Zen Practice

Zen Practice is the craft of a bodily-minded realization through the experience of stillness and non-duality. Through the practices of meditation and inner and outer attentionality, we open ourselves to a vibrant and vast experience of shared aliveness.

Through meditation and mindfulness, I have found an interior freedom. Sometimes it is a relatively unobstructed interior freedom. When it is not there, when I feel obstructed, I know how to make my way back to this interior freedom. Through Zen practice, I have a physical feel for the mind of freedom. And I know it is always there, even when I don’t experience it. If I can be alert and patient, I find that obstructions usually precede an increased clarity, openness, and newly relevant thinking. Then there is the refuge of breath, of the bliss of breath, and of a stable field of mind.

- Zentatsu Baker Roshi

Below you find our Zen Practice Events in 2023. We offer monthly meditation weekends (Zazenkai), Practice Weeks, and Work Practice Weeks. If you would like to stay for longer and participate in the daily monastic life, make sure to also check out our options for Student Stays or Residency.

Guest Season Volunteer

Our Summer Volunteer Program runs from mid-May until the end of September. Throughout the Summer we will open our facilities to welcome external retreat leaders and their groups. The volunteer program offers room and board in exchange for helping with our Summer Guest Season.

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Residency

Residents join the daily life of the monks and teachers at CMZC. Our daily schedule includes meditation, time for self-guided study, communal meals and work periods. There are also Dharma talks and Question and Answer sessions.

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Residency at Crestone Mountain Zen Center

Student Stays

To be a student at CMZC means to join the resident monks and lay practitioners in following the schedule completely. This includes meditation and work periods, talks and discussions, and community meals.

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Student Stays at Crestone Mountain Zen Center

New Year's Seminar 2025

12/28/2024

With Zentatsu Baker Roshi.

We invite you to join Crestone Mountain Zen Center's Annual New Year's Seminar.

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90 Day Practice Period (Ango) 2025

1/18/2025

With Zentatsu Baker Roshi and Tatsudo Nicole Baden Roshi.

At Crestone Mountain Zen Center, we continue the monastic tradition of the 90-day Practice Period. During the Practice Period residents and students are engaged in structured daily schedule of Zazen, oryoki meals, dharma talks, study, and ceremony.

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May Zazenkai 2025

5/2/2025

With Senior Practitioner.

Varying in length between 2 and 4 days, a Zazenkai is a silent weekend retreat.

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Zazenkai at Crestone Mountain Zen Center

Spring Sangha Work Week 2025

5/13/2025

During the Work Week, the Sangha comes together to prepare the campus for our Summer Season.

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