Profile
Our beautiful center is located in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountains and was hand-built in 1985 by Philip Kapleau Roshi and a number of his students. The building was designed to follow the layout of a traditional Japanese zendo, while incorporating elements of Southwestern architecture. Mountain Cloud stands on a hillside just above the city of Santa Fe amid juniper and piñon trees.
We are a vibrant, growing community of local and out of state practitioners. We offer meditation classes and orientation to the zendo at all our sitting times. We have a weekly Intro to Meditation class on Wednesday evenings and various sesshins through the year. We welcome diversity: the practice of meditation is available here to people of every race, nationality, class, gender, sexual orientation, age, and physical ability.
Our teacher is Henry Shukman (Ryu’un-ken), an Associate Zen Master of the Sanbo Zen lineage, based in Kamakura, Japan. He has trained primarily with Joan Rieck Roshi, Zen teacher John Gaynor, Ruben Habito Roshi, and now continues his training under the guidance of Yamada Ryoun Roshi, current abbot of Sanbo Zen. Henry is dedicated to what he sees as core Zen training—clarifying our essential nature to our own satisfaction, and thereby finding true peace of mind, and then living that essential nature in every moment of daily life, in freedom, love and deep responsiveness.
