Our Story

The Brattleboro Zen Center was founded in 2021, during the covid-19 pandemic. It was started with the intention of building a Zen practice community that provides sanctuary to anyone looking for guidance, friendship, and structure on the Buddhist path. The primary practice that we engage in together is Zen meditation, known as zazen (sitting zen) in Japanese.

In the tradition of Soto Zen, meditation is a communal activity and awakening is a collective matter. We wake up together, not alone. We aspire for our Zen practice to help heal and change the world, and for our own awakening and healing to occur through our relationships to the world and all its inhabitants.

We welcome everyone to this community of practice, regardless of race, color, sex, gender identity, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation.

In-person practice begun early 2022 at Epsilon Spires. In early 2023, the Brattleboro Zen Center moved into its own zendo at Centre Congregational Church in downtown Brattleboro, where we engage in the rituals of zazen, bowing and chanting with the embodied intimacy that has always been at the heart of Zen.

So far, we have mostly refrained from offering “hybrid” programs; our in-person events are geared towards those who are in the room (though audio of Dharma talks are live-streamed on Tuesday nights); morning zazen happens solely over Zoom, five days a week.

See our schedule for a description of the programs we offer, or the latest monthly newsletter for an up to date description of the current month’s offerings.

While community spread of COVID-19 remains low, masking is optional for our in-person practice. Please review our covid guidelines before attending an in-person event.