MZMC classes support and encourage meditative practice, compassion, and joyful living. Our course curriculum provides structured support for exploration of Buddhist teachings to clarify the fundamental questions of our lives. On this page, you will find information about:
We offer scholarships for all our classes, retreats, and events to lower accessibility barriers to people of color, members of other historically marginalized communities, and those who would be prevented from participating by financial need. Look for the scholarship rate and scholarship supporter rate listed below the description of each class. Click here to find out more about scholarships.
- Beginning Classes
- Foundations of Practice Classes
- Practice Periods
- Study Groups
- Advanced Classes
- One-to-one Teacher Meetings
We offer scholarships for all our classes, retreats, and events to lower accessibility barriers to people of color, members of other historically marginalized communities, and those who would be prevented from participating by financial need. Look for the scholarship rate and scholarship supporter rate listed below the description of each class. Click here to find out more about scholarships.
Introduction to Zen MeditationFor those who are curious about meditation, or would like to test the waters, Introduction to Zen Meditation is an introductory series of talks offered each week. Each session includes meditation instruction and teaching on how meditation and Zen relate to daily life.
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Basic Zen Forms and EtiquetteWould you like to become familiar with the basics of traditional Zen forms: bows, entries and exits, walking meditation, etc? This offering is designed for anyone who'd like an overview of forms to become more familiar and comfortable joining us for morning zazen or one of our sesshins.
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Foundations of Practice
A Buddhist Response to the Climate Crisis
with Ted O'Toole and Janet Brown
Offered online and in person
Wednesdays, February 16 – March 23, 7:15 – 8:45 pm
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
How do we respond to the climate crisis as bodhisattvas, when it can be so easy to feel overwhelmed with grief, loss, and a sense of urgency? In this class we will each create our personal climate story in a supportive environment. We will employ a combination of journaling, small group work, and lectures relating to the science and spirituality of climate change, as well as to the intersection of the climate crisis, racial injustice, and rising inequality. We will use as our text Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis, by David Loy.
Presenters: Ted O'Toole is the Guiding Teacher of Minnesota Zen Meditation Center. He has attended MZMC since 1993, received the lay precepts from Shohaku Okumura in 1995, and was ordained by Tim Burkett in 2005.
Janet Brown is the former Associate Director of Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy for 12 years, a trainer with Climate Reality, and the leader of a delegation to the UN Climate Conference in Paris in 2015. Janet has been part of MZMC since 2011 and has served on the board of directors and currently serves on the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access (DEIA) and Children’s Programming Committees.
Zen Ritual and Liturgy: What is at the heart of bowing and chanting?
with Susan Nelson
Offered online and in person
Wednesdays, May 25 – June 29, 7:15 – 8:45 pm
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
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.
Original Zen: What were the first teachings?
with Bussho Lahn
Offered online and in person
Thursdays, August 18 – September 15, 7:15 – 8:45 pm
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
1500 years ago in China, Buddhism took a new and dynamic form called Zen that still thrives to this day. Direct knowledge beyond words, spontaneity, harmony with nature and bare attention to just this moment are hallmarks of this tradition. We'll study some of the earliest and most influential Zen teachers, each with a unique and beautiful expression of every person's ability to awaken now.
with Ted O'Toole and Janet Brown
Offered online and in person
Wednesdays, February 16 – March 23, 7:15 – 8:45 pm
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
How do we respond to the climate crisis as bodhisattvas, when it can be so easy to feel overwhelmed with grief, loss, and a sense of urgency? In this class we will each create our personal climate story in a supportive environment. We will employ a combination of journaling, small group work, and lectures relating to the science and spirituality of climate change, as well as to the intersection of the climate crisis, racial injustice, and rising inequality. We will use as our text Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis, by David Loy.
Presenters: Ted O'Toole is the Guiding Teacher of Minnesota Zen Meditation Center. He has attended MZMC since 1993, received the lay precepts from Shohaku Okumura in 1995, and was ordained by Tim Burkett in 2005.
Janet Brown is the former Associate Director of Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy for 12 years, a trainer with Climate Reality, and the leader of a delegation to the UN Climate Conference in Paris in 2015. Janet has been part of MZMC since 2011 and has served on the board of directors and currently serves on the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access (DEIA) and Children’s Programming Committees.
Zen Ritual and Liturgy: What is at the heart of bowing and chanting?
with Susan Nelson
Offered online and in person
Wednesdays, May 25 – June 29, 7:15 – 8:45 pm
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
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.
Original Zen: What were the first teachings?
with Bussho Lahn
Offered online and in person
Thursdays, August 18 – September 15, 7:15 – 8:45 pm
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
1500 years ago in China, Buddhism took a new and dynamic form called Zen that still thrives to this day. Direct knowledge beyond words, spontaneity, harmony with nature and bare attention to just this moment are hallmarks of this tradition. We'll study some of the earliest and most influential Zen teachers, each with a unique and beautiful expression of every person's ability to awaken now.
Practice Periods
Practice Periods are an integral part of traditional Buddhism, and trace their origins back to the historical Buddha Shakyamuni, when the nuns and monks would take time during the monsoon seasons of India to devote themselves to intensified meditation, study, and community building.
