Our Monastery
Korinji (祖的山光林寺) is the monastery serving as spiritual and organizational center for our worldwide community.
Founded in 2013, it is one of the few Rinzai Zen training monasteries in the West. Korinji maintains a rigorous practice conducted according to traditional daily and annual schedules.
Korinji is located on 17 forested acres about 50 miles from Madison, Wisconsin USA. Dedicated in 2013 as a center for preserving and planting Zen teachings widely, it has blossomed into the headquarters of Rinzai Zen International. It also houses the Korinji Center for the Contemplative Arts, promoting the unity of spirituality, artistic endeavor, and physical culture. It is additionally recognizeed as a non-sectarian center for the practice of Shingon, Tendai, and Shugendo teachings. The monastery is maintained by The Korinji Foundation, a federally recognized not-for-profit charity.
​​
Korinji's three-fold mission has been described by our founder thus:
-
WISDOM: intensive practice of the Buddha Way, maintaining the rigorous training methods and sublime teachings of liberation transmitted to us by great masters of the past.
-
COMPASSION: cultivating a broad spirit of inclusivity and tolerance, expressed through profound care for one another, our world, and every being without exception.
-
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 the opportunities of residency and training for Buddhist ordination, many public events are offered at the monastery and internationally: intensive Zen meditation retreats (sesshin), beginners' retreats, meditation groups open to all, monthly goma (fire ritual) and other ritual observances, Shugendo training, classes in the arts, seminars with eminent visiting teachers, and more.
For more information about Korinji and the many activities there, please see the monastery site:
.jpg)
