Join us in this peaceful space for a day of quiet meditation in community. We will meet a little before 10 am to start sitting at 10 am promptly. Lunch is from 12:20 to 1:10 pm; please bring vegetarian lunch to share as we will eat together in silence. We will sit for three 40-minute periods in the morning and three in the afternoon, ending with a cup of tea. Our day ends at 4 pm.
Wear loose, comfortable clothing.
Suggest donation £10; nobody turned away for lack of funds.
We are closed from May 1st to May 6th as we’ve headed off to the beautiful countryside of Benburb to attend our five-day retreat. The Mindfulness for Recovery group will meet as usual on Sunday May 6th. We open again for zazen at 7 am on Monday May 7th.
We are happy to announce that our teacher Ryushin Paul Haller will be visiting us from Wednesday April 25 to Sunday May 6. Paul will attend morning zazen on Wednesday April 25, Thursday April 26, Friday April 27, and Monday April 30, and will lead a sharing circle (with green tea!) in the zendo each morning after service. He will give a dharma talk on the evenings of Thursday April 26 and Friday April 27. On Saturday April 28 he will lead an all-day workshop from 10 am to 4 pm called “Essentials of Zen”. On Sunday April 29 he will lead morning zazen at 10 am, and then give a dharma talk. Sunday afternoon he will offer a half-day workshop from 1 pm to 4 pm, “Cultivating Body, Breath, and Mind”.
All of the suggested donation amounts are to help us to cover Paul’s expenses. You are very welcome to attend even if you can’t support us in this way – your presence is the most important thing. If you can afford to make a larger donation, that will be gratefully received.
Details of the events, including sesshin, are listed below. All events are at Black Mountain Zen Centre, 64 Donegall Street, Belfast, BT1 2GT (press the buzzer marked “ZEN”), except for sesshin, which will be at Benburb Priory.
Wednesday, April 25
Zazen and sharing circle 7am to 8.30am
Thursday, April 26
Zazen and sharing circle 7am to 8.30am
Zazen and Dharma Talk 7pm
Friday, April 27
Zazen and sharing circle 7am to 8.30am
Zazen and Dharma Talk 7pm
Saturday, April 28
Workshop: ‘Essentials of Zen’ 10am to 4pm (please bring vegetarian lunch)
Suggested donation: £25
Sunday, April 29
Zazen and Dharma Talk 10 am
Workshop: ‘Cultivating Body, Breath, and Mind’ 1pm to 4 pm
Suggested donation: £15
Monday, April 30
Zazen and sharing circle 7am to 8.30am
Tuesday, May 1 – Sunday, May 6
Sesshin at Benburb Priory.
The sesshin will start Tuesday evening and end on Sunday afternoon. You can either attend for the whole period or for the weekend from Friday evening to Sunday.
Please follow the details on the application form in order to apply. The application form is available here: Word / PDF
