On Monday and Tuesday evenings, from September through May, Dharma Field offers courses on Zen Buddhism and related topics.
To take courses online here for more information.
To take courses online here for more information.
Classes
Current CoursesMondays Sep 14 to Oct 19
Non-Abiding Time: 7:45–8:45 pm led by Steve Matuszak learn more
Perhaps we have encountered the teaching that bodhisattvas dwell in neither samsara nor Nirvana—that is, they don’t dwell in the world of birth and death nor do they escape it, which is all well and good, but what does it mean? This profound teaching of Mahayana Buddhism will be the subject of Non-abiding. Over six weeks, we will look at various teachings of Non-abiding and consider how they resonate with our daily lives.
NOTE: This course will be offered via Zoom each Monday night from Sep 14-Oct 19, 7:45-8:45 pm CDT. A recording of the class will be posted online the week after it takes place. Time: 7:45–8:45 pm 
CLASS AUDIO:
If you miss a class or are taking the classes online click icon to access the talks. Tuesdays Sep 15 to Oct 20
What the Buddha Taught: The Four Noble Truths Time: 7:45–8:45 pm led by Steve Matuszak learn more
This course focuses on the primary teachings of the Buddha and their implications for living in today’s world. These universal and timeless truths not only show us the source of our anxiety, but point the way to sorrow’s end—the complete peace and sanity that are total freedom of mind.
NOTE: This course will be offered via Zoom each Tuesday night from Sep 15-Oct 20, 7:45-8:45 pm CDT. A recording of the class will be posted online the week after it takes place. Time: 7:45–8:45 pm Syllabus Texts: Buddhism Plain and Simple--Steve Hagen (required) What the Buddha Taught--Walpola Rahula (supplemental--optional)
CLASS AUDIO:
If you miss a class or are taking the classes online click icon to access the talks. |
Upcoming CoursesFall 2020 Curriculum
Classes will only be offered via Zoom until further notice Monday classes Sep 14 - Oct 19 Non-abiding (Steve Matuszak) Nov 9 - Nov 30 Katagiri Roshi and Me (Steve Hagen) Tuesday classes Sep 15 - Oct 20 What the Buddha Taught: The Four Noble Truths (Steve Matuszak) Nov 3 - Dec 8 What the Buddha Taught: The Eightfold Path (Beau Elkington) |
Courses Recently Completed
Mondays Aug 10 to Aug 17
Some Words: The Poetry of Audre Lorde
Time: 7:45–8:45 pm
led by Kate Lucas
Some Words: The Poetry of Audre Lorde
Time: 7:45–8:45 pm
led by Kate Lucas
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“Some words live in my throat / breeding like adders. Others know sun / seeking like gypsies over my tongue / to explode through my lips / like young sparrows bursting from shell. / Some words / bedevil me.” So writes Audre Lorde in the poem “Coal.” To read Lorde’s poetry is to find this highly tuned sensitivity to words — their prismatic uses, fault lines, limitations. Known for her technical mastery and emotional expression in poetry as much as her contributions to feminist theory, critical race studies, and queer theory, Audre Lorde “was a poet to her core,” writes the critic Ben Voigt. By challenging modern culture’s yen to categorize and marginalize, by pointing to the intersections of race, class, and gender, Audre Lorde illuminates the limits of binary thinking. This course will explore selections from Coal (1976), Black Unicorn (1978), and other collections, including audio recordings of Lorde reading her poems.
Kate Lucas has been a student at Dharma Field since 2015 and received her MFA in writing, with an emphasis on poetry, from Hamline University. She has taught writing and literature at several colleges in the Twin Cities and previously served as assistant poetry editor for Water~Stone Review. Her poems have appeared in numerous literary journals, and she has received awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board, Dickinson House, Loft Mentor Series, and elsewhere.
NOTE: This course will be offered via Zoom each Monday night from Aug 10-Aug 17, 7:45-8:45 pm CDT.
A recording of the class will be posted online the week after it takes place.
