Grant Report - Mondo Zen Intensive for BIPOC

In 2023, with the support of our donors and a grant from the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism, we were able to offer our four day Mondo Zen Intensive without the financial barrier customary for our retreats. We followed with a twelve week leadership development training. What follows is an excerpt of the grant report as well as a link to the full grant report.

Mondo Zen Facilitation offers an accessible, rapid entry into the experience of Zen.  Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi distilled his experience of Rinzai Zen, the Blue Cliff Record and the Mumonkan to create a thirteen koan dialogue process that takes the beginner from an initial experience of Pure Awareness, to a practice technology in which participants take home and use an emotional koan to repeatedly remember and choose the wisdom of the Dharma.  For 20 years, this transmission was offered on eight-day sesshins resembling monastery conditions.  In order to reach an audience beyond the privileged few who are able to afford the $1000 + expense of an eight-day sesshin and a week off from work, Fugen Tom Pitner Roshi and Ekai Joel Kreisberg developed a four-day intensive retreat.  With the support of the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism, we were able offer this program with a sliding scale enrollment fee of $25 to $450, $450 being the traditional enrollment fee.  The program was marketed as an offering for Black, Indigenous or Persons of Color (BIPOC). With the help of the grant from the Lens Foundation and several generous donors, the retreat was held March 16th to 19th, 2023 followed by a 12 week Buddhist Leadership Training which met weekly. This report offers a summary of the program’s content and assessment.   

This program was offered in partnership with Dragon Heart Dharma