Vichara is a small independent Zen practice center in the lineage of Nyogen Senzaki. It was founded  in 1969 by one of his students, Rev. Jay DuPont, Roshi. We are not associated with any other Zen sect. We have struck out on our own in hopes to establish a Zen practice that is more in synch with our culture. In other words, it does not have any of the cultural trappings that Buddhism has picked up from different countries on its way from India.

    Vichara is a sanskrit word that means “self-inquiry.” Or to be more specific, “inquiry into the truth of the idea of a self.” The name was inspired by the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi who spent most of his life teahing self-inquiry. Once we adapted the name from Sri Ramana, we discovered that the teaching of self-inquiry was already  widespread.
While this is a monastery for training monks and priests, it is also a meditation center for lay people. We have a daily meditation in the morning which anyone who knows how to meditate can attend. We also have a dharma talk every Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. which is available on Zoom. If you would like to attend a talk on Zoom, simply send us a request on our contact page to be placed on our email list. Emails containing a link for the Sunday dharma talk are usually sent out on the previous Friday. We only use a link once. There is a new link provided each weekend.