The Great Plains Zen Center, located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, is a Soto Zen temple and a member of the White Plum Asanga established by Taizan Maezumi Roshi. The Great Plains Zen Center also operates Myoshinji (Subtle Mind Temple), a rural retreat center located near the town of Monroe in Green County, Wisconsin, and has two affiliate groups: the Great Wave Zen Sangha, a center located in Ludington, Michigan and the Logan Square Zendo in Chicago.

The Great Plains Zen Center offers regular meditation (zazen, or "sitting") periods every Sunday at 7:00 PM at Countryside Unitarian Universalist Church, located at 1025 N. Smith Street in Palatine, Illinois. All are welcome, and we are happy to offer beginner's instruction every Sunday. For more information, please see our weekly schedule or our more extensive Introduction to Zen Practice (pdf).

The Zen Center also provides a number of other practice opportunities for a wide range of individual interests, including a monthly fusatsu, or Renewal of Vows service (everyone is welcome whether or not they have formally taken the Buddhist vows); Introduction to Zen Practice workshops; periodic retreats, both short (zazenkai) and long (sesshin); and monthly dharma talks (teisho) by our teacher, Susan Myoyu Andersen, Roshi.

Beginners and experienced sitters are all welcome to join us any Sunday evening at our Palatine location. If you are new to Zen, we also suggest that you register for an Introduction to Zen workshop. Workshops and other scheduled events may be found on our calendar page, and we publish a quarterly newsletter as well.

We hope you find fellowship and support at the Great Plains Zen Center.