Participants are expected to attend the eight weekly meetings (Wednesday evenings from 7:15 – 8:45 pm OR Thursday mornings from 7:30 – 9:00 am), commit to regular zazen practice, attend at least one day of retreat (for which there is an additional cost) and one work practice day, read the assigned text(s), and have regular meetings with an assigned practice partner.
Spring Practice Period: Awakening Together
with Ben Connelly
Offered online and in person
Wednesday evenings, March 30 – May 18, 7:15 – 8:45 pm (There is also a morning option for those who cannot attend Wednesday evenings: Thursday mornings March 31 – May 19, 7:30 – 9:00 am)
$145 members | $180 nonmembers | $70 scholarship | $180 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
Mahayana Buddhism offers a way of awakening with all beings. Early Buddhist literature and the koans that formed Zen are mostly records of conversations. The embodied tradition of Buddhism is largely one of community ritual, study, and meditation. This practice period will focus on the joys and challenges of devotion to this intimate way in the flux of reality: our personalities, cultures, harmful systems, interdependence, and buddha nature.
Please bring a copy of Larry Yang’s Awakening Together, The Spiritual Practice of Inclusivity and Community to the first practice period meeting. The book is available directly from Wisdom Publications or Better World Books.
Fall Practice Period: Lotus Sutra
with Ted O'Toole and Jiryu Matt Cisler
Offered online and in person
Wednesday evenings, September 28 – November 16, 7:15 – 8:45 pm (There is also a morning option for those who cannot attend Wednesday evenings: Thursday mornings September 29 – November 17, 7:30 – 9:00 am)
$145 members | $180 nonmembers | $70 scholarship | $180 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
The topic of the Fall Practice Period will be the Lotus Sutra, using the translation by Gene Reeves. The Lotus Sutra is one of the world's great religious texts and has been highly influential in the development of Mahayana Buddhism.
We will study the first half of the Lotus Sutra in the Fall Practice Period, and the second half in the Spring 2023 Practice Period. The first won't be a prerequisite for the second.
Participants are expected to attend the eight weekly meetings (Wednesday evenings from 7:15 – 8:45 pm OR Thursday mornings from 7:30 – 9:00 am), commit to regular zazen practice, attend at least one day of retreat (for which there is an additional cost) and one work practice day, read the assigned text(s), and have regular meetings with an assigned practice partner.
Spring Practice Period: Awakening Together
with Ben Connelly
Offered online and in person
Wednesday evenings, March 30 – May 18, 7:15 – 8:45 pm (There is also a morning option for those who cannot attend Wednesday evenings: Thursday mornings March 31 – May 19, 7:30 – 9:00 am)
$145 members | $180 nonmembers | $70 scholarship | $180 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
Mahayana Buddhism offers a way of awakening with all beings. Early Buddhist literature and the koans that formed Zen are mostly records of conversations. The embodied tradition of Buddhism is largely one of community ritual, study, and meditation. This practice period will focus on the joys and challenges of devotion to this intimate way in the flux of reality: our personalities, cultures, harmful systems, interdependence, and buddha nature.
Please bring a copy of Larry Yang’s Awakening Together, The Spiritual Practice of Inclusivity and Community to the first practice period meeting. The book is available directly from Wisdom Publications or Better World Books.
Fall Practice Period: Lotus Sutra
with Ted O'Toole and Jiryu Matt Cisler
Offered online and in person
Wednesday evenings, September 28 – November 16, 7:15 – 8:45 pm (There is also a morning option for those who cannot attend Wednesday evenings: Thursday mornings September 29 – November 17, 7:30 – 9:00 am)
$145 members | $180 nonmembers | $70 scholarship | $180 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
The topic of the Fall Practice Period will be the Lotus Sutra, using the translation by Gene Reeves. The Lotus Sutra is one of the world's great religious texts and has been highly influential in the development of Mahayana Buddhism.
We will study the first half of the Lotus Sutra in the Fall Practice Period, and the second half in the Spring 2023 Practice Period. The first won't be a prerequisite for the second.
Morning Study Groups
These are advanced study groups open to those who have been in a previous study group at MZMC or by permission of the teachers.
Spring Morning Study Group with Tim Burkett
Not Always So
Offered online and in person
Tuesdays, May 10 – June 14, 7:30 – 9:00 am
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Register
Tim will be using the book Not Always So by his root teacher Suzuki Roshi; he will focus on the last two thirds of it. Tim feels fortunate to be able to pass on teachings that include: “Be yourself in the present moment, always yourself, without sticking to an old self. You forget all about yourself and are refreshed.” The mornings will include short talks by Tim, as well as small and large group discussions.
Fall Morning Study Group with Tim Burkett and Ann Bauleke
American Roots of Zen
Tuesdays, August 30 – October 4, 7:30 – 9:00 am
Offered online and in person.
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Register
Join us to explore three authors who grounded our ancestors, and still ground us, in fundamental Zen teachings without knowing it.
