Welcome!

The Lexington Zen Center is a non-profit organization affiliated with the Furnace Mountain Zen Retreat Center in Clay City, Kentucky. The Lexington Center provides a friendly and non-threatening environment for the pursuit of spiritual practice.

We are Buddhist by lineage but we welcome persons of all faiths and spiritual persuasions. In addition to regular Sunday meditation services, we have special Beginner days and we hold several day-long retreats each year.

Getting Here

For the duration of the COVID-19 era we are meeting virtually. You can contact us to get acquainted and to get our Zoom meeting link.

Sundays

On Sundays the sitting begins at 4:00pm and concludes by about 5:05pm. Follow the links under the Practice menu to learn more about the Sunday sits (or at any rate, to learn how we did them before COVID …).

Learn More

Please follow the main menu to learn more about the Center, its history and lineage, and its ongoing events.

Recent Articles

"I Alone am the Holy One"

Soon after Shakyamuni Buddha was born, he could already walk. He took seven steps and said: “After countless eons, this is my last birth. Among all the devas and humans, I am the most honorable and the most excellent. In this lifetime I will benefit devas and humans. I vow to bring universal salvation to all sentient beings.” After Buddhism was transmitted to China, this statement of Shakyamuni’s was expressed as the saying: In Heaven and on Earth, I alone am the honored one.

A Single Vegetable Stalk

Lately there appears to be an element of risk associated with showing up at the Zen Center, as Myong Soen has got in the habit of nudging us in various ways: we were just becoming accustomed to the notion of preparing a student talk in advance, and now we are invited to make something up on the spot! But as there is risk in showing up for anything at all in life I might as well give it a go.

On Ritual

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