All-day Sittings begin Saturday night at 7:30 PM, continuing on Sunday, 6 AM until 5 PM. Orientation on Saturday includes instruction in the oryoki meal form and assignments. The day will include zazen, a Dharma Talk, Dokusan and a work period, as well as breakfast and lunch.
It is alright to sit half of the day, but please sign up in advance, and please speak to Josho or Zenki if this is your first All-day Sitting. The suggested donation is $15 for members, and $25 for others; however, if you are inclined to offer more, that would be very helpful in maintaining the Zen Center. Oryoki sets are available for use by those who do not have their own, and a $5 donation is appreciated. Please sign up at info@chzc.org by the Wednesday before. For more information on the oryoki meal form see www.kannondo.org/i-am-new/oryoki.
Silent Outdoor Half-day Sitting
Saturday, January 31, 6 AM to 12:15 PM
Please bring a bag breakfast which you can either keep at your place or store in the Annex fridge. Coffee and tea will be available on the back deck. For more information or to sign up, please email info@chzc.org. If you would like to join us for only a portion of the morning, please let us know when signing up. There is no charge, but donations are appreciated.
Children’s Program
Sundays from 8:50 to 10:30 AM
The Zen Center’s Children’s Program offers children three years and older a place in the Zen Center sangha through a variety of activities, including meditation, story, craft, song, and movement, as well as participation in Zen Center events and celebrations throughout the year. In each meeting, the children have the space and time to practice living mindfully and learn about Buddhist teachings and contexts while giving their guardians an opportunity to meditate in the concurrent adult program.
Beginning January 4th, the Children’s Program will meet weekly on Sunday mornings from 8:50 until 10:30 except when there is an All-Day Sitting, Sesshin, or other large gathering at the Center. For more information, please con-tact Will Savery or Edward Markus, the program co-coordinators, at chzckidsprogram@gmail.com.
Dharma Talks
Josho Pat Phelan Roshi
Sundays, January 18 and February 8 at 10:30 AM
Daigaku Rummé
Sunday, February 22 at 10:30 AM
Talk follow two perdiods of zazen at 9 and 9:50 AM. Everyone is warmly invited to join us for all or any part of the morning program.
Formless Record of the Transmission of Illumination or the Denkoroku
Workshop Led by Daigaku Rummé
Saturday, February 21, 8:30 AM- 5:30 PM
This weekend will include zazen and talks by Daigaku Rummé on Keizan Zenji’s Denkoroku through the lens of a commentary by Inoue Gien Roshi (1894-1981), Daigaku’s grandfather in the Dharma, and a Soto Zen master.
Long overshadowed by Master Dogen and his works, the Denkoroku was scarcely known to the Japanese public until the mid-20th century. It consists of Master Keizan Zenji’s fifty-three talks on the transmission of awakening in the Soto lineage beginning with Shakyamuni Buddha and concluding with Master Koun Ejo. Many questions remain regarding the relationship between the Denkoroku and Dogen’s Shobogenzo. There are obvious differences, but can they be seen as complementary expressions of the same truth, or are they different visions of the truth?
Inoue Roshi’s commentary of the Denkoroku brings light to the illumination that Master Keizan describes in the direct transmission through the generations of the Dharma. How does this teaching of illumination relate to those of us in the 21st century? Rev. Daigaku will touch on these and other questions relating to our Zen practice.
Rev. Daigaku Rummé was ordained a Soto priest by Sekkei Harada Roshi in 1978. For more than 27 years, he practiced under Harada Roshi at Hoss-hin-ji Monastery in Japan. In March 2003, he moved to San Francisco to work at the Soto Zen Buddhism International Center. After seven years, Rev. Rummé moved to Los Angeles where he worked as the Director of the Soto Zen Buddhism North America Office. He is now the founding priest and teacher at Confluence Zen Center in St. Louis.
To register, contact info@chzc.org by Friday, February 13. Cost is $60 and includes lunch.
Richmond Zen Group
Richmond Zen is affiliated with the Chapel Hill Zen Center, and Josho Roshi visits regularly. For information, contact Stan at (804) 833-1009 or visit www.richmondzen.org.
Sunday Mornings at 9 and 9:50 AM
Tuesday Evenings at 7 and 7:50 PM
Monday through Friday Mornings at 6 and 6:50 AM
You are welcome to join both periods of zazen or either one. Masks are now optional at Zen Center.
Zoom Zazen
Monday through Friday Mornings at 6 and 6:50 AM
The CHZC continues to offer zazen via Zoom. You are welcome to join both periods of zazen or either one. All times EST.
Joining Zoom zazen Via computer:www.zoom.us/j/85659804526 Via phone: (646) 558-8656 Meeting ID: 85659804526
Dress Guidelines for Zoom Zazen
Before joining the online zendo we ask that you please read the CHZC Online Zendo Guidelines to help create a settled and peaceful online space for our shared zazen experience.