Time: 7:45–8:45 pm
Kate Lucas has been a student at Dharma Field since 2015 and received her MFA in writing, with an emphasis on poetry, from Hamline University. She has taught writing and literature at several colleges in the Twin Cities and previously served as assistant poetry editor for Water~Stone Review. Her poems have appeared in numerous literary journals, and she has received awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board, Dickinson House, Loft Mentor Series, and elsewhere.
NOTE: This course will be offered via Zoom each Monday night from Aug 10-Aug 17, 7:45-8:45 pm CDT.
A recording of the class will be posted online the week after it takes place.
Time: 7:45–8:45 pm
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CLASS READINGS:
To access the class texts, click the icon. |
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CLASS AUDIO:
If you miss a class or are taking the classes online click icon to access the talks.
If you miss a class or are taking the classes online click icon to access the talks.
learn more
This three-week class will examine a key teaching of Buddhism, “Interdependence.” It draws on Nagarjuna’s teachings on non-substantiality or “emptiness.” Interdependence is captured by the Buddha’s teaching on the twelvefold chain of causation, which we will look at in this class. It is expressed by Shunryu Suzuki in his comments on how things appear inter-related and are both dependent on and completely independent of each other. It looks at how interdependence results in the harmonious functioning of the Whole.
led by Mary Sullivan
NOTE: This course will either be offered via Zoom each Monday night from Jul 13-Jul 27, 7:45-8:30 pm CDT.
A recording of the class will be posted online the week after it takes place.
Time: 7:45–8:30 pm
led by Mary Sullivan
NOTE: This course will either be offered via Zoom each Monday night from Jul 13-Jul 27, 7:45-8:30 pm CDT.
A recording of the class will be posted online the week after it takes place.
Time: 7:45–8:30 pm
CLASS AUDIO:
If you miss a class or are taking the classes online click icon to access the talks.
If you miss a class or are taking the classes online click icon to access the talks.
learn more
Despite its reputation for being inscrutable or just sheer nonsense, Zen practice is actually quite simple and straightforward. It is, as Zen teachers throughout the ages have pointed out, “nothing special.” In this two-week class, we will look at the teaching of everydayness in Zen literature, and see how Zen practice is simply a matter of stepping forward into life in each moment.
led by Steve Matuszak
NOTE: This course will either be offered in-person at Dharma Field or will be available live via Zoom each Monday night from Jun 22-Jun 29, 7:45-8:30 pm CDT, depending on developments with COVID-19. Please see our website and our emails to you for updates.
A recording of the class will be posted online the week after it takes place.
Time: 7:45–8:30 pm
led by Steve Matuszak
NOTE: This course will either be offered in-person at Dharma Field or will be available live via Zoom each Monday night from Jun 22-Jun 29, 7:45-8:30 pm CDT, depending on developments with COVID-19. Please see our website and our emails to you for updates.
A recording of the class will be posted online the week after it takes place.
Time: 7:45–8:30 pm
CLASS AUDIO:
If you miss a class or are taking the classes online click icon to access the talks.
If you miss a class or are taking the classes online click icon to access the talks.
learn more
In this class we will look at the life and poetry of the Japanese mendicant monk/poet Ryōkan (1758-1831). His poems are deep, insightful, and subtle, and he lived his life with warm-heartedness, openness, and spontaneity. He is one of the most beloved individuals in Japanese literature.
led by Norm Randolph
NOTE: This course will either be offered in-person at Dharma Field or will be available live via Zoom each Monday night from Jun 1-Jun 15, 7:45-8:30 pm CDT, depending on developments with COVID-19. A recording of the class will be posted online the week after it takes place.
Time: 7:45–8:30 pm
(recommended meditation 7:00–7:35 pm)
led by Norm Randolph
NOTE: This course will either be offered in-person at Dharma Field or will be available live via Zoom each Monday night from Jun 1-Jun 15, 7:45-8:30 pm CDT, depending on developments with COVID-19. A recording of the class will be posted online the week after it takes place.
Time: 7:45–8:30 pm
(recommended meditation 7:00–7:35 pm)
CLASS AUDIO:
If you miss a class or are taking the classes online click icon to access the talks.
