Our Practice

We are a lay Zen group that practices together in the Zen Buddhist tradition under the guidance of our teacher Jack Duffy Roshi. Jack, a dharma heir of Robert Aitken Roshi, lives on Lummi Island in the San Juan Island chain.

Our weekly practice and retreats in Spokane are open to all. Although our orientation and form is Buddhist, you do not need to be a Buddhist to participate. Practitioners from all traditions are welcome.

Group practice consists of:

Weekly Zazen
Group sitting meditation practice

  • Mondays, 7:00am-7:50am
  • Wednesdays, 7:15pm-8:15pm
  • Saturdays, 8am-9:30am

Our sits comprise 25-minute sitting periods (two on Mondays and Wednesdays, and three on Saturdays), interspersed with five-minute walking meditation (kinhin), and a short sutra recital.

We conclude our Saturday sits with a reading by a sangha member.

Semi-Annual Retreats
We typically hold five-day retreats in the early spring and late fall. They are hybrids, which combine in-person sitting and remote sitting via Zoom. They are led by our teacher, Jack Duffy Roshi.

Teisho and Dokusan
Depending on his availability, our teacher, Jack Duffy Roshi, joins us via Zoom on the first Saturday of the month. Jack presents a dharma talk (teisho) and leads a question-and-answer session before interviewing students individually (teisho).

Orientation to Zen practice is offered prior to meditation practice, by arrangement (our meditation hall is in a building that is locked to protect the tenants from theft). Once you come to a session, we can give you the number to get into the building yourself.

To arrange for your first visit and orientation, please visit our Contact page.

If you’ve never meditated before, please see the Newcomers page.