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 Zen Buddhist community in the Diamond Sangha tradition.
The Rollinsville Zen Center (RZC) serves as our in-person practice space. Across from Toss Wood-Fired Eatery in Rollinsville, CO, we're open on Sundays from 5-6PM for zazen (silent meditation), kinhin (walking meditation), and dokusan (1:1 instruction with a teacher). We host frequent half- and full-day retreats (zazenkai) at the RZC, and also a weeklong retreat (sesshin) each June, in Jemez Springs, NM.
We offer silent meditation every morning, online, from 8:00-8:25 AM Mountain Time. Doors open at 7:30AM. 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. You can also find us on FB under Rollinsville Zen Center.
The RZC teacher is Hoag Holmgren, 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 quickly became an active member. 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 Roshi, and a Diamond Sangha teacher as appointed by Robert Aitken Roshi. Kapleau and Aitken were both instrumental in bringing authentic Zen practice to the West from Japan.
In addition to the Zen Sun Weekly, Hoag is the author of No Better Place: a New Zen Primer (Middle Creek Press), the poetry collection paleos (Middle Creek Press) and 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 explores the existential threats of Artificial General Intelligence, also known as Super Intelligence, and how Zen and the arts might help us stay human. 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/.
