Blue Cliff Zen Center

04/02/2026

Our Buddha's Birthday Ceremony is this Sunday, April 5th at 4:30pm.

Feel free to bring some flowers or a sweet snack or chocolates as an offering. According to the story, the Buddha was born in a flower garden, took 7 steps and said "under the heavens and above the earth, I alone am the world honored one". He was pointing to the true nature that we all have, we all are. He was pointing to the fundamental oneness that we can know and live from.

Babies especially express this perfection. In the Buddha's Birthday ceremony ("hanamatsuri" or "flower festival"), we bathe the baby Buddha in sweet green tea acknowledging his and our own true nature. Hope you can join! Online or in-person.

03/30/2026

A statue of a bodhissatva at Tendozan Temple in China. Sometimes long growing eyebrows have been associated with spiritual insight as shown here. Tendozan has hundreds of statues depicting Buddhas and bodhissatvas in beautiful and creative ways.

03/24/2026

This a statue of a 1000 armed, 11 faced Kannon at the Zen temple, Daifukuji, on the Big Island in Hawaii. She is said to have 11 faces or heads to better see the suffering in the world and 1000 arms to better help other beings. This Kannon statue is holding 1000 (more or less!) different objects which represent expressions or ways that this help can show up. I love how it isn’t a cut and dry thing, there’s not one way of handling a particular situation. Zen calls this skillful means, there are so many ways to engage with life and we can be creative.

03/15/2026

This is the Main Hall and Kannon Hall (an altar to the bodhissatva of compassion, Kannon) of Daifukuji (“Great Happiness”) Temple in Kona, Hawaii. It’s a Soto Zen temple that was founded in 1914 on the Big Island.

The founder, Kaiseki Kodama, walked around the entire island twice in order to collect the donations needed to build the temple. Once a hub of the Japanese immigrant community, the temple is now very multicultural and multiethnic. The current minister is Jiko Nakade. She’s the 12th teacher in the Daifukuji lineage. It sits up on a hill and is often enveloped in sun or warm rain and mist.

03/08/2026

"Chudo" or "Middle Way" brushed by Zen master Shinzan about 10-15 years ago. Zen practice is a proponent of the middle path. The Buddha expressed this by leaving the over indulgent life of the palace and also not getting stuck in practices of extreme fasting and hurting his body.

The middle path can mean many things, but one very clear perspective is to prioritize the vehicle of your body as the platform for waking up. When the body is seen as important and embraced with kindness, movement work (zen yoga), and energy practices (naikan) you can be strong and grounded in our life and your meditation practice can naturally and discernibly bear fruit. We're also then in a beautiful place to support others in the world.

02/25/2026

Join us for meditation on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 7am. We also practice from 4:30-6pm every Sunday in person and online.

02/16/2026

Our annual Zen Japan Trip and Retreat is May 24 - June 5 this year. We still have a few slots left. It’s a wonderful opportunity to deepen your Zen practice and to experience the beauty of Japanese food, culture and the arts.

01/03/2026

Our Winter Breakthrough to Zen retreat starts Thursday. We'll be out on the Row River in Dorena. There's a couple spots still available (w/private lodging). If you're thinking of attending, we'd love to have you! Email bluecliffzen@gmail for more info.

10/22/2025

We'll be out in Dorena next weekend for our Breakthrough to Zen retreat. It's a lovely campus right on the Row River. Please join us. Full details here: https://www.bluecliffzen.org/breakthrough-to-zen-retreats/

09/28/2025

Join us for a Fall Meditation Day out at Big Bear in Walton. It's a wonderful opportunity to get into the woods and do some practice. We still have a few spaces available. Bring a packed lunch.

08/20/2025

Our annual yard sale fundraiser is this weekend! Hope you can join us. If you'd like to donate goods for sale, please bring them by between 12-3pm on Friday 8/22.

3485 Mill Street, Eugene
Saturday, August 23rd 9am-5pm
Sunday, August 24th 10am-2pm

Yard Sale Fundraiser for Blue Cliff Zen Center 3485 Mill Street in Eugene Saturday, August 23rd from 9-5 Sunday August 24th from 10-2 An amazing collection of unique and quality goods priced to...

07/08/2025

Congratulations to the folks who received the Zen Precepts last weekend! It's always so inspiring to witness such sincerity to practice and walking the Zen path of awakening.