About Us
Going deeper
And still deeper–
The green mountains
—Zen master and homeless poet Santoka Teneda (1882-1940)
Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community is part of the White Plum lineage of centers and groups descended from our dharma ancestor, Taizan Maezumi Roshi. We follow the path of the Buddha, a path of realizing and actualizing the oneness of life. As part of the Zen Peacemakers Order, the Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community also emphasizes the three tenets of not-knowing, bearing witness, and loving action.
- Plunging into the Unknown by giving up pre-conceived ideas about ourselves and the world
- Bearing witness to, understanding, and seeing ourselves as part of the joy and suffering of the world
- Loving actions towards ourselves and others that arise out of our bearing witness practice
Location
Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community is located at 3958 Rte 30 in Cornwall, VT, near the college town of Middlebury, and equidistant between Burlington and Rutland. We are surrounded by farmland with a stunning panoramic view of the Green Mountains and Bread Loaf Mountain. BLMZC campus serves as a place for residential and nonresidential Zen practice, as well as meditation and retreats open to the public.
Those who regard worldly affairs as a hindrance to buddha dharma think only that there is no buddha dharma in the secular world; they do not understand that there is no secular world in buddha dharma.
—Zen Master Dogen