A message from our worthy friends at the Chapel Hill ZC

The Chapel Hill Zen Center is the only Soto Zen temple of Suzuki Roshi’s lineage in the southeastern United States. Since 1991, Taitaku Pat Phelan, who trained for twenty years at San Francisco Zen Center and later received dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman, has been leading the group. We have close ties with SFZC and its teachers, several of whom regularly visit. Some of our sangha members visit the SFZC to sit sesshin, and participate in practice intensives and Tassajara practice periods.

 CHZC began in the early 1980's with weekly zazen hosted by Frank and Mo Ferrell and Lois Bateson. It now offers daily zazen, monthly all-day sittings, and two full sesshins a year. About 150 people receive zazen instruction annually. Despite the fact that we can accommodate nearly forty people sitting zazen in the meditation hall, special ceremonies and visiting teachers often bring more people than we can comfortably seat, and sometimes there isn’t enough space even at our regular Sunday program. 

We are now building an addition to help accommodate this growth, as well as putting in a new heating and air conditioning system, along with other improved energy efficiencies throughout the building. Having already paid approximately two-thirds of the $145,000 total cost of our expansion and renovation, we are seeking to raise the $55,000 that remains. We warmly invite and welcome your support!

 Chapel Hill Zen Center is a pioneering effort in sharing the Dharma in the Southeast. Even after being in this area for nearly thirty years, North Carolina often feels like the “frontier” of Buddhist practice. We have faith in the far-reaching effects of these efforts, so we invite you to join us in expanding our Temple to support the many people who come to hear the teaching, who ask for zazen instruction, and who seek to continue Suzuki Roshi’s Way. Contributions are tax-deductible and can be mailed to the Chapel Hill Zen Center, P O Box 16302, Chapel Hill, NC 27516.

 Sincerely,

Carla Antonaccio, President