Membership
Cultivate a World of Wisdom:
Become a Steward of our Sangha Community
In these turbulent times, the world yearns for the qualities Zen nurtures: stillness in chaos, compassion in conflict, and clarity in confusion. For over ten years the Zen Life & Meditation Center has been a beacon of these transformative teachings. Now, we invite you to deepen your practice and expand our impact by becoming a member.
As a ZLMC member, you’re not just supporting a center, you’re nurturing a living tradition. Rooted in the White Plum Lineage, our teachings bridge timeless wisdom with modern life, offering a path to genuine well-being. Your monthly contribution is the lifeblood that allows us to:
Member Discounts – offer our members discounts on most of our offerings
Offer Sanctuary – Maintain our serene Oak Park center as a refuge for all who seek peace, from first-time meditators to seasoned practioners.
Share Timeless Wisdom – Attract and support our dedicated Zen teachers, ensuring that authentic, transformative teachings continue to flow.
Innovate and Adapt: Develop new classes, retreats, and workshops that address the evolving needs of our community, from stress relief to deep awakening.
Foster a Global Sangha: Expand our online offerings, bringing Zen insights to those who can’t reach us physically, creating a worldwide community of practice.
Open the Dharma Gate for All: Provide scholarships to those facing financial hardships, living our belief that the Dharma is too precious to be limited by finances.
Every membership level makes a difference:
Bodhisattva Member: $83/month – Help provide scholarships for others.
Peacekeeper Member: $42/month – Keep our teachings alive and bright
Pathfinder Member: $20/month – Nurture our communal bonds
Your contribution, at any level, is an act of generosity that ripples out. Each person who finds clarity here, each moment of compassion cultivated, each insight that transforms a life–this is the fruition of your support. In a world that often feels divided, your membership helps us build bridges of understanding. In a time of environmental crisis, it helps us teach mindful stewardship. In the face of personal challenges, it offers a path to resilience and peace.
Join us. Together, let’s tend this garden of awakening, where every mindful breath nurtures a more aware, compassionate world.
How do we meet this moment we find ourselves in - a world that is changing so fast and is so chaotic and confusing it’s difficult to find our bearings. I am grateful to be a part of a loving Sangha community and a Zen spiritual tradition that nutures a sane, grounded way of living that meets each moment with openness, kindness, deep respect, and grace.
I am an American citizen, but its increasingly difficult to know what that means, as this moment is often given over to division, partison politics, biopolar ideological disagreements, fear, and violence. Is America having a nervous breakdown? This crisis of identity is debilitating. And what adds to it, is the barage of lies and conflicting stories coming at us so fast, we have no way of knowing what is true or false, what is fact or fiction. Overwhelmed by this flood of noise, it’s easy to become numb and to withdraw.