group discussions of Chan Master Sheng Yen's books.

Thursday Night Tai Ji Quan Classes:

Thursday from 7:30 to 9:00 pm, All levels are welcome.
$80 (16 classes in total) or
$25 per month (4 weeks as a month).
First Thursday of the month is free for newcomers.
Translated literally, the Chinese word "Tai" means "great"; "Ji" means "origin"; and "Quan", "exercise" or "boxing with the hands". Tai Ji Quan is a gentle and relaxing form of Chinese traditional therapeutic exercise. Instructor: David Ngo.

Friday Night Movies & Mind

Friday, Feb. 6 / Mar. 06 / Apr. 03. / May 01
From 7:00 to 9:30 pm
02/06: What the Bleep Do We (K)now?
03/07: Into the Wild
04/03: Why has the Bodhidharma left for the East?
05/01: The Truman Show
Led by: Lindley Hanlon.

Saturday Sittings:

Every Saturday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Free of charge.
Open to all who have previous experience in meditation. Each half an hour sitting period is  interspersed with yoga or walking meditation. Participants may join and leave sittings between periods and sit for as many periods as they wish.

Meditation Classes

The classes on Buddhist meditation include instruction on methods of sitting, breathing, walking, sleeping, yoga exercises, self-massage, theories and obstacles in meditation, and stages of meditation. Total 10 hours, 2 Beginner and 1 Intermediate session.

2 Saturday Classes: 9:30 am to 12 noon (Beginner); 9:30 am to 3:00 pm (Intermediate)
Beginner ($40): Jan. 31 & Feb. 07; (1ed by Nancy Bonardi); Apr. 18 & 25 (1ed by Rebecca Li); July 18 & 25 (1ed by Dave Slaymaker)
Intermediate ($40): Feb. 14 (led by Rikki Asher); Mar. 7 from 12:30 - 4:30pm (led by Rikki Asher); May 2 (Led by Rebecca Li); Aug. 1 (led by Rikki Asher)
Classes open upon sufficient interest. Please call CMC (718)-592-6593 and sign up.

Dharma Classes

Dharma 101: Saturday, Mar. 7, 14, 21. Led by: Dave Slaymaker
From 9:30 to 11:30am.
The Four Noble Truths.

Retreats at CMC

Apply directly to CMC:
Visit website: www.chancenter.org  or  www.ddmusa.org or
E-Mail: ddmbaus@yahoo.com or 
Contact CMC, Queens NY at (718)-592-6593.

1-Day Chan Meditation Retreat

Saturday, Feb. 28, May 16 (Led by Nancy Bonardi);
From 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Please arrive before 8:30 am.
An opportunity for serious practitioners to sustain their practice and receive guidance from the resident teachers.
This retreat is open to people who have taken the Beginner's Meditation Classes or already have an established meditation practice.
Pre-registration is required. $25 donation.

1-Day Recitation Retreat

Saturday, Apr. 4
From 9:30 am to 5:00 pm
Please arrive before 9:00 am.
Intensive practice in recitation, prostration, sitting, chanting gathas in praise of Buddha, and dedications.

3-Day Recitation Retreat

Intensive practice in recitation, prostration, sitting, chanting gathas in praise of Buddha, and dedications. Pre-registration is required. $75 donation.

Retreats at DDRC

Please call, write or register online from the DDRC website and apply at least two months in advance. A letter of acceptance will be sent out prior to the retreat via mail or email. http://www.dharmadrumretreat.org/ Email: ddrc@dharmadrumretreat.org Tel.: (845)-744-8114 Fax: (845)-744-8483

Chan Meditation for Young People

Aug. 12 - 15 (Wed. - Sat.) A Summer Meditation Retreat for Self-Discovery:
Open to beginners and non-beginners

Aug. 15 - 18 (Sat. - Tue.) Chan Meditation Summer Retreat:
Open to people with basic meditation experience

The Chan retreat is $40 for students with ID and $120 for non-students.

Discover yourself and tap into your hidden potential. Gain a better understanding of yourself through self-realization. Take some time to recharge your mental and physical batteries.
Put everything aside, and just find peace by being present with yourself and the world around you.
Return to your life, and find the same peace of silent meditation in daily activity.

To Register: Print the Application Form and send to CMC before August 1!

Weekend Meditation Retreat for College Students

Apr. 10 - 13 (Fri. evening - Sun. evening)

The Chan retreat is $25 not including transportation.

A Degree in Doing Nothing
Led by Ven. Chang Wen, monastic disciple of the late Chan Master Sheng Yen
By emptying the mind of stress, tension, anxiety, and worries, you can discover that peace of mind is possible at any moment. Return to a full schedule of academic workóyet, maintain this calm and clarity.
This is an ideal introduction to the retreat experience. Workshops in sitting meditation and other mindfulness practices will be offered, and the flexible daily schedule allows you to determine the "intensity" of your retreat.
For practitioners who already have a regular practice (or who are trying to have a regular practice!), the retreat is an excellent opportunity to re-energize your daily sitting and mindfulness practices.
The daily schedule includes periods of sitting and chanting meditation, yoga, mindful work practice, and Dharma talks.
Optional activities include: The Art of Sitting, The Art of Walking, The Art of Questioning, The Art of Self-Massage, The Art of Perception, and The Art of Listening.

Recitation Retreat

Intensive practice in recitation, prostration, sitting, chanting gatha in praise of Buddha, and dedications of merit.
Please arrive at DDRC 6:00 pm.

