the mountain path climbs and climbs in the chill sunset
through a forest full of maple leaves like crows
about to take flight
—Keijo Shurin (1440-1518)
The Mountain Path Sangha is a lay Zen Buddhist community rooted in both the Rinzai and Soto traditions of Zen.
The Rollinsville Zen Center (RZC), located in the mountain town of Rollinsville, CO (elevation: 8600 feet) serves as our in-person practice space. We're open on Sundays from 5-6PM for zazen (silent meditation), kinhin (walking meditation), and dokusan (1:1 instruction with Hoag, the resident teacher). We host periodic half- and full-day retreats (zazenkai), a weeklong retreat (sesshin) each June, in Jemez Springs, NM, and other in-person practice opportunities.
We offer silent meditation every morning, online, from 7:30-8:25 AM Mountain Time. On Saturdays, we hold an online Dharma discussion from 8:25-9:00AM, after the morning sit on a topic announced in our newsletter Zen Sun Weekly.
RZC teacher Hoag Holmgren is a long-time mountain area resident, father of three, former higher ed and nonprofit leader, personal coach for leadership and writing, and semi-professional Zamboni driver. He began formal Zen practice in 1993 after attending an introductory seminar at the Zen Center of Denver. He became lay ordained in 2010 and received inka in 2016 after completing formal koan training. In 2018, he was asked by his teacher, Danan Henry Roshi, to begin teaching. In 2023, he received authorization to teach independently, becoming Danan Henry's fifth Dharma heir. Danan Henry is the founder of the Zen Center of Denver, a Dharma heir of Philip Kapleau, and a Diamond Sangha master as appointed by Robert Aitken. Kapleau and Aitken were both instrumental in bringing authentic Zen practice to the West from Japan.
Hoag is the author of No Better Place: a New Zen Primer (Middle Creek Press), the poetry collection paleos (Middle Creek Press) and co-author of Meaningful Grading: a Guide for Faculty in the Arts (West Virginia University Press). His chapbook Zen in the Age of Circuitry: Reclaiming Body, Breath, and Mind (They Are the Eggmen Press) explores the existential threats of Artificial General Intelligence and how Zen and the arts might help us stay human. His short stories, poems, and essays have appeared in a number of literary journals. More details here about books and writings. As a third-generation American Zen teacher, Hoag is interested in the intersection of spirituality, creativity, and daily life.
Hoag is a member of the Diamond Sangha Teachers Circle, and abides by the Diamond Sangha Teachers Circle Ethics Agreement, available here.
To see a partial list of Diamond Sangha practice centers, please visit: https://diamondsangha.org/resources-2/links/.
