Clouds in Water Zen Center

06/07/2026

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06/06/2026

During the month of June, one of the main altars at Clouds has been dedicated to honoring trans, nonbinary, intersex and two-spirit ancestors, bodhisattvas and teachers. These could be plants, stones, animals, stars, humans currently living and those who have passed on. There are bodhisattvas and deities, stones and flowers, powerful ancestors like Marsha P, Johnson, Stormé DeLarverie, and Sylvia Rivera. Trans Buddhist trailblazers like Lobzang Jivaka and Glenn Copeland, nonbinary icons like the bodhisattva Quanyin and Two-Spirit teachers like Candi Brings Plenty.

Stop by and add to it! Address and more info in bio.

06/01/2026

HAPPY PRIDE! This Pride Month at Clouds we’re offering programming specifically celebrating and supporting our trans, nonbinary and intersex community 🙏🏽

Links in the linktree in our profile!

05/30/2026

04/30/2026

Were you enchanted by Alysa Liu’s gold metal performance and happy fearlessness? Do you connect her story to your mindfulness practice? Do you want to share sips of tea and dance tea drunk with Marcus Young at Clouds in Water?

Alysa is coming to perform her sparkly wisdom in St. Paul on May 10! In honor of her magical mindfulness, Marcus is hosting five tea sessions called “Alysa Liu Disco Zen Tea Room”. You’re welcome to drop in at any time. We’ll cultivate quiet sips and wild Donna Summer flow. Well enjoy@modest snacks alongside passages from the Tao. We’ll look for our own gold medal comeback stories.

NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED.

Friday, May 1, 4:30-6:30pm
Saturday, May 2, 4:30-6:30pm
Monday, May 4, 5-7pm
Tuesday, May 5, 5-7pm
Sunday, May 10, 11am-1pm

At Clouds in Water
445 Farrington Street
Saint Paul, MN

04/16/2026

Sunday April 26
Washburn Fair Oaks Park, Minneapolis

2pm - Gathering
2:30 - Ceremony & 45 minute Mindful Movement
Closing with sharing and Dedication of Merit

Part of the Clergy Lighthouse Project

We walk as a pan-Buddhist community:
•in the spring, the season of rebirth, and Earth Day;
•because we know our wellbeing in tied to all others, part of the symbolic web of life and the interconnected true nature of reality;
•because we experience change as not only possible but ever-present, and acknowledge our choices and actions have consequences;
•in the spirit of Ahimsa-causing no harm through intention, thought, word or action;
•because we recognize that climate change intersects with racial, social, and economic injustices, we seek to empower those most effected to lead decision-making an develop fair distribution of resources.

We walk to speak for the political, social, and legislative responses, affirmations, and incentives to make our world as sustainable as possible.

🙏🏽

Please join us!

03/31/2026

March 31 — today we celebrate Trans Day of Visibility, which began March 31, 2009, and is more vital than ever. This is a day to turn toward both the reality of profound, and increasing, discrimination, erasure and violence facing the Trans community, and also the badass courage, creativity and possibility Trans folks embody just by existing, and bring to every space we’re a part of.

This image above is of the Buddhist Monk Lobzang Jivaka, or Michael Dillon (1915 - 1962) — trailblazing British physician, author and trans man, who became a monk in India after serving in the Merchant Navy. His transition paved the way for contemporary gender-affirming care.

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Photo of a white man with a shaved head, wearing Buddhist robes, looking serene. Pink lotus blossoms are layered on the bottom of the photo with the words, “Celebrating Trans Day of Visibility” in blue with a pink background.

03/29/2026

Clouds is so excited to share this special event, which involves three of our beloved sangha members!

A Day of Speculative Prayer: Love, Grief, and Fugitivity — featuring Dr. Bayo Akomolafe .akomolafe

A FREE public gathering involving conversation, art, poetry, film, and ceremony.

Friday, April 3, 12:00pm-9:00pm (come and go for any part of the programming)

Registration encouraged but not required - link in bio.

Locations:
12:00-6:00pm — TC Friends Meeting (TCFM), 1725 Grand Avenue, St. Paul
7:00-9:00pm — John B. Davis Auditorium, Campus Center, Macalester College, St. Paul

This gathering is a constellation: participants may move in and out of the offerings as they wish. Space is limited. Entrance will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Lunch and dinner will be provided.

In this moment of crisis, collapse, and unraveling, we will gather in fugitive grief, refusing the loops of colonialism and white supremacy that continue to unfold with Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, and larger waves of violence across the nation and globe. Together, we will create a speculative prayer–broken, revealing, messy like bog, wind and fungi–sacralizing the moment without trying to hurry the arrival of an emerging world.

PROGRAM / AGENDA
TC Friends Meeting (TCFM), 1725 Grand Avenue, St. Paul:
12:00pm — Lunch and tea
1:00pm — Opening Remarks
1:45pm — Dialogue / Rhizomatic Response
4:45pm — Speculative Prayer & Fugitive Grief Ceremony

6:00pm – Dinner
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John B. Davis Auditorium, Campus Center, Macalester College:
7:00pm — Film scene preview & discussion, Three Black Men

Rhizomatic Response and Exploration:
Running parallel to the dialogue, in the Conference Room of the TCFM House, is a set of activities using Open Space Technology called “Rhizomatic Response and Exploration.” This includes:
● Grief Room held by professional grief tenders
● Haiku exchange
● Wind phones to speak with the ancestors (Japanese “kaze no denwa”)
● Self-directed ecology/migration walk

02/24/2026

Silent Walk for Justice - Hosted by Twin Cities Buddhist Sanghas a couple weeks back ❤️‍🩹🙏🏽

02/16/2026

Intersangha Buddhist Vigil in Solidarity with Immigrants
March 10th, 7:30-8:30am

In person near Whipple Federal Building (at Fred Wells Tennis Center) or online:
More info: https://mnicom.org/vigils/

All are welcome to join this Buddhist vigil in solidarity with immigrants hosted by a group of Buddhist communities. We will engage in Buddhist practices from many traditions, and hear from organizers from ICOM, Interfaith Coalition on Immigration for ways to support our immigrant community. Religious garments and symbols from all traditions are welcome.