Sit. Breathe.
Be still.
A Soto Zen monastery in the Green Mountains —
practice, community, and the ordinary extraordinary life.
What is Zazen?
Zazen is simply sitting — upright, still, awake. Not trying to achieve anything. Not trying to stop anything. The practice is the expression of our original nature, complete as it is. Dogen Zenji called this shikantaza: just sitting, wholeheartedly, with nothing left over.
At Stone Gate, we practice in the Soto Zen tradition, following the guidance of the Japanese ancestors and the lineage transmitted through our teachers. Zazen is available to all — no experience needed, no particular belief required.
Learn to SitThree Pillars
Zazen
Twice daily, we gather in the zendo to sit together in silence. Zazen is the heart of Soto Zen — formal yet intimate, structured yet open. The bell sounds. We bow. We sit.
Dharma Study
Dogen's Shobogenzo, the ancestral teachings, teisho by the roshi — study clarifies and deepens sitting. Understanding and practice are not two things.
Community Life
Cooking, cleaning, gardening, work practice — the whole of daily life becomes the zendo. We practice together, eat together, and hold each other's intention.
Spring Sesshin — Seven Days of Silence
To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.
Come and Sit with Us
Stone Gate is open to visitors for morning zazen, Sunday sitting, and extended retreats. Nestled among the hills of Craftsbury Common, the monastery is a two-hour drive from Burlington and three hours from Boston. We ask only that you arrive on time and bring a quiet willingness.
