The Pluralism Project at Harvard University

Description

The Penobscot Area Zen Group was founded 1998 by Sr. Dharma teacher, Marilynn Petit upon her move from Rhode Island to Maine. The group is associated with the Kwan Um School of Zen, and its local headquarters is the Providence Zen Center, established in 1972 in Providence, RI. The Kwan Um School of Zen is an international organization of over a hundred centers founded by Zen Master Seung Sahn, the 78th Patriarch in his line of transmission in the Chogye order of Korean Buddhism. Seung Sahn is also the first Korean Zen Master to live and teach in the West. (1)

The Penobscot Area Zen Group has approximately 100 members in full, although participation varies from sitting to sitting. Anyone interested in learning or practicing Zen is welcome in the community.

Activities and Schedule

Weekly meetings and quarterly retreats take place in a house on the southern tip of Pushaw Lake: 46 Hemlock Point Rd. Orono, ME. Additionally, the community has a new retreat cabin in Monroe, ME, called Hidden Acres. This retreat cabin is available for solo retreats year-round.

Meditation Instruction
Tuesdays from 6:30 to 7:15 p.m.

Sitting Meditation
Tuesdays from 7:15 to 8:30 p.m. (includes sitting, chanting, talk, and tea)

One day retreats
Retreats occur four times a year on Sundays.

Individual Consulting Interviews
Interviews with the Abbot (Sr. Dharma Teacher) occur monthly on Tuesday evenings.

Abbot: Marilynn Petit, Sr. Dharma Teacher, Kwan Um School of Zen
Head Dharma teacher: Maryellen Cimillo
Guiding Teacher: Chong Hae JDPSN

Founder

Marilynn Petit, the founder of the Penobscot Area Zen Group, is a student of Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn. She has sat Zen retreats in Korea and the United States. She is a former Head Dharma Teacher and resident of Providence Zen Center in Rhode Island. Marilynn is also a psychotheraptist and psychiatric nurse in Bangor, ME. (2)

Footnotes

(1) Information on Kwan Um School of Zen and Zen Master Seung Sahn referenced from website: http://www.kwanumzen.org/.

(2) Information on founder referenced from website: http://members.tripod.com/~penobscotzen/penobscotzen/pazg.html.