If you miss a class or are taking the classes online click icon to access the talks.
learn more
Long ago Nagarjuna pointed out the impossibility of fully understanding the import of the Buddha’s teaching without realizing that there are two truths—neither separate nor the same. Today there are people from various walks of life that are beginning to converge on this same foundational insight of the Buddha—many noting how it reaches into every aspect of our lives. Some feel it to be the greatest insight into the Nature of Reality ever realized by anyone. In this class, we will explore these truths which aren’t exactly two.
led by Steve Hagen
NOTE: Until further notice, the class will only be offered online. It will be available live via Zoom each Monday night from Apr 13-May 18, 7:45-8:45 pm CDT, and in recording the week after each class takes place.
Time: 7:45–8:45 pm
(recommended meditation 7:00–7:35 pm)
led by Steve Hagen
NOTE: Until further notice, the class will only be offered online. It will be available live via Zoom each Monday night from Apr 13-May 18, 7:45-8:45 pm CDT, and in recording the week after each class takes place.
Time: 7:45–8:45 pm
(recommended meditation 7:00–7:35 pm)
CLASS AUDIO:
If you miss a class or are taking the classes online click icon to access the talks.
If you miss a class or are taking the classes online click icon to access the talks.
learn more
How is wisdom related to compassion?
Zen Buddhist teachings show that these two don't just overlap in places, they are actually one and the same.
As Shohaku Okumura states, “Without wisdom, compassion doesn't work, and without compassion wisdom has no meaning: it's not alive.”
Join in on this four-week course as we explore wisdom—beyond ideas of intelligence, quick-wittedness, or even “good-judgement”.
Time: 7:45–8:30 pm (meditation 7:00–7:35 pm)
Prerequisite: None
Zen Buddhist teachings show that these two don't just overlap in places, they are actually one and the same.
As Shohaku Okumura states, “Without wisdom, compassion doesn't work, and without compassion wisdom has no meaning: it's not alive.”
Join in on this four-week course as we explore wisdom—beyond ideas of intelligence, quick-wittedness, or even “good-judgement”.
Time: 7:45–8:30 pm (meditation 7:00–7:35 pm)
Prerequisite: None
CLASS AUDIO:
If you miss a class or are taking the classes online click icon to access the talks.
If you miss a class or are taking the classes online click icon to access the talks.
learn more
The traditional reading is: “All sentient beings without exception have the Buddha nature.” Dōgen changed it to read, “All beings are the Buddha nature.” Why? What is “the Buddha nature,” exactly? And why did Dōgen feel his peculiar expression of a well-known teaching more appropriately expresses Truth? In this course, we’ll examine these questions and more. While it is a stand-alone, self-contained course, it will also provide a foundation for an open-ended study of Dōgen’s “Shobogenzo Buddha Nature” on Wednesday nights following the end of the course.
Text (to be provided by Dharma Field):
“Dōgen on Buddha Nature” by Abe Masao
Time: 7:45–8:45 pm (meditation 7:00–7:35 pm)
Text (to be provided by Dharma Field):
“Dōgen on Buddha Nature” by Abe Masao
Time: 7:45–8:45 pm (meditation 7:00–7:35 pm)
CLASS AUDIO:
If you miss a class or are taking the classes online click icon to access the talks.
If you miss a class or are taking the classes online click icon to access the talks.
Online Courses
TAKING A CLASS ONLINE
Dharma Field offers its current Classes for people living outside the area, as well as for locals who are not able to attend in person. Please bear in mind, however, that our teachers highly recommend that local participants attend in person if possible.
All classes are recorded and posted online later in the week. Classes can be streamed directly from our site, or they can be downloaded to your device (as mp3). Most handouts are available online as well.
If you missed a registration for a recent class, we normally keep them online after the class has ended. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
TO REGISTER…
All classes are recorded and posted online later in the week. Classes can be streamed directly from our site, or they can be downloaded to your device (as mp3). Most handouts are available online as well.
If you missed a registration for a recent class, we normally keep them online after the class has ended. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
TO REGISTER…