In brief, to support our practice together during zazen and Dharma Talks, please wear respectful clothing. Pants and skirts that come below the knee are appropriate. If you are wearing Buddha’s robe, the rakusu, please wear long pants or skirts, rather than shorts. Please do not wear pajamas, bath robes, hoods, or bring refreshments, especially to Dharma Talks — please treat Zoom practice events with respect as you would in the Zendo.
Your presence and bearing in this way can support all of us in feeling connected and not slipping into a casual attitude toward our practice or the teaching efforts of others.
Orientation & Meditation Instruction
Sundays at 9 AM and Tuesdays at 7 PM
Orientation and Zen Meditation Instruction are offered at 9 AM on Sundays and 7 PM on Tuesdays. Please let us know before your first visit at info@chzc.org.
Instrucciones disponibles en español. Envíe un correo electrónico a info@chzc.org para obtener información.
Dokusan & Practice Discussion
If you would like to make an appointment, please write to info@chzc.org.
Individual meetings are available to discuss your meditation practice, as well as your zazen posture, practice in daily life, and questions you may have about Buddhist teaching. These are usually given during zazen and sometimes by special appointment. To support trust and openness, discussions in these meetings should be kept confidential.
Dokusan is a formal meeting with the Abbess or Vice Abbess to talk about your practice. You may schedule Dokusan by speaking to Josho Roshi, or Zenki in person, or by contacting them at info@chzc.org. When it’s time for you to have Dokusan, someone may come to the zendo and get you, or the bell in the Dokusan Room or Zazen Instruction Room will signal when it is time for you to come back. When it is your turn, enter and close the door. Do one floor bow toward the altar ending with a standing bow, then sidestep and bow to and away from the cushion. Sit down and turn clockwise to face the teacher, settle and begin talking. When Dokusan is over, turn clockwise, fluff your cushion, and do a standing bow. Leave the door slightly open as you leave.
Practice Discussion is a meeting to discuss your practice with a priest. Jakuko Mo Ferrell is available to meet with people for Practice Discussion. The form is to do a standing bow in front of the altar and to bow to and away from your cushion before sitting down, turn clockwise and begin. You may contact Jakuko at the zendo or by email at mositwear@gmail.com.
Beginning Thursday, January 15, 2026
from 6 to 7 PM via Zoom
There is no separation between you and the environment.
You and the environment are perfectly continuous.
It isn’t possible for you to be separate from it.
From the beginning, you have always been able to move
while being one with it. We are all made this way.
This is the first of a four-volume commentary by Gien Inoue Roshi, Harada Sekkei’s teacher, on Keizan Zenji’s Transmission of the Light, a primary Soto Zen texts. In this work, Keizan Zenji (1264–1325 CE) expounds on the the Buddha's enlightenment and its transmission through the fifty-two generations of ancestors that we chant in The Names of Buddhas and Ancestors for service. Inoue Roshi explores how each of their stories is intimately connected to the practice of Zen.
You are invited to join us for Baikaryu Eisanka, the practice of singing Japanese Soto Zen Buddhist hymns with bell accompaniment. No experience necessary! Please contact Chris at ccensullo@yahoo.com if you are interested in attending.
For more information about Baikaryu Eisanka, see www.sotozen.com
Living with Impermanence
By Zoom About Once a Month
This is an informal discussion group that shares how we experience impermanence in our lives including life changes, illness, aging and death. We usually begin with participants sharing what they are currently thinking of or dealing with. Discussions then usually emerge spontaneously to raised concerns. Silence is frequently a response after someone shares and we trust in that silence. On occasion we’ve set an agenda in advance to study a topic of interest.
When you realize the whole universe
as nothing but yourself,
you have to take care of it.
— John Daido Loori
Caring for the more-than-human world is a natural and logical extension of our practice of Zen Buddhism. If you would like to be on the Building and Grounds Crew email list to hear about opportunities to help with building and grounds upkeep and maintenance projects please let us know at info@chzc.org.
Virtual Peer Group
Wednesday, January 14 and February 11
from 7 to 8 PM via Zoom
Ananda knew that having good and encouraging friends was very important for the path. He even wondered whether having good friends is half the path.
"No, Ananda," the Buddha told him, "having good friends isn’t half of the Holy Life. Having good friends is the whole of the Holy Life." (Meghiya Sutta)
These online meetings give sangha members an opportunity to share their individual experiences, receive encouragement, and offer compassion in a safe, supportive environment. Our goal is to build a thriving virtual community based on Soto Zen principles and help one another deepen our practice in daily life.
The Peer Group meets monthly on the Second Wednesday of the month. For more information, please contact Al-Nisa Berry at alnisa.berry@gmail.com or Maura High at maurahigh@gmail.com.
