Village Zendo

Village Zendo The Village Zendo is a Zen Buddhist community in the heart of downtown New York City. Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara is the Abbot of Dotoku-ji.

Serving as a sanctuary in busy Manhattan, we offer meditation both online and in person, mornings and evenings, in addition to retreats, workshops and study groups. The Village Zendo, Dotoku-ji, is in the White Plum lineage of Taizan Maezumi Roshi. We are affiliated with the Zen Peacemakers, the Buddhist Action Coalition and the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. She is the Resident Teacher and Head Pries

t. Enkyo Roshi leads a group of 10 teachers and assistant teachers. Village Zendo offers meditation programs both online and in person. We require complete vaccination and a reservation for in-person practice. Please check our website for complete details about our Zoom-based and in-person meditation programs. Village Zendo has a growing list of affiliate groups, including: Soji Zen Center in Lansdowne, PA; Red Rocks Circle Zen Center in Sedona, AZ; Hyannis Zendo in Hyannis, MA; Oxbow Zen in Northampton, MA; New Paltz Zen Center in New Paltz, NY; and Centro Zen Phajjsi Qollut Jalsu in La Paz, Bolivia.

08/05/2026

Adam Seido Levy's photo essay of this summer's sesshin and Enmei's shuso hossen.

07/21/2026

In this Dharma talk, Bokushu Sensei delves into the mystery of why people go on retreat. He consults Jean-Paul Sartre, Prince Shotoku Taishi and the Chanyuan Qinggui for clues.

07/15/2026

Jo An Sensei's Dharma Talk, “What remains?” July 12, 2026

The Village Zendo's virtual zendo is privileged to present, “What remains?" in which Jo An Sensei explores a question Soten offered in an earlier talk: “How do we not forget?” Bringing together the AIDS Memorial Quilt, the Washington, D.C. Reflecting Pool, and the Buddha’s robe, he considers how our individual lives can be sewn together and reflected in one another, becoming something larger than ourselves. Then, using the koan “Fayan’s Non-Abiding Basis,” Jo An asks us to consider that perhaps our greatest memorial is not what we preserve, but the compassion, presence, and space we create and offer one another.

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The Village Zendo is a community of people who come together to practice in the Soto Zen tradition. Based in downtown New York City, we offer zazen (sitting meditation), one-on-one instruction with a teacher, dharma talks, chanting services, retreats, workshops and study groups.

Check out our website for daily schedules, teachers and other Zendo info, including audio Dharma talks. Support our work by donating at https://villagezendo.org/support-us/.

07/14/2026

Drawing on Ummon’s koan "Medicine and Disease Subdue Each Other," Kojin reflects on how joy and suffering are not opposites to escape or attain, but experiences that illuminate one another. Rather than grasping at one and rejecting the other, Zen practice invites us to meet each experience with care, discovering that the whole earth is medicine.

07/01/2026

Soten's Dharma Talk, “Against Forgetting - What Is the Use of Remembering?” June 28, 2026

The Village Zendo's virtual zendo is privileged to present, “Against Forgetting - What Is the Use of Remembering?" in which senior student Soten asks the question: What is a fitting monument to people and times now gone? Why do we remember, and what is at stake in not forgetting? Having recently returned from his father's home village in Germany, where he attended a ceremony commemorating the destroyed Jewish community, Soten reflects on how Case 18 of the Blue Cliff Record, National Teacher Chung's Seamless Monument, illuminates these questions.

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The Village Zendo is a community of people who come together to practice in the Soto Zen tradition. Based in downtown New York City, we offer zazen (sitting meditation), one-on-one instruction with a teacher, dharma talks, chanting services, retreats, workshops and study groups.

Check out our website for daily schedules, teachers and other Zendo info, including audio Dharma talks. Support our work by donating at https://villagezendo.org/support-us/.

06/28/2026

In this talk Fusho Sensei explores the challenges of living in a status-centric society and shares advice from Shunryu Suzuki’s book, “Becoming Yourself.”

The Village Zendo is a community of people who come together to practice in the Soto Zen tradition. Based in downtown New York City, we offer zazen (sitting meditation), one-on-one instruction with a teacher, dharma talks, chanting services, retreats, workshops and study groups.

Visit our website: https://villagezendo.org, for daily schedules, teachers and zendo info, including audio Dharma talks. Support our work, please donate today.

06/23/2026

Ryugin's Dharma Talk, “The Bell Is Always Ringing. Can You Hear It?” June 21, 2026

The Village Zendo's virtual zendo is privileged to present, “The Bell Is Always Ringing. Can You Hear It?" in which senior student Ryugin invites us to meet the vastness of the world through the Gate of Sweet Nectar ceremony. Reflecting on our liturgy, alongside a story about Layman P’ang being criticized for reading a sutra while lying down, Ryugin explores the difference between respecting form and clinging to correctness. Turning to Yunmen’s koan “Bell Sound and Priest’s Robe” from the Gateless Gate, he asks what it means to hear the many bells ringing in our lives—a child crying, an aching body, unbearable news, someone asking for help—and to find the next wholehearted response.

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The Village Zendo is a community of people who come together to practice in the Soto Zen tradition. Based in downtown New York City, we offer zazen (sitting meditation), one-on-one instruction with a teacher, dharma talks, chanting services, retreats, workshops and study groups.

Check out our website for daily schedules, teachers and other Zendo info, including audio Dharma talks. Support our work by donating at https://villagezendo.org/support-us/.

06/20/2026

In this talk Ryotan Roshi quotes a poem that suggests that it is sometimes a blessing to be deluded in the Human Realm.

The Village Zendo is a community of people who come together to practice in the Soto Zen tradition. Based in downtown New York City, we offer zazen (sitting meditation), one-on-one instruction with a teacher, dharma talks, chanting services, retreats, workshops and study groups.

Visit our website: https://villagezendo.org, for daily schedules, teachers and zendo info, including audio Dharma talks. Support our work, please donate today.

06/15/2026

The Dharma of Queerness, a Dharma talk by Navah Torei Steiner on June 13, 2026

In this Pride Month talk, senior student Torei explores the connections between Zen practice, q***r experience, and liberation. Drawing on the history of Pride, Zen Buddhist teachings, and the work of q***r theorist Sarah Ahmed, they examine how both Zen and q***r perspectives challenge conditioning, invite us to see ourselves more clearly, and support the liberation of all beings.

The Village Zendo is a community of people who come together to practice in the Soto Zen tradition. Based in downtown New York City, we offer zazen (sitting meditation), one-on-one instruction with a teacher, dharma talks, chanting services, retreats, workshops and study groups.

Visit our website: https://villagezendo.org, for daily schedules, teachers and zendo info, including audio Dharma talks. Support our work, please donate today.

06/15/2026

What is outside? What is our relationship to sound, form, and consciousness when we are in the “clear circle of brightness” that master Hongzhi encourages us to discover through our zazen. In this talk, senior student Jinno explores our relationship to the self through Early Buddhist and Zen teachings.

The Village Zendo is a community of people who come together to practice in the Soto Zen tradition. Based in downtown New York City, we offer zazen (sitting meditation), one-on-one instruction with a teacher, dharma talks, chanting services, retreats, workshops and study groups.

Visit our website: https://villagezendo.org, for daily schedules, teachers and zendo info, including audio Dharma talks. Support our work, please donate today.

Address

260 West Broadway
New York, NY
10013

Opening Hours

Monday 7:30am - 8:30am
Tuesday 7:30am - 8:30am
Wednesday 7:30am - 8:30am
Thursday 7:30am - 8:30am
Friday 7:30am - 8:30am
Sunday 9:30am - 10:30am

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