In addition to our regular meditation schedule, Treetop offers a variety of events and retreats to deepen your practice, from study groups to weekend intensives and week-long sesshins.
Heart Sutra study group:
March 16–June 1, 2024
Treetop students will be leading a study group on Red Pine’s translation of the Heart Sutra over 10 Saturdays beginning March 16th. We’ll be meeting immediately after sits for a casual, non-academic discussion of how each week’s reading resonated with us and how we interpret it. All are welcome to join in and are encouraged to bring a bag lunch.
Saturday, March 16th (pages 1–28)
The Heart Sutra and Introduction
Saturday, March 23rd
canceled due to inclement weather
Saturday, March 30th (pages 29–40)
The Heart Sutra: Prajnaparamita
Saturday, April 6th (pages 41–55)
Part One: 1. The Noble Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva and 2. While Practicing the Deep Practice
Saturday, April 13th (pages 56–70)
Part One: 3. Looked upon the Five Skandhas and 4. And Seeing They Were Empty of Self-Existence
Saturday, April 20th
canceled due to mud season weekend retreat
Saturday, April 27th (pages 71–82)
Part One: 5. Said “Here, Shariputra;” 6. Form Is Emptiness, Emptiness Is Form; and 7. Emptiness Is Not Separate from Form, Form Is Not Separate from Emptiness
Saturday, May 4th (pages 83–96)
Part One: 8. Whatever Is Form Is Emptiness, Whatever Is Emptiness Is Form; 9. The Same Holds for Sensation and Perception, Memory and Consciousness; 10. Here, Shariputra, All Dharmas Are Defined by Emptiness; and 11. Not Birth or Destruction, Purity or Defilement, Completeness or Deficiency
Saturday, May 11th (pages 97–115)
Part Two: 12/13. Therefore, Shariputra, in Emptiness There Is No Form, No Sensation, No Perception, No Memory, and No Consciousness; 14. No Eye, No Ear, No Nose, No Tongue, No Body, and No Mind; 15. No Shape, No Sound, No Smell, No Taste, No Feeling, and No Thought; 16. No Element of Perception, from Eye to Conceptual Consciousness; 17. No Causal Link, from Ignorance to Old Age and Death; and 18. And No End of Causal Link, from Ignorance to Old Age and Death
Saturday, May 18th (pages 116–127)
Part Two: 19. No Suffering, No Source, No Relief, No Path and 20. No Knowledge, No Attainment, and No Non-Attainment
Saturday, May 25th (pages 129–143)
Part Three: 21. Therefore, Shariputra, without Attainment; 22. Bodhisattvas Take Refuge in Prajnaparamita; 23. And Live without Walls of the Mind; 24. Without Walls of the Mind and Thus without Fears; 25. They See through Delusions and Finally Nirvana; 26/27. All Buddhas Past, Present, and Future Also Take Refuge in Prajnaparamita; and 28. And Realize Unexcelled, Perfect Enlightenment
Saturday, June 1st (pages 145–160)
Part Four: 29. You Should Therefore Know the Great Mantra of Prajnaparamita; 30. The Mantra of Great Magic; 31. The Unexcelled Mantra; 32. The Mantra Equal to the Unequalled; 33. Which Heals All Suffering and Is True, Not False; 34. The Mantra in Prajnaparamita Spoken Thus; and 35. Gate Gate, Paragate, Parasangate, Bodhi Svaha
Spring sesshin:
June 12–16, 2024
Memorial service for Stef:
September 21, 2024
Autumn weekend retreat:
October 16–20, 2024
Memorial service for Margaret:
December 7, 2024
Winter sesshin:
January 8–12, 2025
If you’re unfamiliar with the chants, click here for the gathas. For the service book (PDF), click here. To follow formal oryoki chanting for meals (PDF), click here.
E-mail us for more information.