- About the Casa Zen :The Casa Zen of Costa Rica, a non-profit association, was founded to provide a warm and inviting place for the study and practice of Zen Buddhism. The teacher, Sunyana Graef, Sensei, is a Buddhist priest who trained for nineteen years at the Rochester Zen Center in Rochester, New York, with Roshi Philip Kapleau. Sensei Graef is also the director and teacher of the Vermont Zen Center, in Shelburne, Vermont, U.S.A. and the former teacher of the Toronto Zen Centre, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Toronto Centre is now under the direction of her Dharma Heir, Sensei Taigen Henderson. Learn more...
- Chants: Listing of the chants done at the Casa Zen with links to the individual chants. Learn more...
- Membership: Members of the Casa Zen, Vermont Zen Center, and Toronto Zen Centre, comprise our Buddhist community, which is called the Sangha. Membership in all our Centers is open to everyone regardless of age, race, national origin, creed, sex, or sexual orientation. Learn more...
- Teacher and Lineage: Sensei Sunyana Graef is the founder and teacher of the Vermont Zen Center and the teacher of the Casa Zen. She began her practice of Zen Buddhism in 1969 as a disciple of Roshi Philip Kapleau. Sensei Graef was born in Boston in 1948 and grew up in New York. In the sixties, she studied religion and philosophy at Bard College, until beginning her Zen training at the Rochester Zen Center. Learn more...
- Newsletter: Our monthly newsletter includes short essays by Sangha members, a calendar of upcoming activities, photos, reports on events, and much more. Learn more...
- Pilgrimages: Pilgrimage has been part of Buddhist tradition since the time of the Buddha. Roshi Kapleau spent many months on pilgrimage, traveling throughout Southeast Asia, before settling in Japan to begin his Zen training in the early 1950's. Twenty years later, he took small groups of students on pilgrimage to Japan and China and urged his senior students to make visiting those countries a priority in their training. Learn more...
