I started my practice at Austin Zen Center about 4 years ago. I moved away from Austin and one of…read morethe things I miss the most is AZC. I loved the no-pressure to be or do beyond what I felt comfortable with. My introduction to the practice was held by Pat as part of their weekly Beginners Instruction class. I enjoyed the gentle and to the point guidance so much that I took the class several more times since they use different teachers each weekend and I wanted to gain insight from different perspectives. An underlying theme there was the point of trying and doing without judgement. AZC is a place of refuge where you can build community and people will meet you where you are without the pressure to become or do more than what you want to seek and explore. Love it.

I went to their Beginner class this morning because I've been reading and enjoying a fair amount of…read moreZen literature over the past year and one of the authors said joining a zendo was critical to growth in the discipline. This one seemed reasonable on the face of it because I wasn't sure I wanted to get involved in heavy Buddhism right away. I have a background in a different world religion that wasn't the best experience, so a place focusing more on the philosophy than the religion sounded like it might be the right speed. I read up on the FAQ and Etiquette on their site ahead of time and saw they have a particular dress code asking that people wear loose clothing with no brands or designs in calming colors that covers from shoulders down to below the knee. I had to do some digging in the closet to put something like that together, as athleisure is too tight and all my non-branded tops are tank tops. Ended up going with a loose long skirt and a T shirt turned inside out to avoid having a design on it. A little weird, but not too much effort to put in to be respectful. I showed up a little early to avoid being late and much like the other 1 star review of this place, I was a little shocked at the way the monk or teacher etc I was in proximity to on the porch deliberately cut his eye contact away and made an effort to turn his shoulders away from me. My normal experience with Buddhist monks is that they are at times reserved but generally friendly, so to get the "popular girl refused to see you in the hall" treatment from one raised my eyebrows a bit. But I rallied and sat outside waiting for the class to begin, as after that greeting I certainly wasn't going to barge into the building without a specific invite. The teacher for the class, Pat, I think, was warmer and friendly and pleasant about showing us the ropes. But the ropes! Weird ropes. Part of the class was showing us the temple mandated way of holding your hands during meditation. Yes, they have a single specific way, and by God you'd better get it right. It involves jamming your thumbs together tip to tip, which I couldn't do because it wasn't in the FAQ that I'd need to cut my nails down to the quick before class and I tend to have 1/3 to 1/2 cm long natural nails because I just do. They grow quickly and don't break off. I'd have to cut my nails every day to keep them short enough to be able to stick my thumbs together flat finger-trap style. The other girl in the class also got a snip that her form wasn't good, and I suspect it was due to a similar issue. I really hadn't expected extremely precise physical forms to be part of the day one instruction and I've never seen a meditation class where everyone in the class was required to hold the exact same hand position. I particularly didn't follow the logic when we're all doing the meditating facing the wall, so it's not as though my thumbs creating an imperfect circle could be distracting anyone near me. I completely understand trying to avoid meditation postures like a ghost girl crawling out of a TV for the sake of others in the room, but to pick like that over something so minor and to have a specific temple rule that everyone regardless of arm length, hand shape, and nail length, would adopt identical arm and hand posture did not feel very Zen. I had anticipated instruction more on how to avoid distraction, demos of breathing and sitting techniques (Pat did nicely here), and connect better with myself and the energy in the room but found myself instead incredibly self-conscious that the Thumb Police might be back after me. There was also unnecessary fussing about knee placement and the assurance that body parts falling asleep at times painfully would be a normal part of the process. Disagree, but okay. Here's where they finished losing me. At the end of the class, the regular member meditation group began to assemble in the outer lobby. Imagine the journey my eyebrows took when I saw a guy walk in wearing skinny jeans cut off well above the knee, followed by a woman wearing strappy tank athleisure with a bright neon bra underneath, and another guy wearing an AZC-branded big logo tee. After everything my thumbs and other peoples' knees had been through, now this??? And a good 2/3 of them had Active Btch Face same as the guy from the porch. I'm no stranger to performative piety because I was raised Southern Baptist, but I hadn't expected to run into such a strong blast of it here. I definitely won't be back because I'm not sure what's going on with this place to make people act this way but it's decidedly both dualistic and hypocritical and not a vibe that lends itself well to the pursuit of a clear mind. I'm sure some people there are nice and normal but that was a hell of an intro class that could be actively harmful to peoples' perception of Zen and Buddhism if they're less experienced with religious sects choosing to act funky when the behavior is not required in the texts.

Great place if you want to learn more about Buddhism and Meditation. They meet every Wednesday and…read moreFriday at 7 45pm. People are very kind and before every meditation, you will have a short intro talk about Buddhism. It's kids friendly.

Pretty cool place…read more This meditation group is pretty cool. I went in 5 mins. late and nobody cared. Everybody was super friendly and laid back. I got some tea and then listen to this girl talk about karma for 10 minutes. Apparently they do diff rent talks on diff rent basic Buddhist stuff. After the talk, we were free to ask question. (The talk was really clear, so I didn't have any questions) After that we did a guided meditation which was really nice. We talked some more after it all and the whole thing last about 45 mins. The meditation room was really nice. They had cool Buddhist stuff in it and a nice library. Definitely going back again.

