Garrison Institute

Garrison Institute The Garrison Institute explores the intersection of contemplation and engaged action in the world.

What does care ask of us when there is no clinical solution?Illness, grief, uncertainty, and loss call for more than dia...
09/03/2026

What does care ask of us when there is no clinical solution?

Illness, grief, uncertainty, and loss call for more than diagnosis and treatment. They also ask us to cultivate the capacity to be present with suffering.

This idea is central to the work of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, whose peer-reviewed contemplative medicine training has been associated with reduced emotional exhaustion and increased compassion and professional fulfillment among participating clinicians.

In “Accompanying Suffering,” Lily Rockefeller explores the growing science behind contemplative care and why presence itself can be an essential form of care.

From September 23 through 27, Garrison Institute will welcome the New York Zen Center for its annual Contemplative Care Retreat, led by Chodo Robert Campbell Sensei, Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei, and Pamela Ayo Yetunde. Open to all experience levels, the retreat offers an opportunity to cultivate compassionate presence through meditation, dharma talks, experiential learning, and periods of noble silence.

Read the article: https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/get-inspired/read/accompanying-suffering-the-science-behind-contemplative-care/

Explore the retreat: https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/event/nyzc-contemplative-care-retreat-2026/

Emptiness is sometimes misunderstood as a reason to detach from pain, uncertainty, or change. But withdrawing from our e...
09/02/2026

Emptiness is sometimes misunderstood as a reason to detach from pain, uncertainty, or change. But withdrawing from our experience is not the same as letting go.

In “The Fullness of Emptiness,” Lou Sharma examines how the Buddhist teaching of emptiness can be distorted through spiritual bypassing. Rather than dismissing difficult emotions or disconnecting from the realities of life, she explores how emptiness can help us become more present, curious, and capable of meeting what arises.

Read Lou’s reflection:https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/get-inspired/read/the-fullness-of-emptiness/

Lou will also serve as an assistant teacher at Becoming Bodhisattvas: Learning to Let Go with the Heart Sutra, an in-person silent meditation retreat at Garrison Institute from September 30 to October 5.

This year’s retreat will focus on letting go, one of spiritual practice’s most difficult invitations. In Buddhist practice, letting go can mean releasing our grip when life pulls the rug out from under us, as well as questioning ideas about reality that no longer serve us. Without care, however, letting go can become another form of avoidance or spiritual bypassing.

Using the Heart Sutra as the foundation for shared exploration, participants will examine the many layers of letting go without disconnecting from their experiences. Through meditation, teachings, functional silence, and time in supportive community, the retreat offers space to challenge fixed assumptions and explore greater freedom and possibility.

Learn more and register:https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/event/becoming-bodhisattvas-learning-to-let-go-with-the-heart/

How might we learn to listen to the many voices of the living Earth?Join us on Wednesday, September 9 at 12:00 p.m. ET f...
08/31/2026

How might we learn to listen to the many voices of the living Earth?

Join us on Wednesday, September 9 at 12:00 p.m. ET for “Living Earth Community: Engaging a World of Many Voices,” the second pre-conference webinar in the Speaker Series on the Living Earth Community with Stephen Posner, PhD, and Mary Evelyn Tucker, PhD.

We dwell within an intricate and evolving community of planetary life, from birds, mushrooms, and trees to stones, rivers, and mountains. Each represents a distinct way of being and knowing, while remaining an integral part of the whole.

Sam King of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology will explore how scientific, spiritual, and philosophical traditions can help us understand and respond to this vibrant ecological community. Drawing from the insights of cultural historian and “geologian” Thomas Berry, the conversation will consider how these ways of knowing can deepen our awareness of the living world and help us recover our kinship with Earth during a time of ecological uncertainty.

This virtual gathering is co-sponsored by the Garrison Institute’s Pathways to Planetary Health initiative and the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology.

Learn more and register: https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/event/speaker-series-on-the-living-earth-community-2026/

08/28/2026

Letting go is not the same as looking away.

It asks us to meet change and uncertainty without spiritual bypassing or avoidance and to release the ideas and assumptions that no longer serve us.

From September 30–October 5, join Ethan Nichtern, Maho Kawachi, Lou Sharma, Eric Gerard, and Ollie Ledbetter for Becoming Bodhisattvas: Learning to Let Go with the Heart Sutra.

Through meditation, teachings, functional silence, movement, and community, participants will explore a compassionate and wise way of being in a world in turmoil. No previous familiarity with these teachings is required.

Learn more and register:https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/event/becoming-bodhisattvas-learning-to-let-go-with-the-heart/

Join the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care for its annual Contemplative Care Retreat at the Garrison Institute ...
08/26/2026

Join the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care for its annual Contemplative Care Retreat at the Garrison Institute from September 23–27, 2026.

Rooted in Zen teachings and the Bodhisattva path, this five-day retreat is an invitation to pause, reflect, and reconnect, with yourself and with others. Through meditation, dharma talks, experiential learning exercises, personal meetings with teachers, shared meals, and periods of noble silence, participants will explore how contemplative practice can deepen resilience, courage, connection, and compassionate presence.

Guided by Chodo Robert Campbell Sensei, Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei, and Pamela Ayo Yetunde, the retreat welcomes both those who are new to meditation and experienced practitioners seeking to refresh and nourish their practice.

