The Minnesota Zen Meditation Center (Kounzan Ganshoji, "Cultivating Clouds Mountain, Living in Vow Temple") is an urban, non-residential,

Sōtō Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngsh� ...

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

practice community in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Since 2019, MZMC has been led by two co-guiding Dharma teachers, Tim Burkett and Ted O'Toole.

History

Minnesota Zen Meditation Center (MZMC) was founded in 1972 by Dainin Katagiri Roshi (1928-1990), who was invited to come to Minnesota by a small but growing group of practitioners, many of whom had ties to the San Francisco Zen Center where Katagiri had served as a priest since 1965. Upon first arriving in Minnesota, Katagiri held

zazen ''Zazen'' (literally " seated meditation"; ja, 座禅; , pronounced ) is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition. However, the term is a general one not unique to Zen, and thus technicall ...

and services on the second floor of a 4-plex apartment building in South East Minneapolis, establishing himself as the first Zen teacher to settle in the Midwest. The burgeoning group officially incorporated as the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in December of 1973, and by May of 1975 had raised enough funds (aided partially by royalties from Robert Pirsig's book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance ''Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values'' is a book by Robert M. Pirsig first published in 1974. It is a work of fictionalized autobiography and is the first of Pirsig's texts in which he explores his concept of Qua ...
) to purchase the white stucco house at 3343 East Bde Maka Ska Parkway, where MZMC still resides today. The official opening ceremony was held on February 1, 1976. Since its purchase, the MZMC building has undergone several renovations. Most recently, the 2019 "Open Hearts - Open Spaces" fundraising campaign raised enough capital to fund the construction of a new zendo, a temple gate, an expanded library, as well as the addition of handicap accessible bathrooms, the repair of aging stucco, and the replacement of several windows.

Programming

The Minnesota Zen Meditation Center offers Zen meditation (zazen), lectures, work practice, contemporary retreats and traditional sesshin A ''sesshin'' (接心, or also 摂心/攝心 literally "touching the heart-mind") is a period of intensive meditation (zazen) in a Zen monastery. While the daily routine in the monastery requires the monks to meditate several hours a day, d ...
, as well as classes and workshops on Buddhist studies.

Guiding Teachers

Since 1972, Minnesota Zen Meditation Center has had five guiding teachers: * Dainin Katagiri (1972 - 1990) * Shohaku Okumura (1993 - 1996) *Karen Sunna (1996 - 2002) *Tim Burkett (2002 - Present) *Ted O'Toole (co-guiding teacher 2019 - Present)

History

Programming

Guiding Teachers

References

See also