Special Events

Rohatsu Sesshin 2022 - Saturday December 10th and Sunday Dec. 11th from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m

Clear Mountain Zendo in Montclair is holding a householder's sesshin to take place on Saturday, December 10, 2022 and Sunday, December 11, 2022.

The sesshin will run from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. each day in accord with the following schedule:

Saturday, December 10, 2022:

9:30 - 9:55 - Bows, Chants and Zazen

9:55 - 10:00 - Kinhin

10:00 - 10:25 - Zazen

10:25 - 10:30 - Kinhin

10:30 - 10:55 - Zazen & Daisan

10:55 - 11:00 - Kinhin

11:00 - 11:25 - Zazen & Daisan

11:25 - 11:30 - Kinhin

11:30 - 12:30 - Lunch ( Please bring your own lunch. We will provide tea and water )

12:30 - 12:55 - Zazen

12:55 - 1:00 - Kinhin

1:00 - 1:25 - Zazen - Dharma Talk

1:25 - 1:30 - Kinhin

1:30 - 1:55 - Zazen

1:55 - 2:00 - Kinhin

2:00 - 2:30 - Zazen, Chants, Clean-up

Sunday, December 11, 2022:

9:30 - 9:55 - Bows, Chants and Zazen

9:55 - 10:00 - Kinhin

10:00 - 10:25 - Zazen & Dharma Talk

10:25 - 10:30 - Kinhin

10:30 - 10:55 - Zazen & Daisan

10:55 - 11:00 - Kinhin

11:00 - 11:25 - Zazen & Daisan

11:25 - 11:30 - Kinhin

11:30 - 12:30 - Lunch ( Please bring your own lunch. We will provide tea and water )

12:30 - 12:55 - Zazen

12:55 - 1:00 - Kinhin

1:00 - 1:25 - Zazen

1:25 - 1:30 - Kinhin

1:30 - 1:55 - Zazen

1:55 - 2:00 - Kinhin

2:00 - 2:30 - Zazen, Chants, Clean-up

You can attend all or part of the sesshin as your schedule allows. The Sunday morning part of the sesshin can include the usual morning attendees. NOTE: To protect the health of all attendees, we ask that you use a face mask while in the meditation area; this applies to all "activities" including zazen meditation periods, daisan, kinhin, chanting periods, and dharma talk periods

We would ask you to consider giving a donation of $50 for participation in this sesshin.

Rohatsu Sesshin:

The Rohatsu Sesshin is the traditional winter retreat which is held in December in celebrating Buddha's enlightenment. It is one of the year's most important events and takes place at Zen monasteries around the world. It is marked by silence, the practice of zazen, and our mutual support of each other during this time. The only speaking that takes place is during the Dharma talks and Daisan. There are no practice circles. Participates should refrain from social conversation after entering the building. This is a wonderful opportunity to deepen your practice.

If would like to pre-register for this sesshin or if you have any questions about the sesshin, please feel free to email Sensei Carl at: cbikemann@gmail.com or Head Monk Jeff Kuschner at kuschnerj@aol.com.

Sensei Carl Genjo Bachmann's New Book

Sensei Carl Genjo Bachmann of Clear Mountain Zendo, together with long-term friend and associate Alan Gettis, PhD, are about to publish their first co-authored book entitled "Embracing Life as It Is: Lessons From Wabi-Sabi, Haiku, and Zen". This book combines haiku poetry, striking imagery of otherwise ordinary subjects, and Zen wisdom, so as to convey important lessons regarding selflessness, acceptance, non-discrimination, compassion, and self-compassion. The book was released on Thursday November 15, and is available on Amazon. CLICK HERE FOR LINK

The authors are donating all of their proceeds from book sales to the Saint Judes Childrens Research Hospital. Sensei Carl and Dr. Gettis thank everyone for their interest, and hope that this book will provide a positive and supportive experience to all interested in Zen, and to all who hope to "embrace life as it is".

CLEAR MOUNTAIN ZEN CENTER, Current Location

On January 15, 2017, after approximately 10 years at a storefront location on Lackawanna Plaza in Montclair, Clear Mountain Zendo moved to its present location, which is at 7 Oak Place in Montclair. We are located in an office suite on the ground floor of "The Mill at Walnut Street" professional center, a former knitting mill that was converted to office space. This building is near the NJ Transit Walnut Street train station on the Montclair-Boonton Line (it is on the same side that the restaurant / former train station is located, just a few hundred yards to the north; for long-term Montclarians, "it's near the former State inspection station"). The building has several entrances; our zendo can only be accessed via the 7 Oak Place doorway, which is in the northwest quadrant of the building, facing away from the railroad line and closest to Oak Place. There will be adequate off-street parking available at the center for our members during non-business hours, i.e. on weekends. On week days, our members may only park in the lot before 9 am and after 6 pm, which is when most of our weekday activities take place.

Below you can find a map and two aerial photos to help you find our building and locate our entrance (at the arrow), along with a photo of Head Monk Jeff Kuschner and Mark standing at the doorway, and Sensei Carl Bachmann with some of our members inside our new home. Although we will greatly miss our former Lackawanna Plaza home, which served us well, our new location is larger and offers more flexibility such as seperate rooms for daisan discussions, a library, and a small coffee pantry. Our schedule and that of our affiliate space users will remain the same at the new location (with the eventual potential for an expansion of our activities).