FAQs

The Zendo is located at 18005 Vashon Highway SW,  Vashon, WA 98070.

Currently, all of our events are online on Zoom here. Email pr@pszc.org to request the password.

Early Bird Sunday Service
8:30 – 9:30am on Zoom.
Tea, two 25-minute sitting periods, one walking meditation.

Sunday Morning Service
10:00am – 12:00pm on Zoom.
Tea, chanting, two 25-minute sitting periods, one walking meditation, and a dharma talk. First Sunday includes a Community Potluck

Monday Evening
7:00-8:45pm on Zoom.
Two sitting periods, one walking meditation period, tea, chanting, and a book discussion or dharma talk. 

Wednesday Evening
7:00 – 8:30pm on Zoom.
Tea, chanting, one sitting period, one walking meditation and a book discussion. No need to have read the book beforehand–we read together as we go.

Monday through Friday Morning
6:30 – 7:30am on Zoom.
Tea, chanting, one sitting period, one walking meditation

Saturday Morning
8:00am – 9:00am on Zoom.
One sitting period followed by Qi Gong, a gentle movement exercise

Absolutely! We welcome people from all different mediation/spiritual traditions and those who have never meditated and are curious.

Come by to check us out.

We recommend wearing loose-fitting clothes. Feel free to bring any cushions or meditation equipment of your own–we also have plenty at the Zendo. We encourage you to wear whatever makes you comfortable and helps facilitate your practice.

Some at the Zen Center have been practicing Zen or other forms of meditation for decades and some are just starting out.  Some attend services with other spiritual communities in addition to Zen.  Wherever you are in your spiritual practice you are welcome here.  Our community is open to all regardless of age, ethnicity, religious affiliation, disability, or sexual orientation.

Our Abbot Koshin Christopher Cain trained at Mt. Baldy Zen Center for 12 years under Joshu Sasaki Roshi.  He is a member of the American Zen Teacher’s Association.  Koshin is married to Soshin Lidunn Cain and they have two children.

For information on our Abbot and our current Board members, see here. 

The Puget Sound Zen Center was founded in 2003.  It started above an orthodontist’s office in the IGA parking lot, then was at the Mann Studio near KVI beach for several years. In 2015 the Zen Center moved to the Havurah Ee Shalom Building. In 2021, we purchased a building that had previously been the location of Island Funeral Services at 18005 Vashon Highway SW, Vashon, WA 98070.

Come 10 minutes before any service, and we’ll give you some brief instructions. Or just walk on in and follow along.

We periodically host free “Intro to Zen” classes.

Also, here are a couple of talks from our Abbot on breathing and posture: talk 1 and talk 2

Absolutely. If you come visit us, you can choose to sit on a cushion on the floor (you can use multiple cushions in whatever comfortable configuration works for you), or you can choose a chair, a stool, or a kneeling bench.