🔗 Learn more and register:
https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/event/nyzc-contemplative-care-retreat-2026/

08/26/2026

A future rooted in interdependence begins with how we care for one another, our communities, and the natural world.

In Episode 26 of our podcast, Gretchen Steidle speaks with Native Hawaiian Zen master, political leader, and author Norma Wong about kuleana, the Hawaiian concept of mutual responsibility and stewardship. Together, they explore why systems change alone is not enough, and how sharing food, reconnecting with nature, and taking collective action can help cultivate the relationships and communities we need in a time of profound disruption.

As Norma reminds us, “Let’s not get stuck.”

🎧 Listen to The Garrison Institute Presents: The Common Good on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.
https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/podcast/norma-wong-kuleana-and-collective-action/

Belonging to Earth is more than a metaphor. It can reshape how we understand our identity, our responsibilities, and wha...
08/25/2026

Belonging to Earth is more than a metaphor. It can reshape how we understand our identity, our responsibilities, and what becomes possible in a time of ecological uncertainty.

In our latest article, “Engaging Our Living Earth Community,” Mary Evelyn Tucker and Sam King reflect on what emerges when Indigenous traditions, ecological science, philosophy, spirituality, and the arts are brought into conversation. Together, they explore how seeing ourselves as members of a larger community of life can deepen our sense of kinship, inspire creative responses, and help younger generations meet an increasingly complex ecological and social landscape.

The conversation continues on Wednesday, August 26, at 12 p.m. ET, when the Living Earth Community speaker series begins with Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology. This virtual opening session will introduce the Living Earth Community as a knowledge commons and invite participants to consider their own place and responsibilities within Earth’s diverse community of life.

Read the full article:https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/get-inspired/read/engaging-our-living-earth-community/

Learn more and register for the series:https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/event/speaker-series-on-the-living-earth-community-2026/

Artificial intelligence is changing how we create, learn, lead, relate, and understand what it means to be human. On Oct...
08/24/2026

Artificial intelligence is changing how we create, learn, lead, relate, and understand what it means to be human. On October 17–18, Garrison Institute’s virtual conference, Artificial Intelligence and Our Spiritual Imagination, will create space to slow down and explore these changes through dialogue, contemplation, art, and collective inquiry.

Across seven sessions:

• Dr. Angel Acosta, Tim Leberecht, and Amy Elizabeth Fox will consider leadership, consciousness, and human flourishing in the age of AI.

• Minna Salami, Wakanyi Hoffman, and Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz will explore sensuous knowledge and the future of intelligence through Black feminist, Indigenous, and educational perspectives.

• Dr. Sará King and Samar Younes will examine how technology might serve collective healing and liberation.

• Vincent Hunt, Dr. Angel Acosta, and Peter Cobabe will lead an interactive journey into human connection and collective wisdom.

• Dr. Bayo Akomolafe and Dr. Angel Acosta will explore the edges of technology, consciousness, and spiritual imagination.

• Delphine Diaw Diallo and Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz will bring ancestral wisdom and art into a conversation about reimagining AI.

• Dr. Angel Acosta and special guests will close the gathering with a community dialogue about responsibility, collective action, and the future we choose.

The conference speaker roster also includes Thomas Hübl, whose work connects collective trauma healing, systems transformation, and conscious leadership.

Join us for two days of reflection and collective imagination as we consider how to remain grounded, compassionate, and fully alive amid rapid technological change.

Learn more and register:https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/event/artificial-intelligence-and-our-spiritual-imagination/

The forest can be more than a place we visit. It can be a living shrine, a teacher, and a place to remember our belongin...
08/21/2026

The forest can be more than a place we visit. It can be a living shrine, a teacher, and a place to remember our belonging within the more-than-human world.

Join Rev. Ann Evans, Shinto priest and certified forest therapy guide, in conversation with Fruzsina Molnar, Garrison Institute’s Senior Development and Strategic Projects Manager and a certified ANFT forest bathing guide.

Drawing from Shinto teachings and their work in forest therapy, Rev. Evans and Fru will explore the sacredness of creation, the practice of shinrin-yoku, and the ways sensory awareness, ritual, and stillness can deepen our relationship with nature. Together, they will consider what it means to let the forest itself be the therapist and to approach the living world with greater presence, belonging, and reciprocity.

Wednesday, October 7
6–7 p.m. ET
Virtual

Learn more and register:
https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/event/the-forest-as-shrine/

08/21/2026

Some stories become so familiar that we stop noticing how tightly they shape us.

This Labor Day weekend, join DharmaPunx NYC teachers Josh Korda and Kathy Cherry for an in-person retreat devoted to beginning again. Through meditation, quiet reflection, embodied movement, Dharma teachings, and time outdoors, we’ll practice returning from old storylines to the freshness of the present moment.

Open to both new and experienced practitioners, this weekend offers space to loosen familiar patterns, meet your experience with curiosity, and discover what becomes possible when new responses have room to emerge.

September 4–7, 2026
Garrison Institute, Garrison, New York

Learn more and register:
https://www.garrisoninstitute.org/event/starting-over-stepping-out-of-old-stories/

Address

14 Mary's Way, Route 9D
Garrison, NY
10524

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+18454244800

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Garrison Institute posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Place Of Worship

Send a message to Garrison Institute:

Shortcuts

Share