World Religions in Greater Boston: Home

The Buddhist Meditation Group at UUCR meets weekly on Sunday evenings at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Reading. The group's intention is to provide practices that are simple and are meant to provide maximum benefit to Sangha members and guests. They hope members will find peace in the Dharma through these efforts. All are welcome to attend and no experience is necessary. Practices are simple and are designed to benefit beginners as well as intermediate practitioners. A typical meeting includes: opening ceremony/invocation; brief Dharma discussion; Qi-gong exercises; meditation practice; and closing (recitation of the Five Limitless Thoughts).

Prajnopaya at MIT- The Buddhist Community at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Based at the Massachusetts Insti...tute of Technology since 2002, Prajnopaya at MIT provides advanced students, beginners, as well as curious visitors from other traditions with a venue to study Buddhism. We welcome teachers from all schools of Buddhism. Resident and visiting teachers offer regular classes in meditation, Buddhist philosophy, and Buddhist art. We also provide opportunities for individuals to rejuvenate and to recommit to their spiritual growth at our periodic intensive weekend retreats.

Besides bringing together practitioners from many Buddhist traditions, Prajnopaya at MIT is also committed to promoting interfaith discussions between Buddhists and members of other religious traditions of the world.

Our mission is to support those on a journey of awakening and realization of those principles in one’s life through the elements of practice, study and sangha. Our purpose is to provide space and time for students to gather, engage and practice in community.

The Triratna Buddhist Community (formerly known as the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order or FWBO) aims to bring Buddhism to our contemporary western society. Founded in 1967 by an Englishman named Sangharakshita, the Triratna Community expresses the central principles of Buddhism in ways that are relevant to men and women living in a modern world. Commitment is primary, lifestyle is secondary: As Buddhists we express our commitment through our devotion to the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings), and the Sangha (the spiritual community). In many traditions, the primary way to do this is to become a monk or a nun. We recognize that in our society, this is a choice that most can't or aren't willing to make for a whole variety of reasons. We believe it's possible to express our commitment without making a radical departure from our modern lifestyles.

The mission of Boston’s Old Path Sangha is to nurture compassion and understanding both within the sangha and throughout the larger society. Working to relieve the suffering of all beings is an integral part of our practice. The community comes together regularly to meditate and deepen its practice. We seek to encourage and nourish each other through dharma discussion and mindful action. Our hope is to help one another celebrate the joys and wonders of life, while we work separately and together to relieve suffering throughout the world.

Our vision is one person in every family trained in the Clear Light Practices for the Dying. If just one member knows what to do, the whole family can be helped.

The Open Meadow Zen Group was founded by Zen Master Bon Haeng (Mark Houghton).  We meet every Wednesday night (7:30 pm), Monday morning (6:30 am), and Friday morning (6:30 am) for regular meditation practice which includes sitting, walking meditation, chanting, and a short Dharma reading.  Practice takes place in the tranquil Dharma room, with expansive views of town conservation land.  The property is located at 212 Marrett Rd (Rt 2A), Lexington, Massachusetts. 

Our Guiding Teacher, Zen Master Bon Haeng, is a Dharma heir to Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn, the 78th Patriarch in his line of transmission in the Chogye order of Korean Buddhism, and founder of the Kwan Um School of Zen.  Practice includes Kong-An (Koan) interviews with Zen Master Bon Haeng every other week (please click the interviews link for more information and an up-to-date schedule).

Practice is free and all are welcome, newcomers are asked to arrive at least 15 minutes before formal practice begins for a brief orientation.

We are a self-governing group of Zen practitioners who provide support for Zen meditation practice, but remain unaffiliated with any teacher or lineage.

We started in April 2004 sharing a space with the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order in the basement of the old Social Security Building in Davis Square, Somerville. The torrential rains of March 2010 and another rainstorm in June 2010 flooded us out of that space.  Since then we have been homeless, taking turns using our various homes for sitting space.  If you are coming for the first time be sure to contact us by email to get directions.

This Sangha is Dharma teacher led.

The Greater Boston Zen Center, a Boundless Way Zen affiliate located at 288 Norfolk Street, 2nd Floor, Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a welcoming community of Dharma practitioners. Our lineage roots are in the Japanese Soto tradition through Jiyu Kennett Roshi, the Soto reform Harada-Yasutani koan curriculum through John Tarrant Roshi, and the Korean Linji tradition.

