[Online] Introduction to Koan Practice

with Sarah Bender, Roshi

June 6 - 27, 2026

Online

12:00 pm Jun 06 - 1:30 pm Jun 27, 2026 ADT

Date and Time Details:
Four Saturdays
June 6 - June 27

12 pm - 1:30 pm Atlantic

Contact: DDLOnline@dorjedenmaling.org

Cost:
Sliding Fee Scale. Suggested amount $160

Prices

CAD $160.00 – I can offer the suggested amount.
CAD $80.00 to CAD $300.00 – I can offer this amount.

Information & Registration

This series offered by Sarah Bender, Roshi, resident teacher for Springs Mountain Sangha in Colorado Springs, will give you a glimpse and a first experience of koan practice, in the Open Source Zen lineage.

Koan practice is a methodology peculiar to Chan and Zen Buddhism, treasured for its power to evoke experiences of sudden awakening, from most subtle to most earthshaking, that leave one’s world irrevocably changed; and over time, to help release a person from the bondage of their own opinions, leaving them more and more free to welcome experience as it happens and to respond, with gratitude for life just as it is.

The koan itself is a sort of story; from 2 words to much longer, koans recount encounters that have this quality of sudden transformation.

Collected over 1500 years, in China, Japan and other places, they turn out themselves to have that quality, even when we meet them on a printed page—but especially when we meet them in relationship with living people, teachers and other companions of the Way, and form a peculiarly intimate relationship with the koans themselves.

What to Expect

In each session you’ll learn a little more about the tradition and what it’s like to practice within it, but mostly we’ll directly encounter a number of different kinds of koans and have an opportunity to practice with them.

Who May Attend

Open to all, whether you are new to koan practice or more familiar.

Cost

$160 – Suggested price. This program is also offering a sliding fee scale starting at $80.

Generosity Policy

We want everyone to be able to attend retreats at Dorje Denma Ling. If you need additional assistance beyond the sliding fee scale, please reach out.

About the Leader

Sarah Bender, Roshi

Sarah Bender, Roshi is resident teacher for Springs Mountain Sangha, a Koan Zen practice community in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA which is part of Cloud Gate Zen, an Open Source community in the line of Joan Sutherland, Roshi. SMS is in the Harada-Yasutani lineage of Zen Buddhism. Sarah began her practice of Zen Buddhism […]

Learn more about Sarah Bender, Roshi

Categories : Featured Events, Online