Minnesota Zen Meditation Center

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).

Learn more about Zen Ritual and Liturgy: What is at the heart of bowing and chanting?with Ben Connelly and Deb MielkeSix...
08/10/2026

Learn more about Zen Ritual and Liturgy:
What is at the heart of bowing and chanting?
with Ben Connelly and Deb Mielke
Six Wednesday evenings, August 19 - September 23
7:15 - 8:45 pm (Offered in person and online.)
Register
https://www.mnzencenter.org/store/p143/Zen_Ritual_and_Liturgy.html

Ritual is a basic component of our traditional style practice at MZMC and has been central to Buddhist and Zen practice for thousands of years. This class is an investigation of both how and why we do ritual: bowing, chanting, tending altars, and others. We'll also study the meaning and purpose for some of the chants we use at our Center.

Join us! MZMC is honored to host, Dr. Leni de Mik, a remarkable person and teacher, who has dedicated decades of her cli...
07/13/2026

Join us! MZMC is honored to host, Dr. Leni de Mik, a remarkable person and teacher, who has dedicated decades of her clinical practice to working with trauma survivors. "Leni reminds us that we are not powerless." --Parker Palmer

"How Shall I Stand Between River and Land: Heart Questions for Uncertain Times"
Book Study with Author Leni de Mik
Thursday nights July 16, 23, and 30
7: 00 - 8:30 pm Offered in-person only.
Register
https://www.mnzencenter.org/store/p161/Between_River_and_Land.html

Leni de Mik, a "Buddhist Christian" artist, psychologist, activist, and author, has borne witness to the deepest winters—enduring a childhood in Nazi-occupied Holland and surviving the Hunger Winter, as well as dedicating many decades to working with trauma survivors in clinical practice. Her new book, "How Shall I Stand Between River and Land?: Heart Questions for Uncertain Times," is an invitation to find balance and courage amidst the chaos of our times. The title points to the central question: How do we anchor ourselves while the world shifts beneath our feet? Her reflections remind us that the answer begins with inner awareness of the choices we make, revealing the ultimate truth: that every moment is a choice.

This morning MZMC's guiding teacher helped to officiate a funeral for the 52 people who have died while detained by ICE ...
07/04/2026

This morning MZMC's guiding teacher helped to officiate a funeral for the 52 people who have died while detained by ICE since January 2025. May their families and friends be held in love, and may we practice for liberation for all.

Day of Practice with Ted O'TooleSaturday, June 27, 8 am – 5 pmOffered in person only. A vegetarian lunch is served.Regis...
06/20/2026

Day of Practice
with Ted O'Toole
Saturday, June 27, 8 am – 5 pm
Offered in person only. A vegetarian lunch is served.
Register: https://www.mnzencenter.org/store/p153/Day_of_Practice%2C_June.html

Settle into a day of the stillness and quiet of Zen. This restorative retreat offering will include a broad range of Soto Zen and MZMC activities, including a focus on creative writing as a path to mindfulness and self-awareness. The day will include zazen, kinhin, a dharma talk, work practice, and two outdoor walks followed by creative writing sessions guided by prompts. Participants will have the opportunity to share brief excerpts from their writing with the group but will not be required to do so.

This retreat will be less meditation intensive and physically rigorous than other MZMC retreats. It will be an opportunity for silent retreat, and an open door to total engagement with the present moment.

Memorial for Tomoe KatagiriWith sadness, we bring you the news that Tomoe Katagiri passed away in Minneapolis on May 30t...
06/06/2026

Memorial for Tomoe Katagiri

With sadness, we bring you the news that Tomoe Katagiri passed away in Minneapolis on May 30th. She was 94 years old. When her husband, the late Dainin Katagiri, founded MZMC in 1972, Tomoe was by his side. Energetic and diligent, she helped to develop our center in countless ways. As one of the first people in North America to learn and teach the practice of sewing Buddhist ceremonial robes, Tomoe went on to become a master of Zen sewing. For over forty years she quietly guided students to sew the rakusu and okesa that they would wear, transmitting a deep reverence for Buddha’s robes, making lifelong friends, and passing on her skills to a new generation of teachers. Throughout her long life, Tomoe was a beloved model of devotion to sewing as spiritual practice and Buddhism as a caring way of life. You can learn more about Tomoe’s life and teaching at www.mnzencenter.org/tomoe-katagiri

