The Zoom link to participate in this event will be provided at least 24 hours before it begins. Please call 415-354-0360 if you have any questions.
Saturdays, October 10–31, 2026
9:00–10:30 am PT
More than fifteen years ago, Dario Doshin Girolami first entered Rebibbia Prison with an unusual proposal: to teach meditation behind bars. As abbot of L’Arco Zen Center–Zenmon Ji in Rome, Doshin brought Zen practice into a labyrinth of bars and concrete, where daily exposure to suffering led him to question the meaning of freedom.
The teachings he offers emerge from this encounter between lived experience and millennia-old Zen wisdom. Through koans and parables, Doshin weaves together the stories of inmates with the wisdom of Buddhist masters such as Dōgen and Suzuki Roshi.
Together, these stories and teachings open a journey beyond fixed ideas of good and evil, beyond the visible walls of prison, and toward the recognition that the most confining prisons are often those built by our own minds. As the Buddha teaches, we are all imprisoned by greed, hate, and delusion.
Recommended Reading/Viewing:
- Meet Dario Girolami, A Zen Teacher Engaged in Interfaith Work
- La Via Interiore: Meditazione a Rebibbia (The Inner Way: Meditation in Rebibbia), Documentary Film In Italian with English Subtitles
- L’Arco Zen Center (Zenmon Ji) in Rome, Italy
Recordings:
All course sessions will be recorded, and registered participants will receive temporary access to the recordings for later viewing.
- Benefactor Ticket Price: $210
- General ticket price: $162
- Member (Become an SFZC Member): $151
- Supported: $101
- Deeply Supported: $42
- Current SFZC residents and qualified SFZC retirees may attend this course for free. To register, please email onlineprograms@sfzc.org at least 72 hours before the program begins.
Or call 415-354-0360.
