WELCOME!
The Zen Center is open to members and trial members.
We have Zoom sittings for people who live too far away to attend sittings at the Center. We encourage people to attend via Zoom if they are ill. Please send us an email through the contact page if you would like more information.
Schedule
The Zen Center has a schedule of daily sittings, intensive meditation periods, courses, ceremonies, public events, and much more.
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Retreats
A wonderful way to combine quiet time and spiritual inspiration. Enjoy your own natural rhythms in an extraordinary setting.
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Workshops
A practical and authentic introduction to Zen Buddhism. Talks, question periods, demonstrations and meditation.
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Costa Rica
The Casa Zen was founded in 1974 by Roshi Philip Kapleau. In November 2025 Roshi Graef transmitted the leadership to her Dharma Heir, Sensei Bodhi Murillo.
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Toronto
The Toronto Zen Centre was founded in 1967 by Roshi Philip Kapleau. Roshi Taigen Henderson, Roshi Graef's Dharma Heir, is the teacher.
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Vermont
The Vermont Zen Center was founded in 1988 by Roshi Sunyana Graef, a Dharma Heir of Roshi Philip Kapleau, author of The Three Pillars of Zen.
SPECIAL CEREMONIES
UPCOMING AT THE CENTER
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12
may
Famine Relief Ceremony
Read moreFamine Relief Ceremonies are a concrete way to express compassion for those who are suffering from the deprivations of hunger.
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16
may
Indian Cooking Course: Lunch
Read moreManju Selinger will show you how to prepare a delicious and authentic vegetarian Indian meal in the Vermont Zen Center’s spacious kitchen.
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21
may
Sangha Gardening Weekend
Read moreAt Sangha work weekends, we have an opportunity to work together on the grounds, enjoying the beauty of our land and the company of our Dharma siblings. For Sangha members only.
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31
may
Vesak: The Buddha's Birthday
Read moreJoin us for the celebration of the Buddha's birth. Chanting, gifts, elephant parade, stories, and more.
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20
jun
Flower Arranging Course
Read moreLearn basic Ikebana and flower arranging elements used at the Vermont Zen Center: triangulation, depth, placement, color, container size and material.
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27
jun
Gardening Course
Read moreLearn through direct experience how to work in the Zen gardening tradition with intention, mindfulness, and skill: cultivating, planting, pruning, weeding, and raking rivers of stone.
From our Ancestors
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The Way is essentially perfect and exists everywhere.
—Zen Ancestor Eihei Dogen -
Meditation in the midst of activity is a thousand times superior to meditation in stillness.
—Zen Ancestor Hakuin Ekakau -
The Great Way is not difficult for those who do not pick and choose.
—Zen Ancestor Seng Ts'an -
From the beginning all beings are Buddha.
—Zen Ancestor Hakuin Ekakau -
Ordinary Mind is the Way.
—Zen Ancestor Nansen Fugan