Founded in 1983 by the late Robert Livingston Roshi (1933-2021), the New Orleans Zen Temple provides a place to practice the Zen tradition transmitted to him by Master Taisen Deshimaru.
After beginning as a dojo in several temporary sites Uptown, the Temple opened in 1991 in a historic building at 748 Camp Street in the Arts District, built in 1831 and once the site of Cosimo Matassa’s Jazz City recording studio. For over thirty years those who wanted a taste of Zen climbed the slate and heart pine stairs to the Peakless Mountain Shoreless River Temple.
At the death of Robert Livingston Roshi in early 2021, the Temple relocated to the Broadmoor neighborhood at 3600 Napoleon Avenue, where we continue to offer Zen practice in the tradition of Kodo Sawaki and Taisen Deshimaru as transmitted by Robert Livingston Roshi to the second and current abbot, Richard Collins.
New Orleans Zen Temple is governed by the American Zen Association, a 501c3 nonprofit organization. All donations are tax deductible.Our Board of Directors consists of Richard Collins, Executive Director and President; Gary Enns, Vice President; Robert Savage, Treasurer/Secretary; Gilbert R. Buras, Advising Counsel; and Jeffrey Rouse, member.
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