Joining the Virtual Peer Group
Via computer: www.zoom.us/j/85185384652
Via phone: (301) 715-8592
Meeting ID: 85185384652
Keep a thought for those less fortunate...
Walk for all of them and walk for all of us
across the world. We walk together.
— Bonita
CROP Walk volunteer, NC
Please join fellow sangha members for the 2026 Chapel Hill/Carrboro CROP Hunger Walk. This is an opportunity to walk with other congregations in our area to help hungry and impoverished people locally and around the world.
You can make a donation, walk with us, or both! You can also request donations from friends and family. And your offering can be handled easily online via the Chapel Hill Zen Center team’s CROP Walk page www.chzc.org/cropwalk.htm.
The 2026 CROP Hunger Walk is scheduled for Sunday, March 22 at 2:30 PM, beginning and ending at the Carrboro Town Commons, 301 W. Main Street in Carrboro.
Professor Richard Jaffe
Sunday. March 29 at 11:15 AM
Professor Richard Jaffe will give a talk about D.T. Suzuki’s lectures given at Columbia University. Everyone is welcome.
Sangha Net is a network of volunteers who offer short-term assistance to those in the sangha in need of help due to transitions in life such as illness, disability, or death of a loved one. Examples of tasks include shopping, arranging for meals, or transportation.
If you are interested in helping care for the altars of our temple, this would be a good time to begin, or return to, the practice of flower arranging or chidening. Traditionally, chidens are responsible for maintaining the altars of a temple which means cleaning the altars themselves, sifting and cleaning the incense burners, trimming candles, and replenishing needed items.
We also need volunteers to bring flowers and create flower arrangements for the altars.
Creating flower arrangements and chidening are wonderful ways of supporting the ongoing practice of our temple. A new schedule is being set up, and if you are interested in serving as a flower arranger about once a month, please contact Kris at krisgarvin@gmail.com. If you are interested in serving as a chiden about once a month, please contact John at john@jollyoso.com.
Grounds and Buildings Volunteers Needed
Would you like to help take care of the Chapel Hill Zen Center's grounds and buildings? We're updating our contact list of people who could come for organized work sessions or take on particular responsibilities on their own schedule.
Tasks would include such things as assisting with construction projects, yard work, windfall and brush removal, trail maintenance, hauling items to the Orange County landfill, tool cleaning and maintenance, and repair and maintenance work on siding and interior surfaces. Experience and equipment, such as power tools, pickup truck, or trailer, are useful but by no means necessary. This contact list complements the quarterly sign-up sheet for temple tasks, in the entryway in the main Zen Center building.
For more information, or to sign on to the contact list, please email Maura High (work leader) at maurahigh@gmail.com.
Prison Outreach
Members of the Chapel Hill Zen Center volunteer in both state prisons in North Carolina and the federal prison at Butner. We can always use more volunteers, and having volunteers present is usually a requirement in order for inmates to meet for religious services or to sit zazen. We are looking for people who have been sitting zazen at the Zen Center for a year or more. Orientation is required by each institution. If you would like more information, please contact Josho Roshi at (919) 967-0861 or info@chzc.org.
Prison Book Donation Program
The Prison Book Donation Program is grateful for the generous support of the Sangha. Donations of Buddhist books, particularly on Zen, are appreciated, and only paperbacks are accepted by the prison. Please leave prison book donations at the Zendo.
Inter-Faith Council Community Kitchen
A group of Zen Center volunteers prepare and serve lunch at the Inter-Faith Council (IFC) Community Kitchen on the fourth Saturday of each month from 10 AM to 1 PM. More volunteers are needed, including a core group of committed people, so we can continue our presence. The IFC Community Kitchen is the only soup kitchen in Orange Country and is located in Carrboro. If you are interested in volunteering or would like more information, please contact Shawn at (919) 619-2243 or chzencooks@gmail.com.
Members of the CHZC also continue to collect items for the IFC Community Market which provides approximately 1,300 bags of groceries to those in need every month. Both produce and non-perishable food and items such as dish washing soap, shampoo, toilet paper are needed, as well as gently used brown paper bags used to send groceries home. Please leave items on the front deck of the ZC in the large plastic containers. They are picked up about once a week.
Inter-Faith Council for Social Services
The IFC is looking for volunteers including receptionists and Community Market (formerly known as the Food Pantry) staff (a 3-hour shift, flexible schedule), and volunteers to assist staff with linking people to options such as social services ("Community Navigation"). It is also hiring kitchen staff. More details on their website: www.ifcweb.org.
We also have an updated list of current needs since the IFC has seen quite an increase in numbers recently at both lunch and dinner times, 60-70 for lunch and up to 40 for dinner.
