Apr
23
to Apr 27

The Energy of Wakefulness: Overcoming Obstacles Along the Path

  • Google Calendar ICS

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to announce our 2025 Spring Retreat! 

Flint Sparks, Open Door Zen Community’s (ODZC) guiding teacher will be here in person, along with Suzanne Kilkus, our resident teacher, to lead The Energy of Wakefulness: Overcoming Obstacles Along the Path, April 23-27.

The retreat begins on Wednesday evening and is the essential dharma gate for the teachings of the entire retreat. It creates the container that our shared practice ensures. 

There will be two ceremonies during the retreat, Chris Eckerman’s Head Student exit ceremony and a teacher entrustment ceremony for Kim Neuschel. There will also be a Jukai ceremony on Sunday following the retreat. Any special accommodations for the ceremonies will be included in the final details email.

For registration details go to the ODZC Retreat page. 

Residential fees are additional, and arrangements are made directly with Holy Wisdom Monastery. 

Please see the flier for how to make your room reservation. Rooms are reserved for ODZC participants until March 23 at 5p. Any remaining rooms will be released to the general public after that.

Our current Covid and Respiratory Illness Policy and Cancellation Policy are on the ODZC website. Registrants will be notified if there are any changes to the Covid and Respiratory Illness Policy. 

We look forward to being together,

Open Door Zen Community Retreat Committee
Bonnie S, Cathy S, Julie, Kathleen, Mary Grace, and Zenshin Suzanne, Resident Teacher

Important dates:
March 23 - guest rooms are released to the general public 
April 8  - in person registration closes at 5p
April 20 - online registration closes at 5p

View Event →
Mar
20
7:00 PM19:00

Becoming a Larger Container for Life with Flint Sparks

Becoming a Larger Container for Life

“Are you becoming a larger container for life?” —Joko Beck

Calling on the wisdom of the late American Zen teacher Joko Beck and the Zen Buddhist tradition, Flint will speak to what it means to become a larger container for life – to open up to more.

Specifically, he’ll invite us to contemplate Beck’s poetic version of the 4 Noble Truths*, especially “Each moment, life as it is, the only teacher.” We’ll explore how accepting life as it is can make room for more life to flow to and through you.

No previous experience with Buddhist teachings or practices is required. This is an opportunity to explore our theme “There is More in This Life” from a Zen perspective and leave with a fresh spirit, more interior space to breathe, and a new way of engaging with life as it is. Join us!

*Note: “The Four Noble Truths are the Buddha’s basic teaching. These truths encapsulate the goal, practice, and philosophy of of Buddhism. These famed four truths provide a framework for understanding the nature of suffering and the path to liberation from it.” —Lion’s Roar, (edited)

LOCATION: Virtually: (via Zoom)

TIME: 7:00pm-8:30pm Central

 FEE: $45 per person, partial scholarships available.

TICKETS: https://www.eremos.org/event/becoming-a-larger-container-for-life/

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Dec
17
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube and Soundcloud. If you would not like your session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →
Dec
3
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube and Soundcloud. If you would not like your session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →
Nov
26
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube and Soundcloud. If you would not like your session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →
Nov
19
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube and Soundcloud. If you would not like your session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →
Nov
5
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube and Soundcloud. If you would not like your session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →
Oct
29
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube and Soundcloud. If you would not like your session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →
Oct
18
to Oct 20

Just This Zen Community

  • Google Calendar ICS

Autumn in Person Retreat with Evenings Online 
Registration
More information: https://justthiszen.org/retreats-events/

Led by Josh Gifford and Trudy Johnston
with Flint Sparks online from Hawaii in the evening

3 Days: Friday 18th - Sunday 20th October 2024
with Flint Sparks online from Hawaii in the evening

Let the beauty we love be what we do
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don’t open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
― Rumi

View Event →
Oct
15
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube and Soundcloud. If you would not like your session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →
Oct
10
to Oct 12

The Koan of Your Life: Living Encounters and Awakening Now 

This is the only retreat Flint Sparks will be teaching in person for the remainder of 2024. Contact: awakeningtogethermn@gmail.com or Website: https://www.awakeningtogetherzen.org/ for more infomation.

Register here: https://www.awakeningtogetherzen.org/events/2024FallRetreat

The retreat will be held in person in St. Paul, MN and online.  

The retreat takes place October 10-12, from 8-5 daily. 

Here is the retreat description:

The Zen path describes itself with a fourfold phrase:

A distinct transmission beyond collected teachings,

Not established on words and language.

Directly pointing to the heartmind,

Encounter original nature and enact awake awareness—Be Buddha!

