Korinji offers beginner instruction three times each week at groups in nearby Madison and Baraboo, Wisconsin. These meetings are appropriate places to learn meditation, receive basic guidance, meet our teacher and community, and begin establishing daily practice at home. Not near Korinji? We have affiliated groups in other locations. Please see the Meditation Groups page.

The Zen Life Retreat is Korinji’s annual weekend retreat for those new to Zen practice. Participants receive beginning meditation instruction, an introduction to monastery life, and direct guidance from our teacher. This retreat is appropriate for adults and mature teens. Please see the Calendar for dates and details.

For more experienced Zen practitioners, Korinji offers six Rinzai Zen Dai-Sesshin, seven-day intensive meditation retreats, each year at the monastery, as well as additional sesshin in Europe. These retreats are conducted in a rigorous traditional manner uncommon in the West, and require preparation, stability, and sincere commitment. Please see the Calendar for upcoming sesshin and other Zen events.

After beginning Zen practice with Korinji and attending several retreats with our community, one may apply to become a formal student of Meido Roshi. A short face-to-face ceremony called shoken formalizes this relationship and opens the door to more intensive instruction. Shoken is conducted during Dai-Sesshin in North America and Europe. Please inquire.

Korinji offers opportunities to explore the embodied intersection of Zen and Budo, martial arts, at the monastery and elsewhere. Budo training at Korinji is not sport or recreation, but a discipline of body, breath, energy, and fearlessness. Beginners and experienced martial artists are welcome. Please see the Calendar.

Korinji hosts monthly instruction in Kogetsu Enshu-ryu Zen Sado. Training is led by our abbot with the permission and guidance of Nakamura Nyosen Soke, Headmaster of Kogetsu Enshu-ryu. Periodic intensive tea training events are also held, including visits by Nakamura Sensei to the United States. Please see the Calendar for upcoming classes and events.

Shittan is the practice of writing Sanskrit bonji, mantric seed syllables associated with buddhas, bodhisattvas, and deities. Shabutsu is the meditative brushing of Buddhist iconographic images. These sacred arts train concentration, reverence, and the unity of body and mind. Please see the Calendar for upcoming classes.

Special events focused on the foundational practices and four kata of the Hojo sword forms are offered periodically at the monastery. Hojo is also practiced during some intensive Zen retreats, Dai-Sesshin. Please see the Calendar for upcoming classes and events.

A number of Buddhist rituals at Korinji are open to the public throughout the year, including observances of the birth, awakening, and passing of the Buddha; Obon, when we remember and pray for ancestors and departed family members; New Year events; and other ceremonies. Please see the Calendar listing for full details.

Korinji can conduct Buddhist ceremonies for various occasions, including weddings, funerals or burials, memorial services, blessings of a new home or business, and ritual assistance for places where disturbing phenomena are experienced. Ceremonies for beloved pets are also possible. Please inquire.