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
Pilgrimage to Buddhist India: Dharma Talk by Rose Martin
Recorded on March 9, 2024.
Rose Martin is a lay ordained, senior student of Sunyana Graef Roshi, who is the founder and Abbot of the Vermont Zen Center and a Dharma Heir of Philip Kapleau Roshi (author of The Three Pillars of Zen). Along with her husband, Roshi Rafe Martin, Rose is a personal disciple of Philip Kapleau Roshi, and is presently head of zendo at Endless Path Zendo.
In the Footsteps of the Buddha: A Buddhist Pilgrimage (February 10-23, 2024) was led by tour leaders Buddha Path. Rose writes of the experience: On the pilgrimage we visited sites of deepest significance to Buddhist tradition and history -- the places where the Buddha was born (Lumbini), where he spent his childhood (Kapilavastu), attained full enlightenment, (Bodhgaya), as well as various places where he actually taught, meditated, and finally passed away and entered parinirvana (Sarnath.) We saw the remains of ancient monasteries and stupas as well as temples and villages that have changed little since the time of the Buddha 2,500 years ago. We also visited the Buddhist cave-temples of Ajanta and Ellora with their awe-inspiring paintings and sculptures, (declared World Heritage sites by UNESCO).
Photo credit: Buddha at Ajanta Caves, India, by Rose Martin
- Books by Roshi Rafe Martin
- Talks on YouTube
- More information at endlesspathzen.org