Beautiful house with white porch and pink flowering tree in front.

Cambridge Zen Center / An Affiliate of the Kwan Um School of Zen

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • Spiritual
  • Urban

Founding year

  • 1973

What we do

The Cambridge Zen Center was founded in 1973 by some of the earliest students of Zen Master Seung Sahn, the first Korean Zen master to teach in the west. It was established as a residential Zen practicing community and is still thriving with over 25 residents in training and more than 120 practicing members in the greater Boston area. As one of the largest Buddhist outreach organizations in Massachusetts, and the second largest residential Zen training center in the U.S., CZC has a convenient location near Central Square between Harvard and MIT. We serve a diverse ethnic community and are frequently visited by students, academics, professionals and people from all walks of life, religions, professions and lifestyles. Outreach to ongoing Zen groups at various universities include Harvard University, Boston University, Brown University and many other educational institutions. We offer daily free public meditation, weekly talks, monthly retreats, guest stays, guest dinner, weekly intro class and one-on one sessions with Senior Students and Zen Masters. Come visit us!

Our Mission

The Zen center provides daily morning and evening practice, monthly retreats, dharma talks and other opportunities for Zen training and sangha life in an urban setting. Please check our Programs link for details and schedules.

  • Purpose
  • Spiritual
  • Community type
  • Coliving
  • Spiritual Retreat Centers
  • Activities
  • Education
  • Networking

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 1973
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 1973
  • Started living together
  • 100 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
100

How to join

Membership is optional and helps to support the center and the head Temple. We welcome newcomers for no charge. More info on our website under “Weekly Update”.

Basic expectations or agreements for members

Attend the Introductory Meditation class and/or Dharma talk on Thursday evenings. For a guest stay, email our guestmaster at
gu*********@**********en.org. To attend retreat, register on our website.

Primary decision-making authority

  • Small Leadership Group

A few people (not elected by the broader community) make the major decisions.

Decision-making process

  • Leadership Decides

A single person, couple, or small group makes most major decisions.

Governance structure

  • Founder/Leader-led

Primary authority rests with the community’s founder(s) or designated leader(s).

Economic model

  • Independent Finances

Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.

Economic scenarios for this community

  • Members need to pay fees, dues, or similar to live there on a per month or per year basis
  • There is a labor obligation
  • Members typically need to have their own job or other personal source of income to cover their expenses while living in the community?

Additional economic information

Regular fees: $35
Labor: Yes (3 hrs/week)
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed

Shared resources and amenities that are accessible to everyone in the community

Common House, Garden(s), Library, Workshop, Large Scale Kitchen, Internet

Frequency of communal meals

  • 2-5 times per week

Significant food acquisition practices

  • Locally sourced

Community activities and engagement

  • School, Educational Institute or Experience
  • Organization, Resource, or Network

Substance use culture

  • Substance use is prohibited in the community
  • Religions
  • Buddhist

Gender composition

  • Roughly balanced (no group over 60%)

Age demographics

  • Mixed adults (few or no children)

Guest Book

Written reviews are available for plus members. Click here to upgrade.

Location

  • Massachusetts, United States

Cambridge Zen Center / An Affiliate of the Kwan Um School of Zen

Needs and Offers

Connecting people and communities through an intentional online marketplace

Need
  • Forming Communities
3 weeks ago

Looking for: people building relational capacity, with a view to community

What’s here now: An intention, a framework developed over five years, and a programme running in central Victoria to find people to build with. No land, no group, no timeline. The question this is organised around: What makes a community of people living together sustainable over decades – where people enjoy being there, conflict is low, and the conflict that does arise gets handled in ways people value. The distinctive premise is capacity before formation. Most communities form first and build relational skill afterwards, usually under pressure. This one proposes doing it the other way round: people build the capacities first, and the group forms from people who have them. That includes a working idea about collective capacity – that a group has a ratio, and below some threshold it can’t metabolise its own conflict and starts consuming itself. Roughly: in a group of twenty, perhaps three or four with high capacity, most in the middle, and very few without. Untested, and something this project exists to find out. Governance: Sociocracy, with the intention of testing it meaningfully at scale rather than adopting it nominally. What’s actually happening: A three-week residency at a property near Castlemaine, and a practice group running before it. The medium-term aim is twenty to forty people at a rented facility. The long-term aim is a support hub sharing the framework more widely. What I’m looking for: People who want to build this capacity seriously, and who might eventually want to build something together. Not necessarily people who want to live here – the current property probably isn’t the long-term site. Happy to hear from anyone this resonates with, including people already in community who’d rather share what they’ve learned than join anything.
Offer
  • Real Estate For Sale
4 weeks ago

Unit C-2, Woodard Lane Cohousing — Olympia, WA

Join Olympia’s first and longest-running cohousing community, in a quiet West Side neighborhood 1.6 miles from downtown, backing onto a forested ravine along Schneider Creek. Unit C-2 offers 1,904 SF. Two stories, 4 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, and a bonus loft room on the main level. It can be lived in as one spacious family home — or split into two independent living spaces, each with its own kitchen, entrance, and effective soundproofing. Great for multigenerational households, live/work arrangements, or an owner-occupied half with a rented or shared half. Upper level: bedroom, full bath, bonus room with built-in loft bed, and an open kitchen-dining-living area with a deck facing the forest. Lower level: 3 bedrooms, full bath with dual sinks, second full kitchen, laundry room, and a second patio. Features: 2 full kitchens, radiant floor heat, stained concrete floors (bamboo upstairs), double-pane windows, bolted keyed entries at both levels, dedicated laundry, concrete patios facing the ravine, shared parking with 18 EV charging stations.   Ownership includes a Common House with a guest room, full kitchen, gathering space, and kids’ play area; a shared vegetable garden; a wood shop and bike storage; and wooded grounds with a stream path and central Green. Monthly dues are $799, covering all utilities except internet. Established in 2010, Woodard Lane is home to ~40 residents across 18 homes, with shared meals, work parties, and genuine neighborliness. Learn more about Woodard Lane Cohousing  We’re looking for a buyer who wants to participate fully in community life. $630,000. Contact Kate Greene: yo******@***il.com or text: 360-789-7587.
Offer
Need

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A residential project: people live here as their primary home.

Organizations

An institution, business, network, or project that isn’t a residence (e.g. a learning center, farm, or network with no one living there full-time).

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