Ring of Bone Zendo is a rural, lay Zen Buddhist community in the Diamond Sangha tradition.

In style, practice, and lineage, Ring of Bone Zendo has roots in both Rinzai and Soto schools. Year-round instruction is available from Nelson Foster, who is a Dharma heir of Robert Aitken Roshi.

The meditation hall is located on the San Juan
Ridge near Nevada City, California. Members come from the local area, throughout California and across the country.

You are welcome to practice with us, whether you are Buddhist or not. We have weekly group zazen and sesshin throughout the year. We do not offer a residential program.

For more information, please contact us at
510-654-4877 or by email to members@RingOfBoneZendo.org.

I saw myself
a ring of bone
in the clear stream
of all of it

and vowed,
always to be open to it
that all of it
might flow through

and then heard
“ring of bone” where
ring is what a

bell does.

Our zendo takes its name
from this poem by Lew
Welch, who disappeared in
the forest nearby in 1975.