Sangha day was a beautiful sunny day when members of the sangha gathered together for food, conversation and companionship. It was an excellent day! Thanks to all who made it possible.
Sangha Day 2026!
Our March One Day Retreat
Today we held our one day retreat for March at Northern Light. A good day to be present and practice. What is this? Who am I? Don’t know. We practiced all day and it was a good day of together action. Our next retreat is in April and it will be a half day Kido! Mark your calendar.
December 6th One Day Retreat.
Retreats are crucial for our spiritual growth because they offer a dedicated, distraction-free space (away from daily life) to intensely practice meditation (mindfulness, concentration), deepen understanding of the Dharma and ZM Seung Sahn’s teachings, cultivate compassion, and foster a stronger connection with what ZM Seung Sahn called Don’t Know Mind. This is difficult to do during our worldly busyness. A retreat provides necessary respite, helping us move from our mundane obligations to focused inner work, promoting clarity and spiritual transformation. Wake Up! Only Don’t Know.
Please join us for our next retreat, currently intended to be held on January 31st 2026.
A Successful Kido Retreat on the 25th!
A Kido Retreat is a special chanting retreat. This is the definition taken from the Kwan Um School Website.
Kido chanting retreats: Kidos consist primarily of chanting from 9:00am to 3:00pm with a break at noon for an informal lunch. We chant “Kwan Seum Bosal”, the Korean name for the bodhisattva of compassion, while sitting, standing and walking (similar to the special chanting that we do every evening at 6:30pm). Multi-day kidos follow the same schedule as a Yong Maeng Jong Jin, with chanting in place of sitting meditation. These retreats are suitable for beginners as well as experienced students.
At the Northern Light Zen Center we do Kido for a half day. The last Kido retreat was held at NLZC on the 25th! A great success.
September 27th retreat!
We had a retreat on the 27th of September. A good day with strong practice. Please join us for the next retreat, Oct 25th! That retreat will be a kido chanting retreat.
Precepts Ceremony and Sangha Picnic – August 9, 2025
Picture from our retreat on May 31.
We had a great retreat on May 31st! It was a good day with solid practice. Join us for our next retreat. A half day of extended practice on June 28th.
Join us for a One Day retreat on the 31st of May.
You are invited to join us for our May retreat to be held on May 31. Full or half day, in person or zoom. Please register here: Zeffy. Please contact northernlightzencenter@gmail.com if you have any questions.
Interviews will be given with Terry Cronin JDPSN. If we have a large enough group we will have a formal retreat meal. Please register! We look forward to seeing you.
Northern Light Zen Center March 29th Retreat!
We held a retreat on the 29th of March and it was very well attended. A wonder day of strong practice. If you would like to practice with us please send us an email. Check out the Events pages for our practice and retreat schedule! We like big retreats and we cannot lie! 🙂
Dharma Teacher Weekend at Providence Zen Center!
This past weekend, (10/18 – 10 /20) NLZC had a good turnout for the Dharma Teachers Weekend at PZC. Bill, Darren, Jay and Terry carpooled together. Nancy Hathaway traveled separately and Edie attended via Zoom. Close to 75 students were there from our Zen Centers throughout the country, with a good number more Zooming in. Everyone seemed so happy to see their Dharma friends, new and old, many back for the first time since the pandemic. There was no Dharma Teachers Weekend last year because the Whole World is a Single Flower conference was held in Korea last fall. So, this was the first gathering of Dharma Teachers since 2022, and it sure seemed like it had been eagerly awaited by many. Each day began with 108 prostrations followed by sitting meditation and the opportunity for kong-an interviews with many of the Zen Masters and Ji Do Poep Sas who were present. After breakfast, there was a morning plenary session followed by breakout workshops. Lunch, then more breakout workshops and another plenary session followed. This year’s theme was: Developing Compassion for Self and Other: Transforming Suffering Into Freedom. Plenary Sessions were: Mental Health Plenary: Explorations in Vulnerability and Tolerance; Healthy Boundaries Plenary–Ethical Awareness: Embodying the Role of Dharma Teacher; and, on Sunday, Plenary with Guest Speaker (Joan Hogetsu Hoebereichts, Roshi)–Empowering Sangha. Breakout sessions included: Trauma Informed Meditation Instructions; Giving a Dharma Talk; Women Zen Ancestors; Zen Practice and Meeting Emotional Difficulty; Gender Diversity/Queerness: Creating a Welcoming Sangha; Zen and Climate Change; and, Role Playing Leading a Consulting Interview. Credit belongs to everyone in attendance for creating a safe, nurturing space where these sensitive topics could be explored with deep and sincere personal sharing. The credentials and skill levels of all the presenters were outstanding. And the hard work was fueled by delicious, vegetarian meals. It seems fair to say many didn’t want the weekend to end. If you have further interest or questions about any of the topics, don’t hesitate to talk with any of our Sangha members who attended. More information is also available on the Kwan Um School Website, including the biographies of the presenters and copies of the handouts and articles used in their presentations. See https://americas.kwanumzen.org/dtw-2024
— Terry Cronin, JDPSN