Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin
Endless Path Zendo, is a lay Zen Buddhist community. Intimate and non-institutional in atmosphere, we are dedicated to realizing the Buddha Way in the midst of our own ordinary lives, finding our center of gravity in the creativity of Zen, and the Way of the Bodhisattva.
Zen teacher (roshi) Rafe Jnan Martin began traditional Zen practice in 1970, becoming a personal disciple of Roshi Philip Kapleau, author of The Three Pillars of Zen. After Kapleau Roshi’s retirement, he practiced with Robert Aitken Roshi, founder of the Diamond Sangha, then from 2002-2016 worked intensively with Danan Henry Roshi, founding teacher of the Zen Center of Denver and a Kapleau Roshi Dharma Heir as well as a Diamond Sangha Dharma Master.
Rafe received full lay ordination in 2009, and in 2012 received inka—recognition of his successful completion of the Diamond Sangha/ Harada-Yasutani koan curriculum, along with authorization to begin teaching. In 2016 he received full Dharma Transmission as an independent Zen teacher.
An award-winning author and storyteller whose work has been cited in Time, Newsweek, The NY Times, and USA Today, Rafe has a master’s degree in English literature and literary criticism and is a recipient of both national and state awards, including the Empire State Award for the body of his work. His writing has appeared in Tricycle, Lion’s Roar, Parabola, The Sun, and Inquiring Mind, among other journals of religion and myth. He has given talks at Zen and Dharma Centers around the US and Canada, as well as such venues as the American Museum of Natural History, Zuni Pueblo, and The Joseph Campbell Festival of Myth and Story.
His most recent books are A Zen Life of Buddha (Sumeru 2022), The Brave Little Parrot (Wisdom Publications, 2023) and A Zen Life of Bodhisattvas (Sumeru, 2023).
Endless Path Zendo | Roshi Rafe Martin
Latest Episodes
"Haunted" - Halloween Teisho 2026
Recorded October 31, 2026.Viewed in an eerie Halloween light, the 2nd koan of the Gateless Barrier, “Master Pai-Chang and the Fox,” becomes a lively, shape-shifting encounter. Trick or treat! Pai-chang meets an old man who, though he we...
Karma, World Cycles, Vows, and the Tigress
Recorded October 24, 2026.Long ago, world ages back, we humans got so clever we created a nifty trick. We figured out how to forget or suppress our Original Mind and Fundamental Vow to liberate all beings. With this trick we were able to...
Bodhidharma and Peace of Mind
Recorded October 3, 2026.Case no. 41 Gateless Barrier: Bodhidharma sat facing the wall. Huike, the Second Ancestor, having cut off his arm, stood in the snow and said, “Your disciple’s mind has no peace as yet. I beg you, ma...
