• An Online & In-Person Offering

Living an Ethical Life: A Study of the Zen Precepts

with CHODO ROBERT CAMPBELL & KOSHIN PALEY ELLISON

Once a Month on Sundays

Sept. 15th, 2024 – July 13th, 2025

10:00am – 3:00pm ET

Learn more & register
What are the Zen Precepts and how can we learn to embody these guiding principles?

 

In this yearly offering, our Guiding Teachers Koshin Sensei and Chodo Sensei lead students of the Zen path through an exploration of each of the different precepts and how they can help us to skillfully navigate relationships and life itself.

 

Living the Zen Precepts is wisdom in action. Though they may seem daunting, they are the natural expression of a compassionate and awakened heart. The Precepts (as taught by empowered teachers in the Soto Zen tradition) are studied, practiced, and received to support the fullest expression of our lives.

 

Throughout this ten-month journey, you will:

  • Discover how to bring each of the Zen Precepts to life as guidelines for ethical living
  • Foster or strengthen your meditation practices
  • Establish deep connections with other students (the embodiment of sangha)
  • Learn to pause and notice new ways of thinking
  • Continuously learn that the Precepts are an endless place of practice (there is no completion!)
 
There are limitless opportunities for learning and engagement with the teachers and the community of students. To give you a sense of what you may explore as a part of the class, we share a two minute example teaching on the Precepts below.

Guidelines, Not Commandments

In this video, our Guiding Teachers discuss how we should engage the precepts at varying levels of subtlety. Focusing on the precept of non-stealing, they share how we can allow these guidelines to invigorate, rather than restrain, our lives.

The Zen Precepts class will meet monthly for a morning of practice and an afternoon of study. The class consists of experiential learning through discussion, as well as small group and dyad conversations.

 

In between classes, students will engage in reading assignments, writing exercises and discussion forum questions, monthly “buddy” conversations, pre-recorded video teachings on each of the Precepts from Koshin Sensei & Chodo Sensei (Foundations students will be engaging the same video content), and more!

 

This class is ideal for beginners and advanced students alike. Many students repeat this class to deepen their understanding as the Precepts take root and to become more aware of them in their everyday lives. This course also serves as part of the track to becoming a Formal Zen Student.

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Class Registration

  • Master's or Certificate Credit $1,400
  • Benefactor Level $1,080
  • Standard Level $760
  • Scholarship Level $470
  • Continuing Education Credit (CE) Fee $25

Financial Support: New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care endeavors to make our programs accessible. If the cost of this program is prohibitive, please choose the scholarship level. Please note that there are a limited number of scholarship seats available. If the scholarship level is not listed on the registration form, that means it is no longer available.

Register here

Course Details

Sept 15th | Oct 27th | (No Class Session in Nov) | Dec 22nd | Jan 12th | Feb 9th | Mar 2nd | Apr 13th | May 18th | June 8th | July 13th

 

This hybrid model class allows students to attend the program remotely (via Zoom) or in person. Please choose which option best suits your needs during registration. There are a limited number of in person spots available.

The course schedule includes participation in NYZC’s Sunday morning community sits (whether virtually or in-person) from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET and the Zen Precepts class from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET.

Additional Information

Register at this level if you need Masters Credit. You will also be required to write a 10-page paper. If you register at any of the audit levels, you can still participate fully in the class and will not be required to submit a 10-page paper.

This course is part of our certificate program which you can learn more about here.

Our Catch Your Mind: Awakening Through Relationship course is offered (mostly) on the same weekend of each Zen Precepts class. Many students opt to register for both classes and treat each monthly weekend as a semi-retreat and study intensive.

Praise for Koshin & Chodo's Courses

“The course (Zen Precepts) challenged me in ways I’d not expected. Occasionally this grew from something in the reading, or in a dharma talk, but invariably reflecting on the question(s) posed pulled me into a deeper understanding of the precepts. With each assignment I spent quite a lot of time thinking and writing (in a journal) about what it means to embody these simple but profound guidelines for daily life. Only near the end of the course was I aware of its impact on my practice.”

“I consider the Precepts as elegant and wise guideposts which create subtle, expansive shifts within me and awaken me to my chosen thoughts and actions.”

“I love Koshin’s approach; his primary focus is not intellectual as much as it is practical. He always emphasizes, ‘how does this affect your daily life? how can you use these teachings in your relationships’. I also loved the wonderful openness that I experienced from my fellow classmates, I always felt safe and free to share from my heart. It’s rare to find such an amazing group of people in one setting!”

“As an academic I have been studying texts for over 40 years. This one (Lotus Sutra) has been the most profound and transformative for me. It has helped me wake up and given me skills to keep my heart open in daily life.”

“Deep bows. Thank you so much. I had a hard time warming up to this text initially, but it really changed me. Thank you for fostering the kind of reading that leads to that.”

About the TEACHERs

ABOUT THE Teachers

Chodo Robert Campbell Sensei, is a co-founder of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care Chodo is a dynamic, grounded, and visionary leader and teacher: he has traveled extensively throughout the U.S instructing in various institutions. Sixty-thousand people listen to his podcasts each year. His passion lies in bereavement counseling and advocating for change in the way our healthcare institutions work with the dying. 

Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei, MFA, LMSW, DMIN, is an author, Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, and Certified Chaplaincy Educator. After many years as a chaplain and psychotherapist, Koshin co-founded the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. Koshin is a world renowned thought leader in contemplative care. He is the author of Untangled: Walking the Eightfold Path to Clarity, Courage, and Compassion (Balance/Hachette, 2022); Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up (Wisdom Publications, 2019) and the co-editor of Awake at the Bedside: Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End of Life Care (Wisdom Publications, 2016). His work has been featured in the New York Times, PBS, CBS Sunday Morning, and Tricycle Magazine among other publications.

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