Chicago Zen Center
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The Chicago Zen Center, or CZC, is an active Zen Training Temple located in Evanston, IL very near Northwestern University. The Temple was established at this location in 1974 after Roshi Philip Kapleau, author of The Three Pillars of Zen and founding teacher of the Rochester Zen Center, gave a workshop on Zen meditation which was connected with the Art Institute of Chicago. The CZC became an affiliate meditation center of the Rochester Zen Center, acquired a stately house in Evanston, and until 1996 offered Zen training and residency to members, while sesshin retreats were held both in Chicago and in the parent temple in Rochester, NY. At first Philip Kapleau would travel to the Chicago Zen Center to offer teaching, and then later his disciple, Bodhin Kjolhede, carried on this tradition.
In 1996, Ven. Sevan Ross, who was soon to be sanctioned as the resident teacher at the temple, began to offer spiritual leadership and teaching at the Chicago Zen Center. The temple grew and currently is one of the largest Zen Centers in the Midwest. Members are invited to attend evening and morning sittings, Buddhist festivals, meditation retreats, formal and informal talks, and private instruction with Sevan Ross Sensei and three instructors. Retreats range from two-day to seven-day events. Residency is possible at the Center for ordained staff and, on a shorter-term basis, for other members of the Sangha. The mission of the Chicago Zen Center is traditional Zen training which is geared to lay practitioners who live busy lives in a large, cosmopolitan urban setting.
The style of Zen practiced at the Chicago Zen Center is Soto in form, and largely Rinzai in substance. Sensei Ross has had training with four Zen Masters and the entire Harada-Yasutani koan curriculum is offered as the major practice vehicle.
Interested persons can visit the CZC website to view the CZC event calendar, and then simply attend a formal sitting or an Open House. Instruction is offered in English, while Chicago’s cosmopolitan atmosphere has allowed Zen instruction to be offered at the Center or, by request, at other locations in the following languages: Polish, Arabic, Spanish, and French. The CZC has a working arrangement with several Chicago institutions, from yoga groups to universities, to offer instruction about Zen Buddhism.
[edit] Links
- Chicago Zen Center: http://www.chicagozen.org
- Chicago Zen Center Blog: http://chicagozen.blogspot.com/
