Soto Zen Meditation Practice in Chicago

Ancient Dragon Zen Gate is a community of practitioners committed to being a home for Soto Zen meditation practice in Chicago. Our teacher is Taigen Dan Leighton, author, scholar, and Dharma teacher in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. We hope to make this practice available to anyone interested, and welcome a diversity of participants. We welcome people of every race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, creed, and religious background. We welcome single people, people in committed relationships, and families. You are welcome to join this spiritual communion.

Monday Evening Zazen

In addition to regular weekend meditation retreats and seminars (see Schedule page), we meet weekly for zazen (zen meditation) on Monday evenings at The Cenacle Retreat and Conference Center, 513 W. Fullerton Parkway, in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. In this contemplative setting, we sit one forty-minute period of zen meditation and then conduct a brief service in the Soto Zen style which includes the chanting of traditional Zen texts. A Dharma talk and group discussion follows. All are welcome. If you have not practiced Buddhist meditation before, please arrive at 6:45 pm for an orientation to the zendo and meditation instruction. This instruction at 6:45 pm is required before attending our meditation events. For more information, email us.

Thursday Evening Zazen and Classes

We also meet weekly for zazen on Thursday evenings at the Cenacle. The Thursday events begin 7 pm. Most weeks we will have forty-minute periods of zazen followed by ongoing classes on Zen and Buddhist texts and topics, led by Taigen Dan Leighton. We will be posting details on the Schedule page. The current series of classes is on the koans, or teaching stories, of the great Chinese Zen master Dongshan (807-869; Tozan in Japanese). Dongshan is founder of the Soto lineage in China (Chinese: Ts'ao-tung), brought to Japan by Dogen in the 13th century and to America by Suzuki Roshi in the 1960s. So Dongshan is very important background to our practice. One Thursday a month, usually the third Thursday, we will host the monthly meetings of the Chicago Buddhist Peace Fellowship. All are welcome. Please try and come Mondays at 6:45 pm for meditation instruction. For those who cannot attend on Mondays, meditation instruction can be arranged by appointment only at 6:30 pm Thursdays; email us.