Winter Study Abroad: Introduction to Zen Meditation

Schedule

Each day is grouped below so you can read the full program in order.

• 1/1 · Friday · arrival

  • Arrive

    Students arrive in Taiwan; check in to Taipei lodging.

    Taoyuan Airport / Taipei

  • Visit National Chengchi University

    Program visit to National Chengchi University (NCCU).

    National Chengchi University

• 1/2 · Saturday · no class

  • No class

    No class scheduled.

• 1/3 · Sunday · no class

  • No class

    No class scheduled.

• 1/4 · Monday · no class

  • No class

    No class scheduled.

• 1/5 · Tuesday · Degui Academy

  • 09:00–10:00

    Daily practice · stretching & zazen

    At Degui Academy, Mon–Fri (except outdoor-program days): 9:00–9:30 stretching; 9:30–10:00 zazen.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

  • 10:00–12:30Prof. Deng Weiren

    Tracing the Footsteps of the Buddha in Ancient India

    This lecture introduces the Buddha’s life and early teachings within ancient India’s religious and cultural landscape. Students explore his search for awakening, the transformation of suffering, the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, meditation, and the formation of the first Buddhist communities.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

  • 13:30–16:00Ven. Chang Hwa

    Eight-Form Moving Chan

    Eight gentle movements coordinate posture, breathing, and attention. By releasing tension and stabilizing the body, the practice prepares students for seated meditation and develops an experiential sense of body–mind integration.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

• 1/6 · Wednesday · Degui Academy

  • 09:00–10:00

    Daily practice · stretching & zazen

    At Degui Academy, Mon–Fri (except outdoor-program days): 9:00–9:30 stretching; 9:30–10:00 zazen.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

  • 10:00–12:30Prof. Lin Peiying

    From Bodhidharma to Chan Buddhism

    Beginning with Bodhidharma, this class follows the diverse development of Chan Buddhism in China through the teachings and sayings of major masters. Students consider how a tradition said to be “not dependent on words and letters” nevertheless uses language to point directly to mind.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

  • 13:30–14:40Ven. Chang Hwa

    Meditation Guidance

    Practical instruction in posture, breathing, settling attention, and working with common obstacles. Students learn how stable bodily alignment and repeated return of attention support meditation.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

  • 14:50–16:00Amy Lee

    Yoga Workshop

    Gentle postures and stretches relax muscles and joints, open the hips, lengthen the spine, and improve breathing. As physical tension eases, the body and mind become better prepared for stable, comfortable sitting.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

• 1/7 · Thursday

  • 10:00–12:30Prof. Lin Peiying

    The Ten Oxherding Pictures and Koans

    The Ten Oxherding Pictures portray stages of Chan practice, from searching for the ox to returning to the marketplace. Classic koans complement the images by interrupting habitual thought and inviting direct inquiry beyond fixed concepts. Art, verse, history, and practice are considered together.

    To be confirmed

  • 13:30–16:00Prof. Zhang Jiaru

    Chan Calligraphy

    Calligraphy becomes an embodied practice of attention: posture, breathing, brush pressure, rhythm, and empty space meet in a single gesture. Students explore how disciplined form can support spontaneity rather than oppose it.

    To be confirmed

• 1/8 · Friday

  • 10:00–12:30Prof. Wang Hua

    Contemplation in Lao-Zhuang Thought

    Through selected ideas from Laozi and Zhuangzi, students explore stillness, fasting of the mind, sitting in forgetfulness, spontaneity, and transformation. The class considers resonances with Chan while preserving the historical and philosophical differences between Daoist and Buddhist traditions.

    To be confirmed

  • 13:30–16:00Instructor Huang

    Guided Taiji Practice (1)

    Foundational movements coordinate weight, breath, direction, and awareness. The practice promotes relaxation, refines balance, and deepens mind–body harmony while remaining accessible to students with no prior experience.

    To be confirmed

• 1/9 · Saturday · no class

  • No scheduled class

    Time reserved for rest, independent exploration, or program preparation.

• 1/10 · Sunday · Project 1

  • Project 1 due

    Due 11:59 p.m.

    Go to project submission page →

• 1/11 · Monday · Degui Academy

  • 09:00–10:00

    Daily practice · stretching & zazen

    At Degui Academy, Mon–Fri (except outdoor-program days): 9:00–9:30 stretching; 9:30–10:00 zazen.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

  • 10:00–12:30Ven. Guoxing

    Dahui Zonggao and Kanhua Chan

    This class introduces Dahui Zonggao and the development of kanhua Chan.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

  • 13:30–16:00Huatou and Koan Practice — Ven. Chang Hwa / Prof. Zhang Jiaru

    Meditation

    Students receive guided practice in staying with a huatou or critical phrase. The emphasis is on whole-body inquiry, returning without forcing an answer, and allowing the question to expose habitual classifications and reactions.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

• 1/12 · Tuesday · Degui Academy

  • 09:00–10:00

    Daily practice · stretching & zazen

    At Degui Academy, Mon–Fri (except outdoor-program days): 9:00–9:30 stretching; 9:30–10:00 zazen.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

