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)
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The Mountain Path Sangha began accidentally in 2020 during the early lock-down months of the Covid pandemic. Responding to a request, Hoag migrated his weekly Zen meditation session from the local yoga studio to Zoom. Weekly turned into daily and people started showing up.
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In 2022, longtime Zen practitioner and friend Joe Kinczel offered a roomy and rustic building in Rollinsville, CO, formerly Rollinsville Mercantile, for use as a practice center. The name Rollinsville Zen Center (RZC) soon stuck. On Sundays from 5-6PM, the RZC offers in-person zazen (silent meditation), kinhin (walking meditation), and dokusan (optional 1:1 meetings with the RZC teacher, Hoag). RZC will continue to expand the in-person and online schedule of talks, retreats, and discussions.
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Hoag Holmgren has been a Zen practitioner since 1993. In 2023 he received full authorization to teach (Dharma transmission) from his teacher Danan Henry Roshi, the founder of the Zen Center of Denver. Danan is a Dharma heir of Philip Kapleau Roshi in addition to being a Diamond Sangha teacher as recognized by Robert Aitken Roshi.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Kapleau and Aitken were both key figures in bringing authentic Zen practice to the West from Japan.
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Hoag is the author of No Better Place: a New Zen Primer as well as the poetry collection paleos, inspired by the proto-geometrical glyphs in Paleolithic cave art. His chapbook Zen in the Age of Circuitry: Reclaiming Body, Breath, and Mind explores the existential threats of Artificial Intelligence and how Zen and the arts might help us stay human. In 2020, he launched the Zen Sun Weekly, a newsletter with teachings, resources, and news of upcoming events emailed to subscribers every Sunday. More details here about books and writings.
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Hoag commits to and abides by the Diamond Sangha Teachers Circle Ethics Agreement, available here.
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To see a partial list of Diamond Sangha practice centers, please visit:
https://diamondsangha.org/resources-2/links/.
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