Anchorage Zen Community

All beings by nature are Buddha...
— Hakuin Zenji

About AZC

Dear Anchorage Zen Community Sangha,

View our Summer 2024 newsletter here.

View our Spring 2023 newsletter here.

View our Fall/Winter 2022 newsletter here.              

 

In-person sitting on Sunday mornings continues…   

  • 8:30 – 11:00am
  • Masks are recommended but not required.  If you are symptomatic or have been exposed, please join us on Zoom.
  • Location:  711 Barrow St., Anchorage, AK 99501 (Map programs may take people to the wrong address.  We are located on Barrow Street between 7th and 8th downtown.)                                                                                                                                         

You may join us via zoom on Sundays; there is a new zoom meeting number, email zen@alaska-zen.org to get connected (rsvp on Meetup won’t automatically send the meeting number so please reach out by email).

While the book group is still happening on the new zoom as well,  weekday morning sits are temperarily on hold.

Please see the full schedule below.

Looking forward to sitting with you,

AZC

Our online sitting offerings continue to be:

  • Weekday morning sittings resume October 28, 2024 via Zoom from 6:30 to 7:00.
  • Sunday Service 8:30-11:00 am, (also in-person at 711 Barrow Street)
  • Book discussion group: second and fourth Thursdays of the month at 5:45 pm on Zoom.

Email zen@alaska-zen.org, for more info on how to join.

About the Anchorage Zen Community

The mission of the Anchorage Zen Community is to realize, embody, and communicate the teachings of the Buddha as conveyed by the Soto school.  At this time we do not have a residential program or Social Service resources.  We sit in community for the sake of all beings.  Anchorage Zen Community strives to integrate formal Zen practice and everyday life for personal and social transformation.

Nirvana is here, before your eyes
This very place is the Lotus Land
This very body the Buddha
– Hakuin Zenji

For thirty years, small groups of people have been practicing the way of the Buddha here in Anchorage. We have carried our practice into our daily lives as we have cleaned creeks, visited prisoners, celebrated Buddha’s birthday and enlightenment, held services and activities for children, organized interfaith potlucks, sat with the dying, and chanted for the dead.

The head priest of the community since January 2012, Genmyo Zeedyk, has stepped down. AZC welcomes Interim Priest Koun Franz who joins us live via Zoom two Sundays a month.

In the midst of the busyness of life, we continue to offer a place to practice just sitting in silence. We invite you to join us.

 

Read More

What is Zen?

Many Westerners have misunderstandings about Zen and about Buddhism more broadly.

Zen is a set of teachings and practices aimed at helping students minimize suffering in their lives and awaken to reality “just as it is.” As a school of Buddhism, Zen is generally considered a religion, but it is important to note that Zen is not concerned with whether or not gods exist, how the universe came to be, or what happens to us after we die.

Read More Practice Schedule