About Us

The Princeton Area Zen Group (PAZG) engages in lay meditation practice in the tradition of Yasutani-Yamada-Aitken. Founded in 1991 by teachers Manfred Steger and Perle Besserman, the PAZG is a community-based, non-residential unaffiliated Zen center designed to introduce anyone with a sincere desire for self-realization to the formal practice of zazen (sitting meditation).

The group is not a religious organization, but a collection of committed, like-minded individuals responsible for maintaining and supporting a place of Zen practice. It emphasizes traditional elements of Zen Buddhist practice, such as sitting meditation, dharma talks, private interviews, and retreats, but within a framework of Western culture with an emphasis on democratically discussed and implemented community policies.

Click here (Amazon.com) for information on the book Grassroots Zen: Community and Practice in the Twenty-First Century by PAZG founding teachers Perle Besserman and Manfred Steger