Boundless Way Zen teachers offer guidance in all forms of Zen meditation including breath practices, koan introspection, and the subtle art of shikantaza, or just sitting.

The Greater Boston Zen Center offers introductory orientation classes by appointment, a weekly zazen (Zen meditation) schedule of morning and evening sits, as well as a Precepts study group, a Dogen study group, and opportunities for Dharma dialogue discussion groups.

We offer all-day sits (zazenkai) approximately once a month, and a “commuter meditation retreat” consisting of two all-day sits in a row once a year. We all offer a full schedule of weekly programs, including Zen meditation, Zen liturgy, and meditation instruction.

The Greater Boston Zen Center is under the spiritual directorship of Sensei Josh Bartok.

Charles River Zen is a Rinzai Zen community is in the lineage of Rōshi Kyōzan Jōshū Sasaki, who came to America in 1962. CRZ is an outgrowth of Hōun-an, Dharma Cloud Hermitage, a Zen temple which was incorporated in 2001.

Dharma Cloud Hermitage was responsible for the Zen activities at the Cambridge Buddhist Association between 2004 and 2011. With the closing of the CBA practice facilities Dharma Cloud Hermitage needed to find a new home. We relocated our center to Watertown Square and adopted the name Charles River Zen while preserving the temple name Hōun-an, which was given  by Jōshū Rōshi.

The logo is composed of waves and empty space, manifesting movement and stillness in one, embraced in a circle of wholeness. Charles River Zen is an all-inclusive practice community that strives to serve the sangha (community) in exploring the way of Zen both as a householder practice and as the practice of ordained, monastic participants.

The Cambridge Zen Center is a not for profit Zen Buddhist organization founded according to the teachings of the late Zen Master Seung Sahn and the tradition of the international Kwan Um School of Zen. The center provides Zen training, education and support through formal practice and everyday life. Vision: Cambridge Zen Center provides a Zen environment that supports, trains and educates those who want to balance living in the world with deep practice, to "Wake Up!" and take enlightened action to contribute to a better planet.

The Henry David Thoreau Zen Sangha is named for the great Unitarian Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau who in many ways anticipated Zen practice and thought. This Sangha seeks to honor both the eastern traditions of Zen practice and the western and particularly Unitarian Universalist traditions of social concern and engagement. Often simply called “Hank,” it is a Zen meditation group in the combined Harada/Yasutani and Soto Zen lineages.

Anybody who pursues living an enlightened and compassionate way of life may come and join Won-Buddhism of Boston. We are sure that the teachings of the Great Master Sot'aesan will guide your spiritual journey, meditatively, philosophically, or practically, in all aspects of your life.

Insight Meditation is based on an ancient Buddhist Meditation tradition that is very much relevant today, offering tools that can help us to live with more calm, clarity, and insight in our lives.

Originated in the Buddhist tradition more than 2500 years ago, it is a simple practice that steadies the mind by grounding attention in the present moment. As our awareness grows, we learn to see into our experience in a way that frees us to meet life’s challenges with openness and inner strength.

We offer a variety of practice opportunities including daily sittings, classes, retreats, workshops.  We also have a lending library with texts from various Buddhist traditions. The center is designed to offer opportunities for new students as well as those with a deeper ongoing commitment to practice.

Although it is a completely independent organization, IMCN was founded with the intention of being part of larger 'floating campus' in which non-residential centers like IMCN (and Cambridge Insight Meditation Center) and residential centers like the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, together can provide a full spectrum of practice opportunities depending on the needs of the student. Grounded in the presentation and reflection on classical teachings of the Buddha, these range from daily sittings, introductory classes and applications in daily life all the way to extended silent residential retreats.

Ayyā Gotamī (Dr. Rev. Prem Suksawat) is the abbess of Dhamma Cetiya Buddhist Vihara in West Roxbury.  She founded this temple in 1997.  Before becoming a nun, she worked in the mental health field with public and private agencies.  As a nun, she uses this background to integrate Western psychology and psychiatric treatment with Buddhist teachings to educate and help her students.