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.

Palri Pema Od Ling is a beautiful, traditional Tibetan Buddhist temple. With a gorgeous, giant…read morestatue of Guru Rinpoche, one of less than 40 in the world, it is an inspiring and peaceful place. Weekly practices are lead in English and Tibetan by a Tibetan monk. Visiting lamas come throughout the year to offer teachings in English or with translators. This place is the jewel of Austin, a treasure that we are so lucky to have! Check our their website http://palri.org/

What a lovely place to visit! This is a very short detour if you're going between Austin and…read moreDripping Springs/other hill country destinations. The main temple building is gorgeous: golden on the outside, peaceful on the inside, with statues and an altar. There's another prayer room with lovely paintings on the walls, and a whole complex with a library, housing, and trees. I recommend you check out the website; there's a lot of good information about the temple and how to visit. You definitely don't have to be a Buddhist to visit; they're welcoming of everyone. Just be respectful (and remember to remove your shoes when you go indoors) http://sitagu.org/austin/newbies/newbies.html If you go during lunch, you're invited to join for a free meal, which we did: one of the monks saw us leaving and invited us to join the meal, which was starting to wrap up around 12:45 PM. The monks eat separately from lay people; we were at a table with a couple of Burmese people and a couple of Americans (who were staying on a retreat). Be warned, though: the food isn't all vegetarian, as I assumed it would be! So if you're vegetarian or vegan, make sure to clarify what's veg and what isn't. Check out this lovely oasis, especially if you like meditation or want to learn more about Buddhism.

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. :-)

Sitting with this community in person or online in their "cloud zendo" nurtures my practice and…read moreconnections to others. The sangha welcomed our new Senior Teacher, Nathan Smalley who received dharma transmission ( Nov. 2025.) He joins Peg Syverson and Flint Sparks in leading us to "grow up and wake up to life as it is." With a warm bow of appreciation to those curious about this path, BB

When you are through with booze, drugs, and other noisy distractions, this place will help you…read more find the safety in side yourself. Best Wishes Ted Cleaves MD

I'm a slacker Buddhist…read more You know those Christians that are called CEOs? Show up for "Christmas and Easter Only"? Yeah, I'm the Asian that only shows up for Lunar New Year Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. I've previously taken my parents and my husband to this temple where we sit and pray and do light meditation and chanting activities as well as fun singing activities in Mandarin Chinese. This temple is very different from the many that I frequented in Houston as a child. Everyone here has both English and Mandarin spoken and the services are conducted in both. Further more, one thing that I think is awesome is the Lunch and food provided here is donation based where as the temples in Houston I grew up with were payment only. I'm really excited to be 2 lights down from them, it's a 6 minute drive from the Arboretum area to this place and they have a parking lot as well as side 360 parking when it gets packed. I went last night to the Mid-Autumn Festival where they had many fun family friendly activities, everything vegetarian based food and many vegetarian asian type desserts which my parents taught me all about. So fun to see the non-asian folk also around here as the Buddhist temples I went to were predominately 90% Asian visiting. Here in Austin, I would say it's 60% Asian, with 40% everyone else. They have very cool meditation, yoga, etc events on Saturday and Sunday mornings, donation based as well as a kitchen that serves Vegetarian based meals. Also, what I love is they are not the type to "shame on you if you don't donate money to a religious cause". They truly are a friendly family type vibe and you donate because you truly believe in doing good and you want to. Totally low pressure. Also, they gave me a mooncake for the Mid-Autumn Festival that was handmade by all their volunteers and in the Lunar New Year, they give you red envelopes in Chocolate coin money, but still money none-the-less. (Houston temples actually give you $1 in a beautiful red envelope!) Celebrating Asian traditions here in Austin are very apparent here and it's beautifully decorated and I will do my best to be back more frequently.

If you've driven up 360 you will inevitably notice a big gold shiny buddha sitting happily in front…read moreof a temple and perhaps wondered what it was all about. Well I sure did and I decided to check it out. I'm not Buddhist but do enjoy meditation and yoga. I looked them up online and saw that they offered meditation classes on Saturdays (in English). Before committing, I wanted to scope this place out. I arrived at around 4:30, thirty minutes before they close. Aside from a few construction workers (apparently they are doing some major renovations), I was the only one there. I snooped into the tea room and felt like I was transported to another time. Beautiful wooden tables, one of which topped with a delicate tea set and a small vase with flowers. I saw that they offered (assumingly) vegetarian Chinese foods and noted to myself that I must try this! I walked deeper into the dining area into another room and found flyers for classes on the Introduction to Buddhism in English, as well as Chinese language classes for adults. I left the tea room and walked across the pavilion into the beautifully ornate main room to find two monks chanting in sync. I couldn't understand what they were saying but I enjoyed how serene and focused they were. At first I thought perhaps I was intruding but then I saw a welcome note on a table, sign in sheet, some information on Buddhism, and some sweets which I happily helped myself to. I will absolutely be returning to check out the meditation session sometime as well as try the food. And I will report back. :)

I've been meaning to visit some of the Buddhist temples in/around Austin and I finally got a chance…read moreto this past Saturday with my daughter who is home from college for the summer. We really enjoyed this temple. It was clean and quiet. The grounds were beautifully kept. There were a few people inside and one guy spoke to us and gave us a card to tell us when they have English and Chinese/Mandarin meetings. There was another person sitting at the inside table who I asked if I could take a pamphlet about Buddha and she said those were for people to take and read. I've been looking for a place to meditate and practice so I may be back here again soon. I love that this temple is easily accessible and fairly centrally located.

What a beautiful Buddhist temple!…read more Came for Chinese new year eve in year of the dragon for a chanting ceremony. The monk let everyone feel welcome, even those not speaking mandarin or not Buddhist. Explaining everything that was going on including when to kneel; stand; bow, etc. It was so beautifully decorated for new year and they had red enveloped to give away to visitors as well as incense to burn. Would definitely like to come back for other ceremonies as I felt very much included.

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.

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.

10-25-21 Drove by…read morethis Temple on the way to Chinatown Center. We enjoy new experiences and are constantly learning new things. We enjoy exploring and getting "lost". Quality/Quantity - Good. Atmosphere - Good and very clean environment Temple for worship Pond Bamboo shacks Rest area Service - N/A, nobody was here, we let ourselves in; checked out the place, took pictures and left. Price - Free/Donation Looks like they also welcome sponsors - Joe Nails Owner Suggestion - Maybe a greeter, someone to invite and educate visitors?

This is not good Buddhist Temple. They are selling…read more Vietnamese vegetarian foods. They sell Eggrolls, Bi sandwich's, different spring rolls. The price of Eggrolls go from $5 to $7 for 10 Eggrolls, 40% increase. The sandwitch go from $3 to $4, 33% increase. It does not Cost much to make these foods, no meat, just Taro Potato and Tofu. The labors are mostly from volunteers. This Temple just want to make big profits out of people. Go to different temples and try out.