Open Sky serves the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community by offering Buddhist teachings and meditation practice in a safe and inclusive environment.

We are dedicated to providing you with a diverse and inclusive experience of the dharmaby embracing and sharing the wide array of lineages and traditions that exist within Buddhism.

Open Sky provides a space for meditation instruction and practice, dharma talks and discussions, contemplative arts workshops, mindful movement practice, and mutual support. We meet several times each month at various locations within New York City.

Our teachers, dharma talks and event encompass a rich and diverse range of relevant Buddhist teachings and subjects.

We meet on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month at the New York Insight Meditation Center and on the 1st Thursday of each month at the LGBT Center.

We are open to newcomers, seasoned Buddhists, and everyone in between. Everyone is valuable and everyone is welcome.

-Lawrence Grecco, Director

Rev Lawrence Grecco, Founding Director & Dharma Teacher

Rev. Lawrence Grecco (Dō'an Sunim) is a Zen Priest and Life Coach. He has worked with people as a crisis counselor, certified personal trainer, and hospice volunteer.

He holds a certificate in Foundations in Buddhist Chaplaincy from the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care and was ordained by the Five Mountain Zen Order.

He is a graduate of the Buddhist Studies program from the Interdependance Project and the founding Director of Open Sky Sangha which meets at the New York Insight Meditation Center in Manhattan, and also volunteers with the Ali Forney Center which serves the homeless LGBT community in the New York City metropolitan area.

He has taught meditation to at-risk and incarcerated teenagers through the Lineage Project, volunteered at a hospice facility, and worked for many years as a counselor at the Long Island Crisis Center. In 1985 he co-founded LIGALY, a youth support organization where he served as Co-Director until 1992.

Open Sky is a member of the Buddhist Council of New York