I have been meaning to check out Buddhist temples in/around Austin for quite some time and I…read morefinally had a chance to this past weekend with my daughter who is in town from college. This was our second stop of two that day. Nice location and beautiful setting! We enjoyed it but it was very hot and muggy outside so we couldn't walk around outside for very long. I walked inside the temple expecting a quiet place to reflect but there were 3 people inside chatting and their phones next to them, so we just walked around in our socks as they require removal of shoes before going into the buildings, which is a nice thing to do. We saw one Buddhist monk/nun from afar walking around. The old buddha bronze statues surrounding the inside were nice. I assumed it would not be right to take photos inside so we didn't. I walked into the food area and saw they were prepping for an event. Shoes were not permitted in the dining area. The food they had left smelled nice and it was nice to see who was donating the food each day. I look forward to going back some day when it's not so hot and when the inside temple space has chanting or silence. :-)

Very peaceful buddhist temple with hugeeee pagoda. Reminds me so much of Burma. Inside the pagoda…read morewas cool and breezy. It was a quiet place to meditate. Highly recommended for anyone who is visiting Austin. There are plenty of parking spots.

This is an amazing place to visit. It's a beautiful Tibetan architectural Buddhist temple,…read moreVajrayana style Temple, from Nyingma Lineage! I was really well treated by resident lama and by the leaders. I really appreciate de visit!

It's a miracle that a Tibetan Buddhist temple connected to an authentic lineage can be found in…read moreAmerica. This is a place where those who want to commit to a serious practice of Buddhism can learn and grow.

Sam and Kevin (along with John) really made the services tonight great for beginners like me…read more The whole group tonight was outstanding. I really enjoyed this. They meet every Monday night from 7-8:30 but we were able to stay because I had so many questions until 9:30. If you would like further information, please let me know. Directions here are tricky however Kevin will greatly assist you with that.

Wonderful and compassionate Buddhist community. Very peaceful and great for anyone interested in…read moreBuddhism. They give Introduction to Buddhism classes and have regular chanting for world peace. Come check it out! You will leave feeling more peaceful and empowered. They seek to empower the individual and bring world peace through individual happiness and they seem to be quite successful because these Buddhists are some of the truly happiest and most empowered people I know. They have child care! They even have young women's and young men's meetings! Something for everyone. I know people who have been greatly helped by this community.

SHPC as it is affectionately known is a great place to explore and deepen one's faith. It truly is…read morea place where everyone is welcome and the variety of classes offered appeal to those just beginning their faith journey as well as those deepening it. There are ministries for children, youth, young adults, adults, and senior adults caring for ALL of God's people. Come join us and feel the welcoming nature.

I have been going to this church for about 5 years now. I shopped around for other churches and…read morefinally landed at this one. The staff is friendly and they don't really seem like staff, they actually feel more like people who just want to be your friend and share good information with you. I was baptized at this church after having a love hate relationship with religion and even went on to getting married here. The place is beautiful, the sanctuary is very nice and they do not shy away from computer screens, projectors and videos made exclusively by the kids and adults to share faith in a techno savvy or just spiritual encapsulating way. They have 3 main pastors here and its great having the chance to talk with all of them and hear about all of them when they get up to preach. They even have a little time they like to call, "Family Meeting Time" when the pastor pulls up a chair and you actually get to hear the life of the church, what they are doing, what they need, what they are lacking in and where even the church is putting their money. Its very inclusive. Their programs for kids are fantastic, they have the normal Wednesday night thing going on called TRUE. They say "God is always TRUE" and they have core beliefs that they share with the kids to make sure they know what truly is important and then of course they get to play and pray a bit. The leader of the youth program here is not what you expect, in a very awesome good way. They have plenty of leaders there helping make sure faith is kindled and fun is had. Mike, the leader of True Student Ministries is energetic, tech savvy and an absolute joy to witness both while preaching and witnessing the youth program. Thankfully enough he also has some young staff in there helping out as well doing a fantastic job in the process.

I had my first experience with acupuncture in an appointment with Olivia. Acupuncture was…read morerecommended to me for some chronic back pain I have. But I was dubious about it. Olivia asked me a bunch of questions, explaining what each answer may be pointing to. I learned a lot about how things are connected. She was very sincere; it was clear that she was invested in helping me feel better. The treatment she provided me was painless (having never had an appointment like this before, I was a little scared it might hurt!) and relaxing. I left feeling peaceful. I'm happy to say that the next morning my back pain had subsided. I was able to twist and turn in ways I haven't been able to in 10 years! Needless to say, I'm officially sold on acupuncture! And I'm trying my best to get more appointments with Olivia. She's excellent.

Love this place…read more Love the instructors/doctors who run the school. Most intern sessions I have had were phenomenal. Only one stands out as bad in all the years I have gone here off and on - the one where the icky intern was getting so worked up with his needles he was literally sweating on me ... I don't know what that was about, but DUDE - EW. Pa-lease handle your business. I had to speed home and immediately take a serious shower ... When I first went here I was skeptical of acupuncture, but I will tell you, even though it doesn't work for everyone for everything, it DOES work for some people on some things. At $30 a session, any old ailment that the Western doctors can't seem to give you a cure-all pill for, come here and see what they can do for you. You just might be very, very surprised!

Easy to miss this place unless you know about it. As a first timer to Austin I was brought over…read morehere to try out some of them Kraft cocktails on what seem to be a quiet weekend, but a wedding party pulled up and livened up the place. Staff here are very friendly and know their way around some outstanding drinks. The place is really nice and well put together for a wedding or just getting together with friends and family. Highly recommend picking up a bottle or two take home after you've tried out they're whiskey, vodka and tequila.

It is a privilege to be attending the Wizard Academy for the Eclipse and to hear Roy Williams share…read morethe history of the precious land it is inhabiting. The first time I attended the academy for a class was nearly a decade ago. Every year I am here, I love it more. If you get the opportunity to attend a class here, do it! It can be enlightening and life enhancing ... I look forward to every annual pilgrimage I can make. Each time I am here, I feel like I wanna move here to be here more. It keeps getting better!!