Tallahassee Chan Center

04/11/2026

Tomorrow Sunday, April 12th | 9:30-11:00am | In-Person and Online

Returning to the Body: An Introduction to Embodied Healing
This 90-minute introductory class, presented by Dewaine Rester, offers a practical look at embodied experience through the lens of health and healing. The focus is simple: learning how to come back into direct contact with the body so that breath, posture, sensation, and attention become supports for steadiness rather than things we ignore until stress takes over. Drawing from meditation, gentle awareness practices, and lived experience, this class serves as the entry point for a later four-part series. The aim is not just to talk about healing, but to give participants something real to work with. Everyone will leave with a simple practice they can use in daily life to return to the body, calm the system, and meet difficulty with more clarity and less reactivity.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/pWQW368ZRU666P965Er4rQ #/registration

04/06/2026

Tonight - Monday, April 6

Monday Night Loving-Kindness Meditation

1st & 3rd Mondays · 6:30–8:00 PM (ET)
In person at the Tallahassee Chan Center or online via Zoom. All are welcome.

For the next few months, our Monday night Dharma talks (1st & 3rd Mondays) will take a different form. Instead of a talk, our sangha will practice a loving-kindness (mettā) meditation.

Through this guided meditation, rooted in Chan teachings, this practice cultivates a mind of kindness free from anger, extending care first to ourselves and gradually to others, both near and far, including those who may be struggling or in pain. It is a steady and grounded way to support the sangha and the wider community during a period of collective strain.

Practice format

30 minutes of loving-kindness directed toward oneself

Short break

20–30 minutes of loving-kindness extended to others, especially those who are struggling

Details and link:
https://tinyurl.com/2mcwex7e

04/06/2026

What is liberation—and how might we come to know it for ourselves?

Join an extraordinary gathering of teachers, scholars, and authors for a rare dialogue across Buddhist traditions.

Featuring Dhammadīpā, John Dunne, Joseph Goldstein, GuoGu, Anne C. Klein (Rigzin Drolma), Ruth Ozeki, and William Edelglass.

Through dharma talks, conversation, and guided meditation, this online program explores liberation through multiple lineages, revealing both shared ground and meaningful differences.

Freely offered in the spirit of dāna.
All are welcome.

April 23–26 • Online

👉 Learn more and register here: https://bit.ly/4b66dUP

If this brings someone to mind, we invite you to share it with them.

04/01/2026

April 2026 schedule for the Tallahassee Chan Center

📖 Half Day Retreat

📅 April 26th, 2026

This half-day Chan retreat aims to deepen your meditation practice. This retreat includes 30-minute sitting meditation periods, and will end with an opportunity for Q&A.

✨ Heart of Healing Series Talk by Dewaine Rester
📅 April 12th | 9:30-11am | Online and In-person
This 90-minute introductory class offers a practical look at embodied experience through the lens of health and healing. The focus is simple: learning how to come back into direct contact with the body so that breath, posture, sensation, and attention become supports for steadiness rather than things we ignore until stress takes over.

🌸 Lotus Sutra Dharma Discussion Group
🗓 Thursdays | 7–8:30pm ET (In-Person & Zoom)
An ongoing weekly exploration of one of Mahayana Buddhism’s most influential sutras—join anytime and attend as your schedule allows.

✨ Sangha Social
📅 April 27th | 6:30–8:30pm ET
Gather during the second period of Monday night meditation to connect, celebrate birthdays, and enjoy community together.

Weekly Meditations (In-Person & Zoom):

Sundays
🪷 Morning Meditation (9:30–11:00 AM ET): 30-minute sit + Q&A with Guo Gu (in-person & Zoom).
🕊️ Meditation on Recovery (11:00 AM–12:00 PM ET): In-person only.

Mondays
🌙 Night Meditation (6:30–8:30 PM ET): Two meditation sits. Loving Kindness meditation on 1st & 3rd Mondays.

Wednesdays
🌾 Night Meditation with Interviews (6:30–8:00 PM ET): Deep sit, walking/yoga, and optional interviews with Assistant Teachers.

💻 Daily Zoom Meditations:

East Coast: Mon–Fri, 7:30 AM ET – Meditation + Chanting
West Coast: Mon–Sun, 10:30 AM ET (7:30–8:00 AM PT) – Daily meditation
Friday Evening (PT): 6:30–7:00 PM PT Zoom sit

🔗 Zoom links & details: tallahasseechan.org/events

03/30/2026

Join us on tonight Monday, March 30th from 6:30-8pm for a part 2 of the “Sangha as an Alternative Community” talk by GuoGu. Offered in-person and on Zoom!

Click here for the Monday night Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87674890410?pwd=Dza0FehSe2RjDVa5upt6XezZMtrKCG.1 (passcode: chan)

03/26/2026

Tomorrow, Friday March 27 - Evening Bodhisattva Precepts Ceremony Recitation⁠
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The Tallahassee Chan Center will host a monthly ceremony on the third Friday of each month.

For more information and Zoom links, please go here.
https://tallahasseechan.org/friday-ceremony/

03/23/2026

April 23-26

Guo Gu joins Dhammadīpā, John Dunne, Joseph Goldstein, Anne C. Klein (Rigzin Drolma), Ruth Ozeki, William Edelglass for the “Liberation: A Dialogue Across Buddhist Traditions” retreat at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.

Online only.

Register here:

April 23, 2026 April 26, 2026 Note: Registration for the residential retreat is now closed. Everyone is welcome to attend the online program, which remains open for registration. Click here to register for the online program.What can we say about the qualities of liberation, the radical freedom from...

03/19/2026

In this recent Tricycle piece, Guo Gu reframes emptiness not as negation, but as a lived practice - loosening our grip on language and identity to discover a freedom that’s already here.

Moving beyond apophatic language toward a more full embodiment of the ineffable

03/18/2026

03/13/2026

In his latest Monday night talk, "Sangha as an Alternative Community" - Guo Gu discusses how living with the sangha in harmony can help us to create the conditions for liberation. ⁠
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Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh6lPwd0fNQ⁠
Listen to Podcast here: https://linktree.com/thewayofchan

03/06/2026

Join us this Sunday, March 8 from 9:30am-11am for this talk. Will Evans is a longtime practitioner of both 12-Step recovery and Chan (Zen) Dharma practice under Guo Gu, with nearly two decades of sobriety. His work explores the deep parallels between the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and Buddhist teachings, viewing both as complementary spiritual paths aimed at alleviating suffering rooted in self-centeredness. Drawing on personal experience, classical Buddhist texts, and contemporary resources such as One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and the Twelve Steps by Kevin Griffin, Will examines how recovery and Dharma practice mutually inform and strengthen one another. He brings a perspective shaped by early immersion in AA meditation practice, intensive study of the Pali Canon, multiple Zen and Vipassana retreats, and long-term training under his teacher, Guo Gu. Will speaks to the integration of recovery and contemplative practice as a practical, inclusive path toward living “happy, joyous, and free,” one day at a time.⁠
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More info: https://tinyurl.com/4xtmaudr⁠
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Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/pWQW368ZRU666P965Er4rQ #/registration

03/05/2026

Join us on Monday, March 9th, 2026, from 6:30-8pm for a talk on “Sangha as an Alternative Community” by GuoGu. Offered in-person and on Zoom!

Click here for the Monday night Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87674890410?pwd=Dza0FehSe2RjDVa5upt6XezZMtrKCG.1 (passcode: chan)