Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede of Rochester Zen Center leads us in this retreat about the Precepts, guides to Buddhist morality. The dharma rests on meditation, wisdom, and morality—the three-legged stool of practice, as Kjolhede calls it—and while wisdom and meditation are always in demand in the West, morality tends to get short shrift. But morality is not just something to keep vaguely in mind—doing the hard work of living right—following the Precepts—is doing the dharma, just as much as sitting on the cushion or studying sutras. In this retreat, Roshi Kjolhede will guide us through the Three Refuges, the Three General Resolutions, and the Ten Cardinal Precepts, which together comprise the Precepts as commonly understood in Zen Buddhism. The retreat begins January 2nd, 2012.

Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede (pronounced COAL-heed) is the abbot and head teacher of Rochester Zen Center, one of the oldest and largest Zen Buddhist centers in the West. The successor and dharma heir to Roshi Philip Kapleau, Kjolhede has been the head of Rochester Zen Center since 1986. He devotes most of his time to teaching at RZC’s city center and leading retreats at RZC’s retreat center, Chapin Mill. His article, “Pain, Passion, and the Precepts,” appeared in the Winter 2011 Tricycle.