The path to wakefulness and liberation is relational—relating to oneself, with one another, with teachers. And with the objects, circumstances, and actions of everyday living. We can bring forth inherent freedom in each moment, relating and responding to life as it is, with natural wisdom and spontaneous compassion. Giving ourselves fully in this way, we can encounter, recognize, enact, and reveal what Zen calls our “original nature.”

The Zen tradition has handed down to us scraps of story which serve as encouraging evidence that this kind of relational awakening and living is possible. These enlightening stories are poetic distillations that reveal—and can offer to us—moments of liberating realization. Teachers present these encounter dialogues as skillful means to tease and invite the mind and heart to loosen the grip on habitual hindrances. Engaging these stories helps us meet life with free- flowing immediacy. But first they help us see where we are stuck in our conditioned answers to life. And where we are stuck is precisely where we encounter and realize freedom.

In this retreat, we’ll meet four of these stories and the fourfold phrase of Zen above. We’ll plunge into this way of relating through zazen and other Zen forms of moving, living, and loving together. We’ll enact it through silence and through dharma teaching, discussion, and activity.

Please join us as we encounter it together.

View Event →
Oct
8
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube and Soundcloud. If you would not like your session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →
Oct
1
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube and Soundcloud. If you would not like your session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →
Aug
27
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube and Soundcloud. If you would not like your session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →
Aug
20
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube and Soundcloud. If you would not like your session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →
Aug
13
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube and Soundcloud. If you would not like your session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →
Aug
6
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube and Soundcloud. If you would not like your session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →
Jul
22
to Jul 26

Growing Up and Waking Up: Applied Mindfulness in Psychotherapy and Buddhist Practice

  • Google Calendar ICS

15-Hour Course
Flint Sparks, PhD
Monday-Friday: 9:00 am to 12:30 pm EDT / 30-Minute Break Daily

Course Description and Link for Registration

Course Description:

Everyone wants to be free from unnecessary suffering. This was the Buddha’s only concern and every practice he taught served to encourage the liberation of a clear mind and a warm heart. The relief of emotional suffering is also the focus of contemporary psychotherapy and the wide range of techniques now available all serve this important goal. How are we, then, to understand these ancient mindfulness practices alongside the new and very potent methods for emotional and relational healing? Both approaches are profoundly transformative and when skillfully woven together they pave the way for increased vitality and a deeper sense of peace, freeing the burden of unnecessary suffering. Such an integrated approach shows us how to grow up and wake up to who and what we truly are. This week will be geared toward understanding the function of mindfulness as the core practice that links both paths to greater wellbeing. Each day we will explore these integrated teachings and actively engage in mindful practices to experientially taste their potential.

Throughout the week we will explore the foundational Buddhist teachings on mindfulness found in the Sattipathana Sutra. We will also be drawing heavily on two methods of contemporary psychotherapy — Hakomi and Internal Family Systems. These remarkably skillful approaches weave together applied mindfulness with an understanding of the multiplicity of mind in ways that reveal the Buddha’s teachings as practical tools for personal and relational transformation. We will examine the ways in which our everyday sense of “self” emerges and is sustained, how the contraction of conditioning leads to unnecessary suffering, how assisted self-discovery in mindfulness opens us beyond our habits toward greater possibilities for freedom, and how being led from the deepest source of wisdom and compassion supports practical human maturity. Along with reviewing the foundations of these two therapeutic models, our investigation will touch on perspectives from child development, attachment theory, interpersonal neurobiology, and contemplative psychology. Ultimately, we will investigate the ways that attention to relationality and mutual care opens the way to a life of freedom and joy.

View Event →
Jul
9
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube and Soundcloud. If you would not like your session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →
Jun
25
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube. If you would not like your video session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →
Jun
18
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube. If you would not like your video session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →
May
28
12:30 PM12:30

Inquiry with Flint Sparks

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83387135210
Meeting ID: 83387135210

12:30 - 1:30 PM Central time

Inquiry is an opportunity to ask practice questions and open to the Great Mystery in a supportive practice environment. In this open and intimate group setting, we can learn from each other and learn with each other by engaging the teacher in the questions and issues we are wrestling with in our practice of everyday living. Everyone is welcome.

Inquiry is held via Zoom and audio/video recordings are made of the sessions. These recordings are placed on a public channel on YouTube. If you would not like your video session to be posted please send a message to coordinator@appamada.org and we’ll remove it.

Appamada and Flint are supported by your generosity. Thank you for contributing to keep bringing these teachings to the world.

Contributions to Appamada: https://appamada.org/contribute

Contributions for Flint:: https://syverson.wufoo.com/forms/zhqpsfl0610vzn/

View Event →