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
Creativity and Zen: Expressing Our Practice
with Tim Burkett
Wednesdays, May 26 – June 30
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
Our creative energies come from some place deeper than the cognitive or conscious self, which is sometimes called Big Mind. We will focus on finding ways to receive those energies and cultivate a relationship with them. We will practice sponsoring rather than controlling these energies and express them in the creative activity of our choice: journaling, poetry, painting, movement, etc. This class will include sessions of guided meditation, weekly inspirations for your creative expressions, and opportunities to share your creations, if you wish to do so.
Four Noble Truths: How do we walk the path from suffering to peace?
with Ted O'Toole
Wednesdays, 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
The first and most fundamental teaching of the Buddha is the Middle Way: the alleviation of suffering through compassionate action, meditation and mindful living. The Four Noble Truths of dissatisfaction, its cause, its cessation, and the path to end it explain how and why to practice this Middle Way. In this class we will investigate how suffering is caused by desire and aversion, by wanting things to be other than how they are, and how we can follow the Buddhist Eightfold Path to move towards a deep and quiet joy.
with Tim Burkett
Wednesdays, May 26 – June 30
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
Our creative energies come from some place deeper than the cognitive or conscious self, which is sometimes called Big Mind. We will focus on finding ways to receive those energies and cultivate a relationship with them. We will practice sponsoring rather than controlling these energies and express them in the creative activity of our choice: journaling, poetry, painting, movement, etc. This class will include sessions of guided meditation, weekly inspirations for your creative expressions, and opportunities to share your creations, if you wish to do so.
Four Noble Truths: How do we walk the path from suffering to peace?
with Ted O'Toole
Wednesdays, 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
The first and most fundamental teaching of the Buddha is the Middle Way: the alleviation of suffering through compassionate action, meditation and mindful living. The Four Noble Truths of dissatisfaction, its cause, its cessation, and the path to end it explain how and why to practice this Middle Way. In this class we will investigate how suffering is caused by desire and aversion, by wanting things to be other than how they are, and how we can follow the Buddhist Eightfold Path to move towards a deep and quiet joy.
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 p.m. OR Thursday mornings from 7:30 – 9:00 a.m.), 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.
Online Spring Practice Period
The Six Paramitas: The Cause and Result of Liberation
with Ben Connelly
Wednesday evenings, March 31 – May 19, 7:15 – 8:45 p.m.
(There is also a morning option for those who cannot attend Wednesday evenings: Thursdays, April 1 -May 20, 7:30 – 9:00 a.m.)
$145 members | $180 nonmembers | $70 scholarship | $180 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Click here to register.
The six paramitas are generosity, ethical activity, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom. These practices, these qualities, are at the root of Mahayana Buddhism. The Mahayanasamgraha (compendium of Mahayana) calls them "the cause and the result of transformation of the root": the root of suffering, freedom, healing, and of our very lives. They provide a practical path for enacting our vows to free all beings, which surely includes ourselves, from suffering. In this practice period, we will together bring these into our lives and see how they are already here.
Fall Practice Period with Tim Burkett: Topic TBA
Wednesday evenings, September 29 – November 17, 7:15 – 8:45 p.m.
(There is also a morning option for those who cannot attend Wednesday evenings: Thursday mornings September 30 – November 18, 7:30 – 9:00 a.m.)
$145 members | $180 nonmembers | $70 scholarship | $180 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
Participants are expected to attend the eight weekly meetings (Wednesday evenings from 7:15 – 8:45 p.m. OR Thursday mornings from 7:30 – 9:00 a.m.), 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.
Online Spring Practice Period
The Six Paramitas: The Cause and Result of Liberation
with Ben Connelly
Wednesday evenings, March 31 – May 19, 7:15 – 8:45 p.m.
(There is also a morning option for those who cannot attend Wednesday evenings: Thursdays, April 1 -May 20, 7:30 – 9:00 a.m.)
$145 members | $180 nonmembers | $70 scholarship | $180 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Click here to register.
The six paramitas are generosity, ethical activity, patience, energy, meditation, and wisdom. These practices, these qualities, are at the root of Mahayana Buddhism. The Mahayanasamgraha (compendium of Mahayana) calls them "the cause and the result of transformation of the root": the root of suffering, freedom, healing, and of our very lives. They provide a practical path for enacting our vows to free all beings, which surely includes ourselves, from suffering. In this practice period, we will together bring these into our lives and see how they are already here.
Fall Practice Period with Tim Burkett: Topic TBA
Wednesday evenings, September 29 – November 17, 7:15 – 8:45 p.m.
(There is also a morning option for those who cannot attend Wednesday evenings: Thursday mornings September 30 – November 18, 7:30 – 9:00 a.m.)
$145 members | $180 nonmembers | $70 scholarship | $180 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
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
China Root: Taoism, Ch'an, and Original Zen
Every Tuesday mornings, May 4 – June 8 (meeting weekly), 7:30 – 9:00 a.m.
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
I have often thought of Taoism as the mother of Zen. In this study group, we'll be reading the wonderful new book China Root: Taoism, Ch'an, and Original Zen by poet and translator David Hinton. This succinct, readable book helps us to better understand the Taoist influences on Ch'an teaching.
I'll send out questions a week before the first meeting. Please purchase a copy of the book and register at least a week before the class begins.
Fall Morning Study Group with Ben Connelly
Topic TBA
Every other Tuesday morning September 7 – November 16 (meeting every other week), 7:30 – 9:00 a.m.
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
Spring Morning Study Group with Tim Burkett
China Root: Taoism, Ch'an, and Original Zen
Every Tuesday mornings, May 4 – June 8 (meeting weekly), 7:30 – 9:00 a.m.
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
I have often thought of Taoism as the mother of Zen. In this study group, we'll be reading the wonderful new book China Root: Taoism, Ch'an, and Original Zen by poet and translator David Hinton. This succinct, readable book helps us to better understand the Taoist influences on Ch'an teaching.
I'll send out questions a week before the first meeting. Please purchase a copy of the book and register at least a week before the class begins.
Fall Morning Study Group with Ben Connelly
Topic TBA
Every other Tuesday morning September 7 – November 16 (meeting every other week), 7:30 – 9:00 a.m.
$110 members | $135 nonmembers | $50 scholarship | $140 scholarship supporter
Find out more about scholarships.
Please register five days in advance.
Register
Advanced Classes
Vimalakirti Sutra with Tim Burkett
Wednesdays, July 7 – August 11
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
Wednesdays, July 7 – August 11
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
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 Teachers Tim Burkett and Ted O'Toole, or a Senior Teacher (Ben Connelly, Bussho Lahn, Rosemary Taylor, and Susan Nelson). Tim Burkett, and Ted O'Toole meet 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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