What Zen Mountain Monastery does

Zen Mountain Monastery (ZMM) is a non-profit Zen Buddhist monastery and monastic training center founded in 1980 in Mount Tremper, New York, in the foothills of the Catskill mountains. It operates as a primary training site for The Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO), a Western Zen Buddhist lineage, and serves individuals ranging from first-time visitors to ordained monastics. Core programs include the public Sunday Program (offered year-round), Introduction to Zen Training Weekends, Ango Intensives, multi-week to year-long Residency, Zen Arts, and structured lay and monastic training pathways. The monastery also runs the Prison Sangha and Diamond Net programs serving incarcerated practitioners, a Zen Kids/Tweens/Teens family program, and a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice initiative.

ZMM's service delivery blends in-person monastery-based retreats with a digital layer consisting of live streaming of Dharma talks and liturgy, online sangha practice groups, and a Dharma Talks podcast archive. The affiliated Zen Center of NYC / Fire Lotus Temple in Brooklyn provides an urban practice site, and the Monastery Store (monasterystore.org) operates as a supporting e-commerce channel for spiritual items and practice materials. Technology is conventional web/conferencing infrastructure rather than a proprietary platform; no AI/ML capabilities, APIs, or SDKs are disclosed.

The revenue model is that of a small religious non-profit: voluntary donations and offerings, recurring member dues, retreat registration fees, and merchandise sales through the Monastery Store. No financial figures, pricing structures, or capital campaigns are publicly disclosed. The organization is governed under MRO's lineage structure rather than conventional corporate ownership, with no venture capital, private equity, or external investment indicated.

Name

Zen Mountain Monastery

Legal name

Zen Mountain Monastery

Website

https://dharma.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Zen Mountain Monastery is a non-profit Zen Buddhist monastery founded in 1980 in Mount Tremper, NY, affiliated with The Mountains and Rivers Order. It offers retreats, residency, online programs, and community practice for the general public, serious practitioners, families, and incarcerated sangha members.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Zen Buddhist Monastery and Retreat Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

akta.pro primary industry

Religious Orders & Monastic Communities (Monasteries, Convents) (BPAGAJAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Mountain & Wilderness Lodges (THAAAHAE), Yoga & Meditation Experiences (Studio Classes, Guided Meditation, Mindfulness) (THAJAHAA)

Keywords

• Zen Buddhist practice
• Meditation retreats
• Spiritual training
• Monastic education
• Contemplative practice

Headquarters

HQ city

Mount Tremper

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Offerings: Voluntary donations from supporters and practitioners, serving as a primary source of funding for monastery operations
2. Member Dues: Annual and ongoing dues from practicing members supporting the monastery's mission and operations
3. Retreat Fees: Registration fees for in-person and online retreats and intensive programs
4. Monastery Store: E-commerce sales of spiritual items, publications, and practice materials through monasterystore.org

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Zen Mountain Monastery is a modern Zen Buddhist monastery and retreat center in the Catskill mountains that provides meditation instruction, residential spiritual training, retreats, and online programs to individuals seeking Zen practice. It operates under The Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO) lineage and offers a Sunday Program, weekend and intensive retreats, a Residency Program, Dharma Talks media archive, Zen Arts, and affiliated urban practice at the Brooklyn Temple.

Product overview

Zen Mountain Monastery operates as a single unified offering—a Zen Buddhist monastery and retreat center—rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The monastery provides a comprehensive suite of practice programs centered around Zen meditation and spiritual training. Core offerings include the Sunday Program, Dharma Talks Media (podcast archive), Retreats & Online Programs, Residency Program, Zen Arts, Entering Zen Training pathways, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice initiatives. The Monastery Store provides retail support. An affiliated location, Brooklyn Temple (Fire Lotus Temple) in New York City, extends the monastery's reach. All programs are connected through the Mountains and Rivers Order lineage tradition.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Fire Lotus Temple: Brooklyn Temple - Zen Mountain Monastery's location in New York City

Products and services

• Sunday Program
• Retreats & Online Programs
• Residency Program
• Dharma Talks Media
• Zen Arts
• Entering Zen Training
• Monastery Store
• Brooklyn Temple (Fire Lotus Temple)

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• The Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1980Zen Mountain Monastery is affiliated with The Mountains and Rivers Order, a Western Zen Buddhist lineage dedicated to sharing the dharma as passed down through generations since Shakyamuni Buddha. MRO provides the spiritual lineage, governance structure, and teacher training framework for ZMM.
• Zen Center of NYC (ZCNYC) / Fire Lotus TemplecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerZCNYC is the urban affiliate of Zen Mountain Monastery, providing a city-based practice center in Brooklyn. Shares Dharma Talks media archive and co-hosts programming for the metropolitan sangha community.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Upaya Zen Center: Soto Zen center in Santa Fe, New Mexico with a residency program, prison outreach, and Zen Arts/Social Engagement initiatives. Comparable in size, lineage-based Zen training, and overlapping programmatic pillars (residency, prison sangha, Zen Arts, social engagement).
• Dharma Drum Retreat Center: Chan (Chinese Zen) Buddhist retreat center in New York's Hudson Valley affiliated with Dharma Drum Mountain. Highly comparable geographic proximity, lineage-based Zen training, residential retreats, and dual rural/urban footprint.
• Shambhala Mountain Center: Buddhist retreat and meditation center in Colorado offering residential programs, teacher trainings, and contemplative programming. Comparable as a rural, mountain-region Buddhist retreat center operating residential and online programs across multiple Buddhist lineages.
• Spirit Rock Meditation Center: Major Insight (Vipassana) meditation retreat center in Northern California offering residential retreats, online courses, and a teacher-training pipeline. Comparable as a long-established Buddhist retreat center with a multi-format program mix and community-led funding model.
• San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC): One of the oldest and largest Zen centers in the U.S., operating City Center, Green Gulch Farm, and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Directly comparable as a Soto Zen training organization offering residential practice, retreats, online programs, and affiliated urban practice sites — the same model ZMM runs at smaller scale.
• Providence Zen Center: Korean Zen (Kwan Um School) center in Rhode Island offering residential training, online programs, and affiliated urban temples. Directly comparable as a lineage-based Zen training center in the Northeast U.S. with residential and online program mix.
• Insight Meditation Society (IMS): Forest-dwelling Vipassana retreat center in Barre, Massachusetts, offering residential and online programs. Closely comparable to ZMM as a rural-property Buddhist retreat center in the Northeast serving both novice and advanced practitioners.
• Plum Village: Global Zen Buddhist community founded by Thich Nhat Hanh with monastery locations in France, U.S., and Asia, plus an extensive online sangha, app, and retreat offerings. Comparable as a Western-facing Buddhist monastic tradition that has invested heavily in online practice infrastructure.
• Barre Center for Buddhist Studies: Tibetan Buddhist study and retreat center in Barre, Massachusetts, adjacent to IMS. Comparable as a rural Northeast Buddhist education center offering retreats, study programs, and residential training for serious practitioners.

Broad incumbents

• Insight Timer: Large-scale meditation app and community platform hosting tens of thousands of teachers including Buddhist monastics. Comparable as a distribution channel and alternative to traditional Zen centers for digital-first meditation seekers — relevant for assessing competitive pressure on ZMM's beginner funnel.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MtRecordJournal
• YouTubevimeo.com/dharmacommunications
• Facebookfacebook.com/ZenMountainMonastery
• Instagraminstagram.com/zenmountainmonastery
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/digital-media-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zen Mountain Monastery