Our Monastery
Korinji, 祖的山光林寺, is the Rinzai Zen sodo, or training monastery, serving as the spiritual and organizational center of Rinzai Zen International. Founded in 2013, Korinji is one of the few Rinzai Zen training monasteries in the West. Its practice is conducted according to traditional daily and annual schedules, including zazen, sanzen, okyo, samu, sesshin, and communal monastic life.
Korinji is located on seventeen forested acres about fifty miles from Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Dedicated as a place for preserving and transmitting Rinzai Zen training, it now serves as the headquarters of Rinzai Zen International. The monastery is also a center for Zen-Ken-Sho: the unity of Zen practice, martial discipline, and fine arts. In appropriate contexts, Korinji also supports the practice of Shingon, Tendai, and Shugendo traditions.
The monastery is maintained by The Korinji Foundation, a federally recognized not-for-profit charity.
Korinji’s threefold mission has been described by our founder as follows:
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WISDOM: intensive practice of the Buddha Way, maintaining the rigorous training methods and liberating teachings transmitted by the great masters of the past.
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COMPASSION: cultivating a broad spirit of inclusivity and care for one another, our world, and every being without exception.
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DYNAMIC ACTIVITY: with both joy and urgency, creatively expressing these things within the world for the benefit of all.
Annual and daily Zen training schedules at Korinji are modeled on those experienced by our teachers at Japanese Rinzai monasteries, including Tenryuji in Kyoto.
Beyond residency and training for Buddhist ordination, Korinji offers many opportunities for practice: intensive Zen retreats, sesshin; beginner retreats; meditation groups; monthly goma and other ritual observances; Shugendo training; classes in the arts; seminars with visiting teachers; and more.
For more information about Korinji and its activities, please see the monastery website:
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