Welcome to Dragon Moon Zen

A home for connecting us to our awakened mind, and to the vitality and liberation that is available to us in each moment.

We believe that there is no other time than right here and now to wholeheartedly meet our lives - in all their beauty, joy, difficulty and sorrow - and to express the compassion that is born naturally from the realization of our innate interdependence.

Grounded in Zen lineage and teachings, our offerings weave together ancient traditions and modern insights, from neuroscience to psychology to complexity theory in order to better meet ourselves, each other and our precious world with greater compassion and skill.

CraneDance

To what shall
I liken the world?
Moonlight, reflected
in dewdrops,
shaken from a crane’s bill.

~ DOGEN ZENJI

Dragon Moon Zen is based in Vancouver, BC on the unceded ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Wauthuth Nations, and is anchored in the teachings and practices of Diane Musho Hamilton, Roshi of Two Arrows Zen and the lineage of the White Plum branch of Soto Zen Buddhism.

New and seasoned practitioners are welcome, and all those with sincere, aspirational hearts and minds. We value a diversity of lived experiences and perspectives.

We practice in collaboration with Dragon Lake Zen based in Boulder, Colorado. We offer separate in-person practice opportunities and collaborate around many online offerings where we are building a global community of practitioners engaging wholeheartedly in life and in practice.

Dragon Lake Zen and Dragon Moon Zen warmly invite you to become a member.

You are invited to join us in building a connected, thriving and purposeful community through becoming a member of Dragon Lake Zen and Dragon Moon Zen. Your generosity supports us to deepen our offerings, our service, and our collaborations.

Like the little stream
Making its way
Through the mossy crevices
I, too, quietly
Turn clear and transparent.

— RYOKAN

Programs

The TASTING ALIVENESS 3-day in-person retreat is an invitation to experience the vitality, creativity and wonder that is available to you in each moment. Designed to support beginners and seasoned practitioners alike, this retreat is an opportunity for you to come home to this very life in all of its beauty and messiness, and to anchor yourself in the steadiness of the breath, wisdom of the body, and the ever-present liberation we can always taste and realize here and now.

A 7-Day In-Person Retreat - Clarifying and claiming the potency of who you truly are.

The Art of Aliveness retreat is an invitation to come home to your true self, to the potency of reality as it is, and to creatively express the uniqueness of your being. It is an opportunity to connect with a community of others who not only support your practice, but who mirror the preciousness of this one life.

In collaboration with four transmitted Zen lineage holders, we will explore our innerscapes through seated and walking meditation, interpersonal practice, creative expression, work practice, and embodiment.

Join Lisa Genki Gibson Sensei and fellow practitioners to experience the potency of Zen, and the simple practice of Zazen, or seated meditation.
There is no other time than right here and now to wholeheartedly meet our lives - in all their suffering, beauty, sorrow and tenderness.
For seasoned practitioners and beginners alike, this workshop will restore our connection to ourselves, each other and the earth by simply sitting, breathing, moving and being together.

An Introduction to the Fresh and Ancient Path of Zen. Our intention for this class is to engage the Buddha Way by studying and more fully experiencing the self.

Zazen (Zen meditation) is the primary practice of realizing and expressing our inherent awakeness.

Before engaging in this practice, we will explore our human ways of experiencing - how we take perspectives, and how our senses, thoughts, feelings and emotions operate.

With this preparation, we will be well equipped to plumb the depths of who we are through through the practice of zazen.

The Art of Meditation Practice Series are an opportunity for you to come home to your life, awakening to who you really are and to the liberation and vitality that is available in each moment.

Through the practice of Zen meditation, the wisdom of ancient and modern teachings, and a community of wholehearted practitioners, these series will be an anchor to your week and an inspiration to engage fully and freshly with the world around you. With guidance from Lisa Genki Gibson Sensei and Brooke Teisui McNamara Sensei, teachers in the Soto Zen lineage of Diane Musho Hamilton Roshi, these offerings will accompany you throughout the year to awaken to the vastness of who you are, and to enact this wisdom and compassion in your daily life.

Dragon Moon Zen meets on Wednesday evenings from 7:30-9pm. We sit for two 30 minute periods, followed by a short reading, reflection and/or interpersonal practice.

Please arrive by 7:20 so you can get settled onto your cushion for the gong which starts the sit right at 7:30.