The Bluestone Zen Practice Community was founded in 2009, as the combination of the two most established Zen meditation groups in Duluth. For nearly 20 years prior, one group had met at the Gloria Dei Church on the lower hillside, while the other met at the Copper Top Church, just up the hill.
In an effort to combine the groups into a single sangha, the Gloria Dei group moved to a yoga studio on Lake Avenue in downtown Duluth and began offering zazen on select mornings during the week, Thursday evenings (combined with a recorded lecture series), as well as maintaining the tradition of a 3-period sitting on Saturday mornings. It was at this time the group was officially named the “Bluestone Zen Practice Community,” and was honored to claim affiliation with both Dharma Field Zen Center in Minneapolis, as well as the Ryumonji Zen Monastery in Decorah, Iowa.
Fluctuations in participation, as well as the closing of the yoga studio in 2011 prompted BZPC to move briefly to another downtown yoga studio, then the Lake Superior Interfaith Church, and finally to it’s current location in the Carriage House owned by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Duluth’s Endion neighborhood. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 forced BZPC’s in-person offerings to cease, and online zazen was offered in the mornings for nearly the duration of the pandemic. BZPC resumed Saturday zazen in the late fall of 2022.
BZPC, although not currently a 501(c)3 organization, is looking to become a non-profit entity in 2024, with hopes of being able to expand it’s programming, invite visiting teachers, and secure a more permanent space of its own. As participation begins to increase, the possibility of better fulfilling its mission to provide opportunities for Zen Buddhist meditation and learning in the Duluth/Superior area becomes more of a reality.
For more information on BZPC, its offerings, and how you can participate, please contact info@bluestonezen.com
To donate to BZPC, please click the donate link at the top of this page.