  • 10:00–12:30Prof. Gu Congyu

    Living Well and Leaving Well

    This class explores “good living” and “good dying” through survival, everyday life, and the interplay of life and death. Students compare life’s beginning and end, cultivate inner settlement, and consider the clarity and practical capacities needed to face mortality with dignity.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

  • 13:30–16:00Instructor Huang

    Guided Taiji Practice (2)

    Continues foundational Taiji practice, deepening coordination of weight, breath, and awareness.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

• 1/13 · Wednesday · Degui Academy

  • 09:00–10:00

    Daily practice · stretching & zazen

    At Degui Academy, Mon–Fri (except outdoor-program days): 9:00–9:30 stretching; 9:30–10:00 zazen.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

  • 10:00–12:30Ven. Chang Hwa

    Introduction to Tiantai Calming-and-Contemplation

    An introduction to Tiantai Master Zhiyi’s Essentials for Practicing Calming-and-Insight and Dhyana Meditation. The class covers preparation for meditation, practical application of calming and contemplation in seated practice and daily life, and ways of working with common obstacles.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

  • 13:30–14:40Calming and Contemplation — Ven. Chang Hwa

    Meditation

    Guided practice explores how calming stabilizes attention and how contemplation investigates changing bodily and mental conditions without grasping at them as fixed.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

  • 14:50–16:00Amy Lee

    Yoga Workshop

    Gentle postures and stretches release tension, support breathing, and prepare the body for stable meditation.

    Dharma Drum Degui Academy

• 1/14 · Thursday · DILA

  • 10:00–12:30Ven. Guojing

    Tea and Chan

    Tea preparation and drinking become a practice of posture, attention, hospitality, and relational awareness. Students explore how ordinary actions can reveal the integration of Chan practice and everyday life.

    Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts

  • 13:30–16:00Buddhist Psychology — Prof. Ou Huifeng

    Knowing the Mind, Cultivating the Mind

    The lecture introduces Buddhist accounts of moment-to-moment mental processes and asks how theories of mind relate to spiritual cultivation. Students connect analysis of consciousness with the practical work of meditation.

    Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts

• 1/15 · Friday · Project 2

  • Project 2 due

    Due 11:59 p.m.

    Go to project submission page →

• 1/16 · Saturday · travel to Taichung

  • 10:00

    Travel toward Taichung via Shifang Zen Center and Apricot Blossom Water Buffalo School

    The travel day becomes a transition from the Taipei-based academic program to the Taichung-based experiential segment.

  • 11:00

    Shifang Zen Center, Yangmei (lunch)

    Lunch at Shifang Zen Center, Yangmei.

    Shifang Zen Center · Yangmei →

  • 13:30Zen biophilia

    Apricot Blossom Water Buffalo School

    The water-buffalo workshop explores Zen biophilia through direct interspecies encounter. Students attend to the animals’ presence, their own bodily responses, and the non-dual coexistence of humans, nature, and other living beings. The visit also links back to earlier study of animal suffering, metaphor, ox-related koans, and farming Chan.

    Guanxi

  • 14:30

    Continue to Taichung

    Yangmei / Guanxi; onward to Taichung.

• 1/17 · Sunday · free day

  • No scheduled class

    Time reserved for rest or program preparation.

• 1/18 · Monday · Baoyun Retreat Center

  • 10:00–12:30

    Student-led Tea and Chan

    Students facilitate a simple tea practice, translating attention, hospitality, pacing, and care into a shared activity. Facilitation becomes both practice and reflection on how contemplative learning is communicated.

    Baoyun Retreat Center

  • 終日Agricultural Chan

    From Farm to Table

    A traditional practice integrating organic farming with Chan meditation. Participants work in the fields, tend and harvest plants, prepare food, and eat attentively. Each step cultivates gratitude and presence while connecting daily sustenance, ecological relation, and spiritual insight.

    Baoyun Retreat Center

• 1/19 · Tuesday · half-day retreat

  • 上午Ven. Chang Hwa and Baoyun monastics

    Half-Day Chan Meditation Retreat

    An extended period of guided seated and walking meditation offers students the chance to deepen continuity of attention. Silence, posture, movement, and the collective rhythm of practice help bring together the methods introduced throughout the program.

    Baoyun Temple

  • 下午

    Rest and reflective integration

    Time for rest, journaling, and preparation for the final presentation.

    Baoyun Temple

• 1/20 · Wednesday · final presentations

  • 10:00–12:30

    Final Project Presentations

    Each student: 3–4 minutes (max 4). A concise presentation integrating philosophical ideas, cultural learning, embodied practice, and personal reflection. Visual or multimedia materials may be used.

    Go to project submission page →

  • 13:30–16:00

    Final Presentations / Farewell Gathering

    Presentations conclude, followed by a closing gathering in which students celebrate, share reflections, and bring the Taiwan study experience to a collective close.

    To be confirmed

• 1/21 · Thursday · return

  • 上午

    Return to the United States

    Program departure and return travel.

    Taichung → United States

Daily Calendar

From the Brooklyn College Winter 2027 bilingual working draft. At Degui Academy, Mon–Fri 9:00–10:00 a.m.: stretching then zazen (except outdoor-program days).