Blog

Message from Joshin (February 2024)

Dear friends, We’ve been doing some cozy and heartwarming things this winter at Bread Loaf Mountain. Some of you already heard about Valentine’s Day Gather Anniversary and Peacemaker Quilt Party. I hope you’ll enjoy the write up below and the article that our local newspaper ran about the event. Many

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It’s Time for Some GATHER Celebrations!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, January 14th and 15th Gather continues to welcome guests every Wednesday through Sunday, and to function as a center for conviviality, artistic activities, sharing food together and cultivating friendships. We recognize that Gather flourishes because of the many friends who serve as

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An Impression of Residency from Busshin Nash

My residency at BLMZC was a somewhat unique experience. I had planned to move in after graduating from Middlebury College in 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the campus shut down completely, so I ended up moving in halfway through my final semester in March 2020. At the time,

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New Year’s Intentions – A Note from Joshin 

New Year’s Intentions – A Note from Joshin  Onward in Love! May each of us who wants peace on earth Make a commitment to transform the anger, hatred and violence in our own hearts. May each of us who wants a world without conflict, Make a commitment to resolve, in

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Message from Board Member Ric So’on Dunworth

Being a Board Member of BLMZC continues to be one of the most rewarding ways for me of giving back and helping to serve the larger Sangha. I had the privilege of joining the Board very early in the emergence of Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community. I’ve joyfully watched the

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In the news: “Gather Offers Relief for Loneliness”

Gather offers relief for hunger and loneliness Addison Independent November 30, 2023   ‘Gather’ offers relief for hunger & loneliness GATHER AT 48 Merchants Row in Middlebury hosted a Thanksgiving dinner last Thursday for around 60 people, many of them houseless and/or struggling with other challenges. Pictured here, from left,

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This month at Bread Loaf Mountain Zen: The Buddha’s Awakening

This week we join Buddhists worldwide in commemorating the Buddha’s awakening by entering deep retreat both in our temple and at Gather. Giving ourselves completely to retreat we gift ourselves with a chance to remember that the human heart cannot cut itself off from the world. Our deepest nature is relationship, belonging to all

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December Note from Gather

Our first Thanksgiving at Gather was very special. You can read about it in this really nice article in our local newspaper. This fall we saw a new tent encampment pop up in the downtown of Middlebury. It created a bit of a stir when some of the people living

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Message from Board Member Colleen Jishu Brown

Community-Engaged Zen practice can take so many forms. For me, one of the ways is to serve on the board of directors at Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community. I’ve done this since the beginning of BLMZC in 2017, when the idea of a physical Zen center in our community was

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