Training in the Mountains and Rivers Order

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Training in the Mountains and Rivers Order is open to everyone. It ranges from participation in a weekend retreat at the Monastery or one of the affiliates to becoming a formal student. It includes both lay and monastic paths.

The vitality of Zen training relies on the integration of spiritual practice with daily life. Within the Order, students, residents and retreat participants engage the Eight Gates of Zen, a training matrix that reaches back to the Buddha's teachings on the Eightfold Path. Through zazen, study with a teacher, academic study, liturgy, right action, art practice, body practice, and work practice, each practitioner can discover in the world and at the Monastery opportunities to realize and actualize the perennial wisdom of Zen in their lives.

Each year is organized into quarterly training periods, which include Spring and Fall 90-day intensives (Ango). Each month, an introductory Zen Training Weekend is held at the Monastery, offering a wonderful way to find out about Zen and experience training first hand. Also, every month of the year offers a weeklong meditation intensive (sesshin) at the Monastery. There are also monthly day-long zazen intensives at the Zen Center of New York City and affiliated groups.

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For those wishing to deepen their commitment to practice, the Order provides specific paths of training: becoming a formal lay student, receiving the Zen Buddhist Precepts, or making a life-long commitment to a monastic life.