
To awaken, liberate and protect all beings…
We are a lay Zen practice community, and offer several opportunities to meditate together each week in our zendo. An aim of our practice is to reduce suffering for all beings and help create a more peaceful and loving world. Our teachers are Henry Shukman and Valerie Forstman, both are Associate Zen Masters of the Sanbo Zen lineage.

Learn to Meditate
What We Do
We offer meditation instruction and orientation to the zendo at all our sitting times, and have a weekly Intro to Zen class on Tuesday evenings and various retreats through the year. We welcome diversity: the practice of zazen is available here to people of every race, nationality, class, gender, sexual orientation, age, and physical ability.
We are happy to connect with you
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Retreats & Visiting Resident Program
The Center
This beautiful center in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountains was hand-built in 1985 by Philip Kapleau Roshi and a number of his students. The building was designed to follow the layout of a traditional Japanese zendo, while incorporating elements of Southwestern architecture, such as its viga beams and straw-and-adobe walls. We have a variety of the traditional drums and bells of a Zen temple as well as an earthen floor. Our zendo sits on a hillside just above the city of Santa Fe amid juniper and piñon trees.
We have two dozen acres of beautiful land around the center. This is a special place, right on the edge of the official city boundary of Santa Fe, within three miles of downtown, where the trees, cactus, plants and rocks, and the numerous wildlife, have hardly been disturbed by humanity. As we sit in our zendo we can feel very intimate with the nature around us. Bobcat, deer, hawk, coyote, rabbit, jackrabbit, snake, elk and many birds frequent this land.

ACCOMMODATION
Staying at Mountain Cloud Zen Center
We have four cabins and a cottage and are able to sleep about 20 people during our sesshins. We also allow a small number of people to stay with us for personal retreats (one month minimum).