Each December 31 we bring in the New Year with a rich evening of sitting and ceremonies. The evening begins at 8:00 with zazen, followed by a release and renewal ceremony, designed to help us let go of painful habits and start the new year on a positive note. At midnight, we have a Jukai ceremony, renewing our vows for the new year. Bring a dish of festive vegetarian food to share at the end of the night. See our email updates for more details.

Jukai is the Mahayana Taking-the-Precepts ceremony, in which students receive the Sixteen Precepts, and commit to putting them into practice to the best of their ability. We recite a repentance gatha (verse) as a means of purification prior to receiving the sixteen precepts: The Three Refuges, the Three General Resolutions and the Ten Cardinal Precepts.