Welcome The Zen Center
At 220 Spring AvenueThe Missouri Zen Center welcomes one and all to come for quiet sitting in the Awakened Way. About Us The Missouri Zen Center is a non-profit corporation and a Zen center in the Soto tradition. We welcome anyone at all to join us for quiet sitting meditation in the Awakened Way. We encourage you to support the Zen Center by becoming a member with a $25 per month donation. Membership donations make it possible for us to provide and maintain the Missouri Zen Center building and grounds and community of practitioners through a daily meditation schedule, library of over 1000 Buddhist books and videos, classes on Buddhism taught by our Abbot Rev. Rosan Yoshida, monthly retreats, Discussion fellowship, and gardening work, thereby creating an excellent environment for cultivating our minds in the Awakened Way.
Members may borrow books and videos from the Zen Center library. You may make your membership payment while at the Zen Center or mail it to us. Please make your check out to: Missouri Zen Center The Missouri Zen Center is a nonprofit organization. Donations may be tax-deductible; consult a tax advisor. Be sure to check out the history photo wall in the Zen Center library—it includes lots of familiar faces and the famous “ZEN†license plate! The Missouri Zen Center (MZC) was founded in 1980 by Dr. Rosan Yoshida to foster the study and practice of the teachings of Zen Buddhism. It has provided the opportunity for Zen practice in the St. Louis area continuously since that time. The MZC sangha (community) has grown steadily over the years. Today the Zen Center offers daily zazen practice, classes for both beginners and advanced students, periodic sesshin retreats, and a library of books on Zen and Buddhism.
From the City: Head southwest on I-44 to the Shrewsbury exit. From the exit ramp go left (north) on Shrewsbury to the first traffic light which is Big Bend. Turn left (more or less west—guess that’s why they call it “Big Bend”) on Big Bend. Cross the traffic light at Laclede Station Road. Pass Dale (at Outdoor Outfitters, Inc.) and begin looking for Oakwoad on the right. (It’s just before the boulevard stop at Murdoch Ave.) Turn right on Oakwood, then bear to the right at the fork (Oakwood continues to the left) and you’ll be on Spring. It’s about the second house on the right: a large, two-story white house with a flower on the second floor façade of the house. From North County/St. Charles: Take I-170 (the innerbelt) south until it ends. Take either 40 or Eager Road east to Hanley Road south. Follow Hanley Road south past Manchester. When you go under the train bridge, Hanley Road becomes Laclede Station Road (you don’t have to turn). Finally, turn right (more or less West) on Big Bend. Then, begin looking for Oakwoad on the right. (It’s just before the boulevard stop at Murdoch Ave.) Turn right on Oakwood, then bear to the right at the fork (Oakwood continues to the left) and you’ll be on Spring. It’s about the second house on the right: a large, two-story white house with a flower on the second floor façade of the house. From the West/South: Take 44 north/east to the Murdoch/Laclede Station Road Exit. The exit ramp puts you (briefly) on Laclede Station Road. Turn right there, then immediately right again on Murdoch, which will take you back over the highway. At the boulevard stop, turn right (more or less east) on Big Bend, then immediately turn left on Oakwood (just past Music Folk). Bear to the right at the fork (Oakwood continues to the left) and you’ll be on Spring. It’s about the second house on the right: a large, two-story white house with a flower on the second floor façade of the house.