7-Day Recitation Retreat

For more information, please visit our website: www.chancenter.org or www.ddmusa.org
e-Mail: ddmbaus@yahoo.com
Please arrive at DDRC before 6:00 pm.

Intensive Chan Retreats

An opportunity to deepen our practice, enhance self-reflection and look into the meaning of our lives. Intensive retreats ranging from 5 days, 7 days, 10days and longer. These retreats are open to practitioners who have taken a formal meditation class and have subsequently practiced for at least one year. The retreats will be held at DDRC in upstate New York. Call or write to request an application form, or download an application form directly from our website.

For more information, please visit our website or email us:
website: http://www.dharmadrumretreat.org
email: ddrc@dharmadrumretreat.org

5-Day Western Zen Retreat

Open equally to beginners and established trainees. This simple retreat designed for Westerners enables the practitioner to face the major paradox - Who am I? - The question is investigated within a framework of silent Chan sitting, alternated with a tested Communication Exercise in which people work in pairs to explore this fundamental Koan. The intensive focus drives each practitioner into a self presentation that is difficult to experience in other ways. Practitioners are supported through this process by regular personal interviews with the teachers, interviews being offered most days and sometimes more than once per day. The outcome may be a profound journey through the unity of self, and the acceptance of self, to "self at ease". This may possibly lead further to a direct insight into the ground of being. Participants share a rich experience in new self knowledge, understanding others and the human condition.

This western Chan method is not psychotherapy or psychology. It simply makes use of words to go beyond words and thereby enter the main gate of Chan.

The design of the retreat includes multiple private interviews with the teachers. To ensure that each participant receives adequate attention, this retreat is limited to 20 participants. So please apply early.

To learn more about the Western Zen Retreat, please download the audio files of Simon Child's talks and retreat reports written by people who have been to this retreat by visiting www.dharmadrumretreat.org.

Special Retreat by Dr. John Crook, Dharma Heir of Chan Master Sheng Yen

7-Day Koan Retreat

May 23 - 30 (Sat. 6:00pm to Sat. 10:00am)

This retreat is led by both Dr. John Crook, a dharma heir of Ven. Master Sheng Yen, and Dr. Simon Child.

Click to get more information about the retreat and to register for the retreat.

10-Day Huatou Retreat

June 19 - June 28 (Fri. 5:00 pm - Sun. 10:00 am)

Nov. 27 - Dec. 6 (Fri. 5:00 pm - Sun. 10:00 am)

Please arrive at DDRC 5:00 pm.

7, 14-Day Silent Illumination Retreat

July 18 - July 25 (Sat. 10:00 am - Sat. 4:00 pm)

July 25 - Aug. 1 (Sat. 5:00 pm - Sat. 10:00 am)

Dec. 26 - Jan. 3, 2010 (Fri. 5:00 pm - Sun. 10:00 am)

Please arrive at DDRC 5:00 pm.

Special Events

Lunar New Year Celebration

Sunday, Jan. 25 from 11:00 am to 3:30 pm. 

A Mind at Peace, a Life at Peace
Chinese New Year Services

As long as your mind is at peace, your life will be at peace

In response to the current instability of our global environment, the Most Venerable Master Sheng Yen has marked 2009 as the year of "A Mind at Peace, a Life at Peace". Hence, the Chan Meditation Center will hold two New Year services to pray for world peace and happiness. These services are to prepare us to enjoy a new year of peace and Dharma joy with peaceful, steady minds, at the same time, the Most Venerable Master Ren Jun and Venerable Guo Xing will be giving a talk and blessing.

Buddha's Birthday Celebration

Sunday, May 3, from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm.

The Program:
09:30 - 11:00 Buddha's Birthday Chanting
11:00 - 12:30 Dharma Talk by Master Ren Jun
12:30 - 02:00 Vegetarian Lunch
02:00 - 04:00 Buddha's Birthday Celebration Screening of "Little Buddha", Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
All are welcome. Admission is free.

Great Compassion Dharani Repentance Service at CMC

Second Sunday of every month from 2:00 to 4:00 pm
Recitation of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvaras Dharani and Vows of compassion.
We invite you to join us to bring about the joy and hope of beginning anew.

Earthstore Bodhisattva Sutra Recitation

Sunday Apr. 5, from 9:30 am - 3:30 pm
Recitation of The Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha's Fundamental Vows.
Merits are transferred to the deceased and blessings for the living.
Please arrive at CMC before 9:15 am.
Click here for application form.

Family Zen Camp at DDRC

Special Presentation

Chan Master Sheng Yen's T.V. Program

"Zen & Inner Peace"
Sunday from 12:30 to 1:00 pm on CTI Cable station.
Donations are welcome!!!!

NY:
• Manhattan, Queens, Woodside - RCN cable, channel 138
• Glens Falls, Norwich, Saranac Lake - Comcast cable, channel 190

NJ:
• East Windsor, Union - Comcast cable, channel 660
• Monmouth - Comcast cable, channel 252
• Paramus NCTC-US Cable 229
• Hillsborough, Princeton Patriot Media 138

CT:
• New Haven - Comcast cable, channel 635
• Groton - Groton Utilities cable, channel 229

Please contact CMC for more information.

Prayer Service for the Deceased

Chan Master Sheng Yen said "The prayer service for the deceased is an adorned Buddhist ceremony"
The purpose of forming the prayer group is to care for our members and their families and friends, and to advocate the Buddhist Service for the Deceased. We welcome and encourage all our members to join this group.