The Community Market most needed items are baked beans, dry or canned pinto beans, pork and beans, peanut and other nut butters, canned chicken, ramen, spaghetti, Mac and Cheese, other pastas, hearty soups such as Progresso, canned vegetables (except corn and green beans, which are in good supply), spaghetti sauce, canned tomato sauce & paste, canned diced & whole tomatoes, canned fruit, cooking oils & fats, butter, grits, oats—including instant packets, baking & cake mixes, cereals, juice both bottles & boxes, coffee, tea, canned milk, powdered milk packets, jelly and other condiments. Personal hygiene items are also need including soap, small tissue packs, toothpaste, toilet paper, shampoo, lotion and moisturizing creams, deodorant, razors, size 4 and 5 children’s diapers. For questions, please contact Tim West at Tim West at tmwst01@gmail.com or Maura High at maurahigh@gmail.com.
Organizing Against Racism
The local organization Organizing Against Racism is holding virtual workshops with Racial Equity Institute instructors. For more information, see www.oaralliance.org, and for workshop schedules see www.racialequityinstitute.com. Over several years, some of us have taken this two-day workshop and have found it very informative and beneficial.
Scholarships for Racial Equity Workshops
The Chapel Hill Zen Center has a scholarship fund to help those who would like to take this workshop and other workshops on race who can’t afford the full fee. For more information or to request a partial scholarship, please contact John Paredes at john@jollyoso.com. Donations to this fund are also welcome!
We would like to express our deep gratitude to Chris Censullo and Lance Ashdown for their years of service as Vice President and Member-at Large, respectively.
Adverse Weather Policy
The general rule about coming to the zendo is, if driving may be risky, don’t do it.
For example, when it is snowing or sleeting, or if snow or sleet are predicted to occur before or during zazen, you can assume that the zendo will be closed. This is particularly true for 6 AM zazen. The highway where the zendo is located is often not as well traveled or as well treated for snow as other highways in the area, and the temperature in the county is often a couple of degrees colder than in more populated areas.
2025 Board of Directors
We are pleased to announce that the Chapel Hill Zen Center Board of Directors for 2025 are: Danielle Bouchard, President; Chris Censullo, Vice President; Mike McKillip, Treasurer; Jill Kuhlberg, Secretary; Lance Ashdown and Daniel Rhodes, Members-at-Large; and Josho Pat Phelan Abbess, ex officio.
Library Acquisitions
Recent additions to the Chapel Hill Zen Center’s Member’s Library include:
Interdependence: Biology and Beyond by Kriti Sharma
Zen Comments on the Mumonkan by Zenkei Shibayama
Hakuin’s Song of Zazen commentary by Mumon Yamada
Entangling Vines: Zen Koans of the Shumon Kattoshu translated by Thomas Yuho Kirchner
Wait: A Love Letter to Those in Despair by Cuong Lu
Gardens of Awakening: A Guide to the Aesthetics, History by Kazuaki Tanahashi and Mitsuo Nagase
Spirituality of Kyoto’s Zen Landscapes by Kazuaki Tanahashi and Mitsuo Nagase
The Tale of Zen Master Bho Li by Barbara Verkuilen and Aaron Gilmore
The Book of Equanimity: Illuminating Classic Zen Koans by Hongzhi Zhengjue and translated by Gerry Shishin Wick
If you prefer receiving an email with a link to the PDF file of the CHZC Newsletter which is mailed every two months in printed form, please send your request to info@chzc.org. The PDF version is always linked to at the top of the Events page.
To get the latest version of Adobe’s free PDF viewer, Acrobat Reader, click here.
Practicing at Home: Ryaku Fusatsu —
The Bodhisattva Ceremony
Five Minute Talks
The Facebook page for Soto Zen Buddhism North America has a number of Five Minute Talks by Soto Zen Teachers from all over America. See: www.facebook.com/SotoZenBuddhismNorthAmerica. Look under the "Videos" section to find them.
Shopping Online?
The Chapel Hill Zen Center is now registered with the online company iGive.com. iGive.com is set up so that when you register with them to make a purchase, a percentage (about 2%-15%) will be given to the non-profit of your choice. iGive.com has 238 merchants registered with them, including LandsEnd, L.L. Bean, and Amazon.com. After logging on to iGive.com, to make a purchase, choose the merchant, place the order, and then designate the Chapel Hill Zen Center to receive a portion of the proceeds from the sale. We are not advocating that you buy something you wouldn’t ordinarily, or that you buy online, but, if you already shop online, consider going through iGive.com to make your purchase.
Facebook and Instagram
The Chapel Hill Zen Center is on Facebook and Instagram! Please follow or like our official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ChapelHillZenCenter/ for announcements and invitations to events and special programs at the center. We also invite you to join our affiliated group, Chapel Hill Zen Center Members and Friends at www.facebook.com/groups/CHZCGroup/ to share news, articles, and other resources, ask questions, and interact with sangha members in a more informal way.
