Live, Online & Free: An Invitation to the Dharma Academy Opening Event
Engaging
the Heart of Wisdom
Pathways for Meeting Uncertainty
May 23–25 (all times in MST / Mountain Standard Time)
“Leaving self-centeredness behind, the world awakens — and calls us into a sense of shared aliveness. This calling is where wisdom begins, unfolds, and returns to its source: in stillness.” -Tatsudo Baden Roshi
Join us for this weekend of inspiration, exploration, and exchange.
07
days
23
hours
14
minutes
What to expect – and what might stay with you
This isn’t a weekend packed with information. It’s a rare invitation to explore your own experience, listen to inspiring talks, connect with a living community — and settle in stillness.
Inspirational talks by leading Zen teachers from across the US
Daily zazen streamed live from Crestone Mountain Zen Center  
Practical guidance for integrating practice into daily life 
Opportunities for exchange, reflection, and connection  
Why This Matters
In a well‒known Zen koan Xiushan asks his teacher Dizang, “What can you do about the world?” It’s a question that feels more relevant than ever.
This opening weekend of the Dharma Academy brings together leading Zen voices from across the U.S. to sit with this question not to give quick answers, but to explore what wise, compassionate response might look like today.
What can Zen do about the world? And what can we?
Meet the Teachers
of the Dharma Academy Launch Weekend
Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi Abbot of Dharma Sangha & Founder of the Dharma Academy
Nicole Baden Roshi is a Dharma heir of Zentatsu Baker Roshi and has practiced with the Dharma Sangha since 2001. She holds a background in psychology and somatic work, and trained for several years at the Crestone Mountain Zen Center. In 2024, she formally stepped into the role of Abbot and now guides the spiritual direction of Dharma Sangha and the Dharma Academy.
Zentatsu Richard Baker Roshi Founder of Dharma Sangha & Teacher at the Dharma Academy
Zentatsu Baker Roshi is a Dharma heir of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. He founded the Zen centers in Crestone (USA) and the Black Forest (Germany), and has been teaching for over five decades. Today, he continues to guide students both in person and online — most recently through his weekly online format WeeklyZen.
Valerie Brown Buddhist-Quaker Dharma teacher & Author
Valerie Brown studied mindfulness in the Plum Village tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and was ordained as a Buddhist Dharma teacher in 2018. She is a Quaker, author, facilitator, and executive coach specializing in leadership development and mindfulness practices with a focus on diversity, social equity, and inclusion. A former lawyer and lobbyist, Valerie transformed her high-pressure, twenty-year career into serving leaders and nonprofits to create trustworthy, authentic, compassionate, and connected workspaces.
Rahshaana Green Director of Equity, Nalanda Institute
Rahshaana Green is a multidisciplinary wellness facilitator who combines her knowledge and experience in science, yoga, meditation and building human connection to help people cultivate resilience and well-being. She is the Director of Equity and Contemplative Psychotherapy at the Nalanda Institute and a Forrest Yoga Guardian (lineage holder). Her teaching centers embodiment practices as a foundation to navigating change and challenge with wisdom and grace.
Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D. Abbot of Upaya Zen Center & Author
Joan Halifax Roshi is a Zen teacher, anthropologist, and social activist. She is the founder and Abbot of Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe and a pioneer in contemplative end-of-life care. Known internationally for her work in engaged Buddhism, she leads initiatives in dying, prison outreach, and global health. Her many books explore the meeting point of compassion, courage, and spiritual practice.
Sarabinh Levy-Brightman Educator and Workshop Consultant
Sarabinh Levy-Brightman is a university educator and curriculum developer with a focus on religious literacy and transformative education. Closely affiliated with Harvard Divinity School, she has worked with Harvard’s Religion and Public Life initiative since 2016. Her teaching bridges intellect, imagination, and embodiment — making her work deeply resonant with the Dharma Academy’s vision of learning as shared inquiry.
Ryuten Paul Rosenblum Roshi Vice Abbot of Dharma Sangha
Ryuten Paul Rosenblum Roshi began practicing with Shunryu Suzuki Roshi in 1968 and is a Dharma heir of Zentatsu Baker Roshi. He serves as Vice Abbot at the Zen Center in the Black Forest and leads seminars in Germany, Austria, and beyond. He lives in California and continues to support the international Sangha with teaching and presence.
Jiryu Rutschman-Byler Abbot of Green Gulch Farm Zen Center
Jiryu Rutschman-Byler is a Soto Zen priest in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and currently serves as Abbot at Green Gulch Farm near San Francisco. He received Dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman and has practiced in Zen temples since 1996, including in Japan. He is the author of Two Shores of Zen and supports sanghas in Colombia and California.
