Contemporary Zen center.
We are a Zen center in Austin, Texas, offering daily meditation, weekly talks, and classes on Buddhist teachings. Our practice is for ordinary people with jobs, families and full lives. We see practice as something we do together, not alone. At its heart is inquiry: sitting with the real questions of our lives, meeting them honestly, and exploring them together.
Our doors are open to everyone. No experience necessary.
Our name comes from a Pali word, "appamada," which means ”mindful active care.” According to the earliest recorded teachings of the Buddha, it was a common theme in his teaching and his last word, encouraging his followers to fare forward with appamada—with energetic care. He often compared appamada to an elephant's footprint, which is so large that it can contain the footprint of all the other animals. In the same way, the Buddha said, appamada contains all of his other teachings.
New here?
You are welcome as you are.
You don’t need any experience with meditation or Buddhism to join us. People find their way to Appamada for all kinds of reasons. Some are looking for stillness. Some are looking for meaning. You don’t need to know. You just need to show up.
Arrive as you are. Come ten minutes early to any morning sit or to Sunday orientation at 8:00. Prefer online? Request a Zoom link.
Sit with us once. One period of zazen, sitting meditation, with guidance if you’d like it. A cushion or a chair, whatever suits your body.
Meet a teacher. When questions come, and they will, sit down with a teacher and talk plainly.
Our story.
Not Two: The Appamada Story tells the story of thirty years of Zen practice in Austin, Texas.
