Our mission

We’re here to help you find your way.

We created this Zen Center so that we could be an oasis in the storm of life for someone like you. We are a diverse, open-hearted Sangha community practicing a Zen spiritual path in the White Plum Lineage. Our doors are open to everyone, regardless of race, religion, gender, or point-of-view.

At our Zen Center, we embody a profound vision, a purposeful mission, and a set of unwavering core values that guide our spiritual journey.

Vision
To cultivate an awakened world that transforms suffering into compassion and delusion into wisdom.

Mission
To empower you to live a Zen-inspired life of openness, empathy, and clarity

Core Values

  • Live a life of openness, showing respect and kindness to everyone

  • Be genuine and true to yourself and others

  • Practice openness and fearlessness in the face of conflict

  • Face your fears as opportunities for learning and transformation

  • Create and appreciate beauty

  • Have integrity, keep your word, honor your agreements

  • Respect others with faith and loyalty

  • Acknowledge awareness of privilege, without guilt, when it arises in diverse settings

  • Respect differences in world views as opportunities for learning and enrichment

ZLMC Board Members

President: Robert Kanjo Schwoch
Vice President: Roshi June Ryushin Tanoue
Treasurer: James Kanshin Sullivan
Secretary: Rev. Linda Gyokuzan Warring
Susan Akers
Ken Daigu Hillman
Julie Chisho Kase
Skye Jigen Lavin
Sarah Reishin Richart

Zen Life & Meditation Center, Chicago is a Zen Center in the White Plum Lineage. The White Plum Asanga is an organization of peers whose members are Zen teachers in the lineage of Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi Roshi

Letter from President of ZLMC Board of Directors

Dear sangha members,

Living a Zen-inspired life means to embrace life’s inevitable and constant change as opportunity. While stagnant water is murky, rushing water runs clear. It is the time of year when the Zen center itself prepares for changes and opportunities ahead.

As president of the Board of Directors of the Zen Life and Meditation Center of Chicago, I’m writing to let you know we are seeking dedicated ZLMC members who would like to serve on the board of the center. Please consider whether you or a fellow sangha member you know might wish to put their vows into action at ZLMC by serving on the governing board.

Members may apply for positions themselves or nominate another member they believe would be a good candidate for the Board of Directors. To apply for a position on our board, please complete the Board of Directors application form which is attached. To nominate a member, reply to this email with your nomination and we will contact the member to apply should they desire. Applications and nominations should be received by May 1 for full consideration.

Without an attentive board to consider and endorse important decisions about the operation of the center and fulfill the legal duties that allow us to function as a nonprofit organization, ZLMC could not exist. Serving on our board is fulfilling work that provides for a close relationship with fellow sangha members and an inside look at what’s happening with our center as it arises and occurs.

As I near the end of my time as Board President, I want to thank everyone for their input and support as we’ve navigated out of pandemic quarantine back into a vibrant in-person and online co-existence at the Zen center. If you have any questions about board service or any other matter related to the governance of the center, don’t hesitate to contact me or any of the other board members and sangha leaders co-signing this letter and copied on this email. We hope you’ll consider serving alongside us in the upcoming term.

bows,

 

Robert Kanjo Schwoch, President

The rest of the ZLMC board: Susan Akers, Ken Hillman, Julie Kase, Skye Lavin, Sarah Richart, James Sullivan, Roshi June Tanoue, Linda Warring 

Roshi Robert Joshin Althouse, abbot

Ethical Code of Conduct

This Ethical Code of Conduct was approved by our ZLMC Board of Directors on March 17, 2024. Click here to read.

Grievance Policy and Procedure

This Grievance Policy was approved by our ZLMC Board of Directors on March 17, 2024. Click here to read.