Minnesota Zen Meditation Center

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Minnesota Zen Meditation Center

Zen Buddhist temple and meditation center. We welcome all who want to learn more about Zen Buddhist meditation.

Minnesota Zen Meditation Center is a welcoming space for people to awaken wisdom and compassion, to embody Buddhist teachings, to honor our ancestors and descendants, and to joyfully serve our wider communities. Our vibrant community is committed to Zen practice and teachings, and offers daily sitting meditation, weekly classes and lectures, and monthly intensive meditation retreats. Our Center is located on the eastern shore of Lake Calhoun in south Minneapolis. People from all over the region come to here to listen to talks by teachers, attend classes and workshops, participate in retreats, attend services, and, most importantly, to do sitting meditation (zazen).

01/06/2026

Join us tonight at 7:30 for
A Conversation between David Chadwick and Tim Burkett
Attend in person or online.
https://www.mnzencenter.org/zoom-program-links.html

Author and archivist David Chadwick (best known for "Crooked Cucumber") will discuss his latest book, "Tassajara Stories: A Sort of Memoir/Oral History of the First Zen Buddhist Monastery in the West—The First Year, 1967" in dialogue with MZMC's Tim Burkett. David will join us via Zoom, and Tim Burkett will be in person to chat with David and folks who attend.

01/05/2026

Spring Morning Study Group
Shinshu Roberts’ "Meeting the Myriad Things"
with Ted O'Toole
Tuesdays, February 3 - March 10, 8:10 - 9:30 a.m.
Offered online and in person.
Register
https://www.mnzencenter.org/classes.html

The focus of this study group will be "Meeting the Myriad Things," which is a new analysis by Shinshu Roberts of Dogen Zenji’s Genjokoan. In Roberts’ words, the Genjokoan is a crucial and comprehensive introduction to Dogen’s teachings. Only four pages long, it is dense, very poetic and beautiful, and at first, perhaps, seemingly impenetrable.

This is an advanced offering. Participants will be expected to understand the basics of Mahayana Buddhism and have some familiarity with Dogen. We will follow a class discussion format. There will be no assignment prior to the first meeting, but please acquire the book and bring it to the first meeting, where we will begin by reading aloud.

01/02/2026

Half-Day Sesshin (traditional-style Zen retreat)
with Jiryu Matt Cisler
Saturday, January 17, 5:45 am – noon
Vegetarian breakfast included.
Offered in person only.
Register
https://www.mnzencenter.org/retreats-and-workshops.html
This brief immersion in the traditional sesshin schedule is a good opportunity to become familiar with the forms, stay in practice, or brush up after some time away. This morning includes an orientation, zazen, kinhin (walking meditation), liturgy, a formal vegetarian breakfast using oryoki bowls, and one-to-one meetings with the teacher.

12/30/2025

Begin the year by joining us for this welcoming afternoon retreat.
Beginner's Mind Retreat
with Wayne Moskowitz
Saturday, January 24, 1 – 4 pm
Offered online and in person.
https://www.mnzencenter.org/retreats-and-workshops.html

Enter the transformative stillness of Zen retreat practice in this afternoon immersion in meditation, silence, and teachings. This brief retreat includes both guided and silent meditation as well as an introduction to the basics of traditional zen forms, walking meditation, and a short dharma talk.

12/26/2025

Therapy and Buddhist Practice: Experiencing Joy by Moving through Difficulty
with Tim Burkett and Judith Weyl
Thursday evenings, January 15 - March 5 (8 weeks)
7:15 – 8:45 pm
Offered online and in person.
Register
https://www.mnzencenter.org/store/p139/Therapy_and_Buddhist_Practice.html

This class will explore both Buddhist and conventional psychotherapeutic practices that open a practitioner to the intrinsic healing power of Buddha Nature, the heart-mind we already have within us.

Through dharma talks, discussion, and experience, the group will explore how healing happens when the practitioner mindfully and skillfully moves through the stress and heart break encountered in ordinary daily life. The class will explore the compatibility of ancient Buddhist and contemporary psychotherapeutic practices in transforming everyday difficulty into an opportunity, or opening, for greater awakening to the JOY of being.

12/23/2025

MZMC's Ben Connelly joined several other clergy leaders in making this short inspiring video “We Believe in Minnesota”: Twin Cities Faith Leaders Unite in Holiday Solidarity Video to Support Immigrant and Refugee Neighbors.

12/11/2025

Rohatsu 2025
Gratitude to all who participated!

11/28/2025

Blank Friday: Open House, Classes, Meditation
Friday, November 28

Open House: 12:00 – 4:00 pm
Bring your family and friends!

Classes: Mindfulness and Meditation
1:00 and 3:00 pm (same class both times)

Open Meditation:
20-minute meditation sessions on the hour and half-hour

Blank Friday: A Zen Alternative
On the day of the year that has become most associated with consumerism and shopping, MZMC offers a respite and alternative. In meditation, we face the blank wall, return to our original stillness, and find relief from a busy mind. Join us!

11/21/2025

Join Us for Blank Friday: A Zen Alternative
Friday, November 28

Open House: 12:00 – 4:00 pm
Bring your family and friends!

Classes: Mindfulness and Meditation
1:00 and 3:00 pm (same class both times)

Open Meditation:
20-minute meditation sessions on the hour and half-hour

On the day of the year that has become most associated with consumerism and shopping, MZMC offers a respite and alternative. In meditation, we face the blank wall, return to our original stillness, and find relief from a busy mind. Join us!

11/15/2025

Rohatsu Sesshin
with Ben Connelly and Ted O'Toole
Sunday, November 30, 7 p.m. – Sunday December 7, 4 p.m.
Hours for full days are 5:45 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
The hours on Sunday, December 7, are 5:45 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
There are a variety of attendance options for in person and online participation.
Please register by November 25 at 5 p.m.
Register
https://www.mnzencenter.org/store/p100/Rohatsu_Sesshin.html

Rohatsu (Buddha's Enlightenment) sesshin is arguably the year's most important event for Zen Buddhists. All over the world we sit in meditation, celebrating Buddha's awakening to an intimacy with all life as our own awakening. This formal retreat includes zazen, kinhin (walking meditation), liturgy, dharma talks, meal breaks, dokusan (one-to-one meetings with the teachers), and work practice.

10/02/2025

Join us for Fall Movie Night! "Perfect Days"
This Saturday, October 4, door opens at 6 pm and movie at 6:30 pm
Refreshments and popcorn will be provided. Please bring a treat to share, if you'd like.
No cost; offered by donation.

This is an evening for the community to enjoy together! Join us for great company and conversation, delicious treats, and a wonderful, award-winning film.

About the film:
Hirayama works as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. He seems content with his simple life. He follows a structured everyday life and dedicates his free time to his passion for music and books. Hirayama also has a fondness for trees and photographs them. More of his past is gradually revealed through a series of unexpected encounters. Written by Wim Wenders and Takuma Takasaki. Directed by Wim Wenders.

This event is sponsored by the MZMC Membership Committee.

Address

3343 E Bde Mka Ska Pkwy
Minneapolis, MN
55408

Website

http://www.mnzencenter.org/

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