Ravi Welch Sensei Lay Dharma Teacher & Teaching Psychotherapist
Ravi Welch Sensei is a Lay Dharma Teacher in the Dharma Sangha lineage and has practiced with Zentatsu Baker Roshi since 2003. Originally from India, he holds an M.S. in Psychology from UC Berkeley and has worked for decades as a teaching psychotherapist and supervisor. Based in Germany, he co-directs the Mainz Institute for Psychotherapy and Adult Education and brings a lifelong integration of contemplative and therapeutic approaches to his teaching.
Rev. Liên Shutt Dharma Teacher & Founder of Access to Zen
Rev. Liên Shutt (she/they) is a priest lineage holder in the Shunryu Suzuki tradition. With a background as a social worker in the fields of violence against women and children and unhoused seniors, she brings an inclusive, anti-oppression focus to their role as the guiding teacher of Access to Zen sangha and nonprofit in the San Francisco Bay Area. Find out more about Home is Here: Practicing Antiracism with the Engaged Eightfold Path.
A weekend that breathes
The Program for May 23 - 25
Friday, May 23, 6 PM - Sunday, May 25, 1 PM (all times in MST) there will be:  
Lectures
Community Events
Practice Lessons
A Panel
06:00pm - 06:20pm
Welcome & Introduction
Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi, Founder of Dharma Academy
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We’ll begin the weekend with a short welcome, an introduction to the intention behind this gathering, and a walk-through of the structure and schedule.
You’ll hear a bit about what to expect, how to find your way through the sessions, and how we hope this space can support shared exploration over the coming days.
06:30pm - 07:20pm
Lecture
A Pedagogy of Wisdom -
Creating a space for ancient teachings in our world today
Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi, Founder of Dharma Academy
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How can ancient wisdom traditions be shared and practiced in a way that speaks to the realities of our time? In this talk, Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi explores different ways of knowing – from conceptual understanding to embodied, enacted wisdom – and how these modes of learning shape the way teachings are transmitted.
Drawing from the Zen tradition as well as pedagogical insights, she will reflect on what it means to create spaces where timeless principles can be received, explored, and lived – not as abstract ideas, but as a living response to the conditions of the present.
07:30pm - 08:15pm
Community Event
What supports your practice at Home?
Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi, Founder of Dharma Academy
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In this breakout session, we’ll meet in small groups to reflect on what helps us sustain our practice in daily life. Participants are invited to share what they’ve found meaningful, challenging, or surprising about practicing outside of structured settings.
08:30pm - 09:00pm
Practice
Introduction into the practice of meditation
- A 'crash course' for beginners
Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi, Founder of Dharma Academy
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This session offers a practical introduction to meditation for those new to the practice. We’ll cover the basics: posture, breath, attention, and how to begin navigating the mind with curiosity and patience. No prior experience needed.
08:30pm - 09:00pm
Practice
Online Zendo CMZC, with practice inspiration
Baker Roshi
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Just Sitting Together! With Baker Roshi.
6:30-7:00am, 7:10-7:40am
Practice
Morning Zazen
Online Zendo
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Just Sitting Together!
08:30am - 09:30am
Lecture
Self and Other – A Conversation About Connection
Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi, Rahshaana Green
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In a time of fragmentation and urgency, how do we cultivate inner stability, real connection, and a grounded sense of belonging? This live conversation brings together Rahshaana Green and Nicole Baden Roshi in an open dialogue about what it means to stay centered, to belong, and to meet difference with integrity and care.
Together, they’ll explore:
How resilience and inner centering create the ground for openness
What it takes to embody belonging — in our own skin and in community
How contemplative practice can support ethical presence in a divided world
Rooted in Rahshaana’s work on embodiment, resilience, and equity — and guided by the Zen teaching of “Original Mind” — this session invites participants into a deeper inquiry: Who are we, really, beneath the stories and identities we’ve been given? And how might wisdom take shape in the space between self and other?
10:00am - 11:00am
Lecture
How did we get here? - A Reflection on how Zen developed in the West
Baker Roshi
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In this lecture, Baker Roshi offers a personal and historical perspective on the early unfolding of Zen practice in the West. As the Dharma heir of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and an early participant in the formation of the San Francisco Zen Center, the first Zen Monastery in the Western hemisphere, he reflects on formative moments that helped shape how Zen began to take root outside of Asia.
He will speak about pivotal decisions, missed turns, and cultural adaptations that could have led Zen down very different paths – and what these choices continue to mean for us today. Looking forward, he will share his vision of a Culture of Wisdom in which the core principles of Zen yogic practice are not limited to monastic settings, but integrated into our daily and societal lives.
Baker Roshi has lived through more than six decades of practice and teaching that span both East and West, tradition and innovation. This talk may resonate especially with those interested in how spiritual practice not only transforms individuals, but also has the potential to shape culture, ethics, and ways of living together.
11:30am - 13:00pm
Panel
The Teachings of Life - A Conversation on Insight, Experience, and What Matters Most
Valerie Brown, Ravi Welch Sensei. Further details will follow.
