While I used to like to ring in the New Year with loads of cocktails, loud music and kissing of boyfriends old and new, I now love to spend the evening in more quiet and contemplating ways.
Here are some of the best places in NYC to spiritually prepare your inner being for 2017.
New Year’s Eve Meditation |$10
Shambhala Meditation Center
118 West 22nd Street, 6th (b/tw 6th and 7th)
6pm to 12am
Join the community in welcoming the New Year with an open heart and mind.
Open sitting from 6pm to midnight, followed by a light reception. You may come and go at any time. There will be periods of sitting and walking meditation.
New Year’s Eve Party |$35
Kadampa Meditation Center
KMC-NYC
127 West 24th Street (b/tw 6th and 7th)
9:00pm to 12:30am
From 9:30 to 10:45pm, enjoy vegetarian hors d’oeuvres (including gluten-free & vegan options) and the company of fellow practitioners. Then, from 10:45 through to midnight Kadam Morten will offer a brief introduction to the practice of the Buddha of Compassion, a lovely arrangement of prayers and mantras followed by the practice itself, along with a guided meditation to take us into the new year.
New Year’s Eve Sit & Celebration
New York Insight Meditation Center
28 West 27th Street, 10th Floor
(b/tw Broadway & 6th Avenue)
9:00p to 12:30am
Doors open at 8:15pm and the sit begins promptly at 9:00pm
•Pre-registered attendees only, on-site registration will be unavailable
•Space is limited
•Light refreshments will be served after the event
•This is a sitting and yogis are asked to attend the entire evening so as to maintain a sacred container of meditation and peace to bring in 2016
New Year’s Eve At Brooklyn Zen|$30
Brooklyn Zen Center
505 Carroll Street, Suite 2A
Brooklyn, NY
8:00pm to 1:00pm
The festivities will start at 8pm with a period of temple cleaning (the doors will open at 7:45). At 9:30pm we’ll have noodle soup. Starting at 10:30, we’ll sit three periods of zazen, the third of which will go until just past midnight. During the last period, we’ll sound 108 bells that will ring in the New Year. This is a very sweet, joyful and peaceful way to celebrate this transition — and there’s also something very powerful about sitting quietly in the zendo while the city erupts with its own celebrations all around you.
A Peaceful New Year |$35
Vajradhara Meditation Center
444 Atlantic Avenue
(b/tw Nevins & Bond Streets)
9:00pm – 12:00am
Enjoy a peaceful New Year’s Eve celebration this year. Avoid the crowds and the mayhem by joining Vajradhara Meditation Center for an evening of meditation and dharma wisdom, snacks, sparkling cider socializing and a beautiful and meaningful Buddhist ceremony to ring in the New Year.