Here is a passage from an article about Tomoe-san from Tricycle magazine: "Toward the end of our interview I asked Tomoe what is most important about Nyoho-e. She leaned in. 'Through sewing you learn a lot about the Dharma, Buddha's teaching. It’s not just sewing! One stitch. Tiny stitch. When you think how many yards you will sew, chanting the Buddha's name with every stitch, if you count all the stitches, you say, "I cannot do it!" But, if you do this stitch: one stitch. one stitch. one stitch continuously, you will finish. If you stop, if you quit, even if you are very good at stitching, you will never finish. Just continue! And when you continue with the stitching you will have many problems. Experience. Yes. That is your life. You can learn about oneness just chanting refuge in the Buddha with every stitch, and your life, that is dharma stitching.'"

MZMC will host a memorial service for Tomoe Katagiri on Sunday, June 28th, from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. with reception to follow. Information about the service and a Zoom link will be posted here, as it is available:
https://www.mnzencenter.org/memorial-tomoe-katagiri.html

MZMC will offer memorial ekos during morning service on June 11th and July 16th.

With deep gratitude for the offerings and life of our beloved teacher Tomoe-san,

Ben Connelly, Guiding Teacher

G​uiding Teacher Ben Connelly offered the invocation at a candlelight vigil for health care with Rev. Dr. Kelly Sherman-...
06/06/2026

G​uiding Teacher Ben Connelly offered the invocation at a candlelight vigil for health care with Rev. Dr. Kelly Sherman-Conroy and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan​, HIV/AIDS activists, the national Presidents of AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers and more who couldn't stop talking about how Minnesota in 2026 showed the world that we can truly take care of each other. Let us ​follow the Buddha's teachings to provide the four requisites, food, shelter, clothing, and medicine, and provide health care for all.

Guiding Teacher Transition CeremonyPlease join us for this community celebration!Saturday afternoon, May 30Ceremonies 1:...
05/28/2026

Guiding Teacher Transition Ceremony
Please join us for this community celebration!
Saturday afternoon, May 30
Ceremonies 1:00 – 2:15
Reception follows the ceremony.
Join online: https://www.mnzencenter.org/zoom-program-links.html

All are welcome to join in this community celebration to thank Ted O'Toole for his years of service as guiding teacher and to welcome Ben Connelly to the role. We will have a ceremony with time for offering thanks to Ted and Dharma dialogue with Ben followed by a reception.

Pali Canon, Methods of Meditationwith Ben ConnellyWednesday evenings, May 27 - July 1 (six weeks)7:15 - 8:45 pmOffered o...
05/19/2026

Pali Canon, Methods of Meditation
with Ben Connelly
Wednesday evenings, May 27 - July 1 (six weeks)
7:15 - 8:45 pm
Offered online and in person.
Register
https://www.mnzencenter.org/store/p142/Pali_Canon%2C_Methods_of_Meditation.html

The Pali Canon is the first written record of Buddhism and is widely regarded as the closest we can come to the actual teachings of the Buddha and his earliest followers. Emphasizing practical teachings and complete devotion to letting go of the causes of suffering, the Pali canon has inspired billions of people. We'll study how to bring these first Buddhist practices and teachings into our lives.

After his talk at Berkeley Zen Center, guiding teacher Ben Connelly joined abbot Linda Gallijan and many others for a Ma...
05/09/2026

After his talk at Berkeley Zen Center, guiding teacher Ben Connelly joined abbot Linda Gallijan and many others for a May Day march.

Ben Connelly's been on the road sharing teachings from his newest book, joining in the practice at ten temples in the la...
04/25/2026

Ben Connelly's been on the road sharing teachings from his newest book, joining in the practice at ten temples in the last couple weeks. Here he is with Tenmyo-san (who was in residence at MZMC last year) at San Francisco Zen Center and with a few other wonderful folks along the way.

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3343 E Bde Mka Ska Pkwy
Minneapolis, MN
55408

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