Olean Meditation Center
Sat, May 09
|Olean Meditation Center
One Thing at a Time: Western Poetry & Zen Contemplation
Join Ben Howard, a popular Zen teacher and distinguished poet, for an experiential workshop on themes common to Zen & Western poetry, including exercises in Zen contemplation and in composing original verse and prose. Beginners and seasoned practitioners are welcome.
Time & Location
May 09, 2026, 10:15 AM – 12:45 PM
Olean Meditation Center, 2275 Dugan Rd, Olean, NY 14760, USA
Guests
About the event
You are invited to join us for a workshop led by Ben Howard, an accomplished Zen writer and an internationally admired poet, who is well-known and beloved to the OMC community.
Retreat description:
The discipline of doing “one thing at a time” and the state of one-pointed concentration (samadhi) are fundamental to the practice of Zen. Likewise, poems in the Western poetic genre known as the “thing-poem” focus intently on a single object. In this retreat we will explore commonalities between modern Western thing-poems and Zen contemplation. Practical exercises will include concentrative meditations and the composition of original verse and prose. Beginners as well as seasoned practitioners are warmly invited to attend.
$25 registration
If you have questions or are unable to pay the full price of a ticket, please email to oleanmeditation@gmail.com. Our policy is that no one should be denied participation due to financial considerations.
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