"Simplify, simplify, simplify! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand." Thoreau
"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes." Whitman
"Love is anterior to life, posterior to death, initial of creation, and the exponent of breath." Dickinson
Spring Morning Study Group with Tim Burkett
Not Always So
Offered online and in person
Tuesdays, May 10 – June 14, 7:30 – 9:00 am
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Register
Tim will be using the book Not Always So by his root teacher Suzuki Roshi; he will focus on the last two thirds of it. Tim feels fortunate to be able to pass on teachings that include: “Be yourself in the present moment, always yourself, without sticking to an old self. You forget all about yourself and are refreshed.” The mornings will include short talks by Tim, as well as small and large group discussions.
Fall Morning Study Group with Tim Burkett and Ann Bauleke
American Roots of Zen
Tuesdays, August 30 – October 4, 7:30 – 9:00 am
Offered online and in person.
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Register
Join us to explore three authors who grounded our ancestors, and still ground us, in fundamental Zen teachings without knowing it.
"Simplify, simplify, simplify! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand." Thoreau
"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes." Whitman
"Love is anterior to life, posterior to death, initial of creation, and the exponent of breath." Dickinson
Advanced Classes
Selections from the Pali Canon: What were the first teachings of Buddhism?
with Ben Connelly
Offered online and in person.
Wednesdays, January 5 – February 9, 7:15 – 8:45 pm
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
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.
Participants should arrive at the first class with a copy of Bhikku Bodhi's, In the Buddha's Words which can be acquired online here:
https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/In-the-Buddha-s-Words---An-Anthology-of-Discourses-from-the-Pali-Canon-9780861714919
Or from the publisher directly.
https://wisdomexperience.org/product/buddhas-words/
Zen Poetry: How is the inexpressible expressed?
with Ted O'Toole
Offered online and in person.
Wednesdays, July 6 – August 10, 7:15 – 8:45 pm
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
For the first two sessions of this class we will have presentations about Chinese poetry from Venerable Ding, a Chinese Ch'an nun who has extensive experience with Ch'an poetry and is currently staying at MZMC. She will be assisted by three or four Chinese experts on poetry who will appear on Zoom. In subsequent classes we will look at classic Zen poetry from Japan, selections from Daughters of Emptiness: Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns, and some contemporary Zen poetry. We will engage in a bit of poetry writing ourselves by, for example, going outside in a receptive mood, and seeing if any haiku come to mind. Our primary text for the course will be The Poetry of Zen, translated by Sam Hamill and J.P. Seaton. In this class we will wade into one of the world's great bodies of spiritual literature, and find how it can come alive in our modern lives.
with Ben Connelly
Offered online and in person.
Wednesdays, January 5 – February 9, 7:15 – 8:45 pm
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
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.
Participants should arrive at the first class with a copy of Bhikku Bodhi's, In the Buddha's Words which can be acquired online here:
https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/In-the-Buddha-s-Words---An-Anthology-of-Discourses-from-the-Pali-Canon-9780861714919
Or from the publisher directly.
https://wisdomexperience.org/product/buddhas-words/
Zen Poetry: How is the inexpressible expressed?
with Ted O'Toole
Offered online and in person.
Wednesdays, July 6 – August 10, 7:15 – 8:45 pm
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
For the first two sessions of this class we will have presentations about Chinese poetry from Venerable Ding, a Chinese Ch'an nun who has extensive experience with Ch'an poetry and is currently staying at MZMC. She will be assisted by three or four Chinese experts on poetry who will appear on Zoom. In subsequent classes we will look at classic Zen poetry from Japan, selections from Daughters of Emptiness: Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns, and some contemporary Zen poetry. We will engage in a bit of poetry writing ourselves by, for example, going outside in a receptive mood, and seeing if any haiku come to mind. Our primary text for the course will be The Poetry of Zen, translated by Sam Hamill and J.P. Seaton. In this class we will wade into one of the world's great bodies of spiritual literature, and find how it can come alive in our modern lives.
One-to-one Meetings (Dokusan and Practice Meetings)
Do you have questions about Zen? Do you want advice about establishing or maintaining a meditation practice? Does sitting present you with physical challenges? Are you struggling to apply your practice in your daily life? Do you wonder if you're really ready to do a retreat?
Zen Center offers meetings with experienced Zen teachers to address these kinds of questions. Teachers at Zen Center very much enjoy getting to know other Zen practitioners and encouraging others in their practice. Two kinds of meetings are offered:
If you would like to meet with a teacher, contact the office to arrange a time. You may ask for a specific teacher or have one assigned to you.
Zen Center offers meetings with experienced Zen teachers to address these kinds of questions. Teachers at Zen Center very much enjoy getting to know other Zen practitioners and encouraging others in their practice. Two kinds of meetings are offered:
- Dokusan is a meeting with Guiding Teacher Ted O'Toole, or a Senior Teacher (Tim Burkett, Ben Connelly, Bussho Lahn, and Susan Nelson). Ted O'Toole meets in dokusan with Zen Center members; the Senior Teachers meet with both members and non-members.
- Practice Meetings are opportunities to meet with the Center's teachers. Anyone, members or non-members, can sign up for practice meetings.
If you would like to meet with a teacher, contact the office to arrange a time. You may ask for a specific teacher or have one assigned to you.
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