In Wisconsin USA, instruction for beginners is offered three times a week at groups in Madison and Baraboo (near Korinji). These are ideal places for you to learn to meditate, meet our teacher and community, and come away with tools you need to start a daily practice at home. Not near Korinji? We have other groups worldwide! Please see the Meditation Groups page.

If you are new to meditation, please also consider joining us for our annual weekend-long beginner's retreat at Korinji: the Zen Life Retreat. You will learn to meditate, have a taste of monastery life, and receive direct guidance from our teacher. Zen Life Retreats are appropriate for adults and mature teens. See Events for dates and details.

For more experienced Zen practitioners, Korinji offers six Rinzai Zen Dai-Sesshin — 7 day intensive meditation retreats — each year at the monastery, plus two additional sesshin annually in Europe. Our sesshin are conducted in a rigorous, traditional manner uncommon in the West: these retreats are remarkable in their depth and power to transform. See Events for these and many other practice opportunities.

After beginning your Zen practice with us and attending several retreats within our community, you may apply to become a formal student of our teacher, Meido Roshi. A short, face-to-face ceremony called shoken formalizes this, and opens the door to more intensive instruction. Shoken is conducted at Dai-Sesshin throughout the year in N. America and Europe. Please inquire.

Throughout the year, opportunities to explore the bodily intersection of Zen and bujutsu (martial arts) are provided at the monastery and elsewhere. We also conduct an annual retreat with this focus. Beginners and experienced martial artists are welcome to explore ways in which warrior skills and mindset open to us a path of self-refinement and compassion.  Please see the calendar.

Korinji hosts a monthly class instructing Kogetsu Enshu Ryu Zen Sado, a school of tea ceremony. Training is led by our abbot, with permission and guidance from the Soke (Headmaster) of Kogetsu Enshu Ryu, Nyosen Nakamura Sensei. We also host periodic intensive tea training events, including visits by Nakamura Sensei to the USA. See the calendar for upcoming classes and events.

Shittan refers to the practice of writing Sanskrit (bonji) characters that are the mantric seed syllables of various buddhas, bodhisattvas, and deities. Shabutsu is a meditative art of brushing Buddhist iconography. See the calendar for upcoming classes.

Special events focused on training in the foundational practices and four kata of the Hojo sword forms is offered periodically at the monastery. Hojo practice is also conducted during our intensive Zen retreats (Dai-sesshin). Please see the calendar for upcoming classes and events

A number of rituals at Korinji are open to the public throughout the year: special days commemorating the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha, Urabon (when we remember and pray for the well-being of our ancestors and family who have passed on), events at the New Year, and more. Please see Events for full details.

We are able to conduct Buddhist ceremonies for various purposes: weddings, funerals or burials (for both persons and beloved pets), memorial services, blessings of a new home or business, and the exorcism of places where disturbing phenomena are experienced. Please inquire.​​