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In a world marked by polarization, injustice, and intensifying harm, what does it mean to respond wisely? This live conversation invites two thoughtful speakers to reflect on their own journey toward what they now recognize as Wisdom—and how that wisdom meets the challenges of our time.
Together, we’ll explore:
How to act with integrity in the face of injustice
How to speak with clarity and compassion across divides
How to respond to intentional harm without losing ethical clarity
Held in the spirit of Dharma friendship, this session is a space for honest meeting and shared inquiry.
02:00pm - 03:00pm
Community Event
Tour through the Online Campus
Valerian
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Valerian will guide you through the key features and possibilities of our Online Campus – including the Online Zendo, the Community Space, and the Library (our growing archive of online teachings). He will also offer a preview of upcoming courses and content.
There will be space for your questions, ideas, and suggestions – we warmly invite you to help shape this evolving space together with us.
04:00pm
Lecture
What’s (the) Matter After All?
Sarabinh
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Sarabinh Levy-Brightman will reflect on how zen (and the teachings of this lineage) has affected her work in the world and how, in turn, work can open avenues to a more penetrating practice. She will attend particularly to the challenges and opportunities of teaching and building community on line.
05:00pm
Community Event Practice
Embodiment Practice and Exchange
Sarabinh
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Further details will follow.
07:00pm - 07:45pm
Lecture
Engaging the Heart of Wisdom - Pathways for Meeting Uncertainty
Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi, Founder of Dharma Academy
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In times marked by uncertainty and fragmentation, the question of what it means to live wisely becomes both deeply personal and inherently shared.
In this talk, Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi explores how Buddhist perspectives can support us in navigating uncertainty – not by providing fixed views, but by reflecting on how the human mind functions. Through the lens of the Three Experiential Horizons (Tridhatu), she examines how individual practice connects with wider cultural patterns, and how clarity can emerge even when outcomes remain open.
08:00pm - 09:00pm
Practice
Evening Zazen with Practice Inspiration
Baker Roshi, Online Zendo
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Just Sitting Together! With Baker Roshi.
6:30-7:00am, 7:10-7:40am
Practice
Morning Zazen
Online Zendo
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Just Sitting Together!
10:00am - 11:30am
Panel
Seeking an appropriate response - Zen's relationship to crisis
Joan Halifax, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, Paul Rosenblum Roshi, Rev. Liên Shutt; moderated by Tatsudo Nicole Baden
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In a world increasingly shaped by crisis – ecological collapse, war, inequality, and collective anxiety – many are asking: How can I make a difference? This panel brings together senior Zen abbots from leading centers in the U.S. to explore a question that resonates far beyond the Dharma world: What can contemplative practice really offer in times of urgency? What are the limits of introspective paths like Zen when it comes to engaging with systemic suffering? And what unique forms of insight, resilience, and action might they enable?
This panel conversation will not attempt to prescribe solutions, but rather illuminate pathways: where Zen can be a resource, where it may fall short, and how it might serve not only personal awakening but collective transformation.
Core Questions:
· What is the appropriate role of Zen in a time of global suffering?
· How can Zen practice support effective, ethical action – and how does it fall short?
· How do Zen leaders themselves navigate these tensions in their own communities?
11:45pm - 12:30pm
Community Event
Reflections & Takeaways
Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi, Valerian
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Small Group, Breakout Sessions: What are you taking away from this event?
12:45pm
Closure
Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi
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we’d love to see you soon online!
07
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23
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weekend take-aways
Here is what you may receive from our weekend together
Just sitting still – together
"The genius of monasticism is the discovery of the power of meditating together.“
  • Join a shared rhythm of stillness – wherever you are
  • Introductions for beginners & inspiration for the experienced
Simple guide for how to turn your home into a practice place
"Practice needs to function in the details of your lived life."
  • Practical lectures and embodied know‒how with Baden Roshi
  • Suggestions for how to let practice settle into your daily rhythms
The Pedagogy of Wisdom
"They say it takes a village to raise a child. How does the kind of knowledge that we call Wisdom get transmitted?“
  • Explore what conditions allow wisdom to take root
  • Practices you can take into your own life
A Community of Seekers
"Being a seeker means to know there are questions waiting to be lived – and shared."
  • Be part of a conversation grounded in shared questions
  • Exchange and reflect with others on the path
The Functioning of Culture
"Zen and Wisdom are not subjects to be studied. Rather, it’s a study of subjectivity.“
  • See how culture lives through you – and can shift through you
  • Ways to loosen or reframe limiting views
Panel Discussion with leading Zen voices from across the US
"The whole cannot be approached from just one perspective.“
  • Joan Halifax Roshi, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, Ryuten Rosenblum Roshi, Rev. Liên Shutt bring their unique perspectives
  • A rare opportunity to listen to the leaders of major Zen Centers in the US
The weekend begins in:
07
days
23
hours
14
minutes
Join from wherever you are
This is your invitation to “Engaging the Heart of Wisdom,” the Dharma Academy’s free online opening weekend.
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