Photo by Kitty Leaken

Welcome!

Upaya Zen Center is a Zen Buddhist practice, service, and training center. Our vision focuses on the integration of practice and social action, bringing together wisdom and compassion.

Our mission is to provide a context for community practice, education in Buddhism and social service in the areas of death and dying, prison work, the environment, women’s rights, and peacework. It endeavors to fulfill the vision of the Five Buddha Family Mandala, by understanding the integration of all of its functions.

The Five Buddha Family Mandala is based on the Five Meditation Buddhas of traditional Buddhism from India. It is a vision of Buddhism that is integrated, interconnected, and process oriented and is based on the integration of our spirituality, education, livelihood, service, and community into a whole cloth.