Mountains and Waters Zen Community

The practice of awakening is one with the practice of transforming the earth which is our true body.

Sangha, spiritual community, takes many forms and many levels.

We are slowly building a residential spiritual community including long and short-term residents. Daily practice here includes sitting meditation, work, and living together, plus monthly retreats and 3-month training periods. We practice in the “just sitting” style of Uchiyama Roshi’s Antaiji. Although our practice is not strictly traditional – for instance, we do not burn incense indoors, and our ceremonial life includes many forms in addition to simple Zen ceremony – we seek people whose primary commitment is spiritual life.

Look at the membership page to better understand what it might mean to be a resident.

In addition to residential practice, a Zen study and practice group met for about four years at the Northfield Buddhist Meditation Center. That group is now on hiatus, but its current evolution includes a monthly potluck group at the farm, sharing food and study.

Retreats and talks are offered from time to time, and listed in the calendar. You can ask Shodo to present something for your group.

Founder Shodo Spring is a Zen priest, Dharma heir of Shohaku Okumura Roshi, mother and grandmother, leader of the 2013 Compassionate Earth Walk, author of Take Up Your Life: Making Spirituality Work in the Real World (Tuttle 1996) plus many essays in anthologies.