Seeking Sangha: Exploring Buddhism in the Twin Cities
by Kai Martin
Contents
About
Basic Etiquette Suggestions
Sangha Directory
Sangha Profiles
Theravada-ish
Mahayana-ish
Vajrayana-ish
Gassho (End Notes)
About
One year ago, I spent a semester studying abroad in Bodh Gaya, India– the center of the Buddhist world. Once I came back to St. Paul, I realized that I didn’t know what to do with my life if I wasn’t hopping between Buddhist temples. For two months of the summer of 2025, I received funding to stay in the city and do exactly that as a ‘contribution to my educational goals at Macalester’*. I compiled a list of sanghas from Google Maps, Facebook, and word-of-mouth. I have visited eleven of the 28 sanghas listed, and interacted with even more virtually. I hope that me sharing my personal experiences can inspire you to interact with the diversity of lived religion in your own community.
This article aims to summarize and make widely available information about Buddhist organizations in the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. As a road-map to local Buddhisms, this information should empower readers to go out and encounter the Dharma (Buddhist teaching) themselves. You, reader, may be very experienced with your own tradition but new here and trying to find a place to fit in. You may have never stepped foot inside a temple and might be surprised to find just how religiously diverse the Twin Cities are. I believe that with a bit of courage, dharma seekers of any age, race, class, gender, and background can find a sangha (community) that feels like home.
Written on the unceded lands of the Dakota and Anishinaabe peoples. May we continue to be dedicated to justice and the liberation of all beings.
*This research was made possible by the Roetzel Family Summer Scholarship granted by the Macalester College Religious Studies Department. The author’s views do not represent those of Macalester College.
Basic Etiquette Suggestions
I have come to understand that I am a spectacle in nearly every Buddhist space I enter, whether due to my Whiteness or my young age. There is no avoiding this, but I try to do things that demonstrate my respect. Of course, things vary from place to place so keep your head on a swivel to pick up the norms.
Dress modestly, covering shoulders and knees
Bring cash to donate to the temple!
Remove shoes when appropriate
Bow to the Buddha statue-- style of bow varies by culture
Graciously eat any food you receive
Do not point your feet at monks or the Buddha
Sangha Directory
Blooming Heart Sangha (English)
5011 S 31st Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55417
Chùa Bồ Đề, Bodhinyana Meditation Center (Vietnamese)
1743 Yankee Doodle Rd, Eagan, MN 55121
Chùa Niệm Phật - Niem Phat Buddhist Temple (Vietnamese)
935 Dale St N, St Paul, MN 55103
Chùa Phật Ân (Vietnamese)
475 Minnesota Ave. Roseville, MN
Clouds in Water Zen Center (English)
445 N Farrington St, St Paul, MN 55103
Common Ground Meditation Center (English)
2700 East 26th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55406
www.commongroundmeditation.org
Compassionate Ocean Zen Center (English)
652 17th Avenue NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413
Dharma Field Zen Center (English)
3118 W 49th St, Minneapolis, MN 55410
Diamond Way Buddhist Center (English)
3401 Park Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55407
www.diamondway.org/minneapolis
Gyuto Wheel of Dharma Monastery (Tibetan)
2601 NE Taylor St, Minneapolis, MN 55418
Joyous Path Buddhist Meditation Center (English, Tibetan)
1000 41st Ave NE #101, Columbia Heights, MN
Karen Buddhist Association of Minnesota (Karen)
43695 Peaceful Valley RD, Harris, MN
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064947036441
Khacholing Center (English, Tibetan)
7209 12th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55423
Mahamuni Theravada Buddhist Society (Burmese)
559 Humboldt Ave Saint Paul, MN 55107
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064714267520
Midwest Minnesota Buddhist Association (Chinese)
1245 Summit Ct., Maplewood, MN 55109
Minnesota Buddhist Vihara (English)
3401 N 4th St, Minneapolis, MN 55412
Minnesota Insight Meditation Community (English)
Minnesota Zen Meditation Center (English)
3343 E Bde Maka Ska Pkwy, Minneapolis, MN 55408
Mon Buddhist Temple of Minnesota (Mon)
598 Larpenteur Ave E, St Paul, MN 55117
Sera Jey Buddhist Cultural Center (Tibetan)
6417 Markwood Dr. N, Crystal, MN, 55427
serajeybuddhistculturalcenterminnesota.org
SGI-USA Minnesota Buddhist Center (English)
1201 Harmon Pl #100, Minneapolis, MN 55403
Shambhala Meditation Center of Minneapolis (English)
2931 Grand Street NE Minneapolis, MN 55418
Twin Cities Buddhist Sangha (English)
2855 Anthony Ln S # B5, St Anthony, MN 55418
Twin Cities Vipassana Collective (English)
Wat Phradammakaya - Minnesota Meditation Center (Thai)
224 1st Ave NW, Osseo, MN 55369
Wat Promwachirayan (Thai)
2544 Highway 100 South, 2544 MN-100, St Louis Park, MN 55416
Wat Sirijundhawas (Thai)
1296 Point Douglas Rd S, St Paul, MN 55119
www.facebook.com/watsirijundhawas.minnesota
Watt Munisotaram (Cambodian)
2925 220th St E, Hampton, MN 55031
www.facebook.com/WattMunisotaramOfficial
Sangha Profiles
Theravada-ish Temples
Wat Promwachirayan
Wat Promwachirayan is a large Thai Buddhist temple that sponsors many cultural activities as well as spreading the Dhamma (teachings of Buddha). Ten monks live at the temple year-round, serving local Thai Buddhists.
I almost drove past Wat Prom the first time I went there, because it’s located in a nondescript former church building. Everything happened in either Thai or Pali (a liturgical language), so I could not understand the sermon. I followed along with the few words that I do know, chanting “saddhu, saddhu, saddhu” (Amen/May it be so) with everyone else. I made a friend who helped me understand when it was time to offer rice as alms to the monks.
After two hours of ritual, I ate the best Thai food I’ve ever tasted. There was a buffet laid out for Visakha Pucha, the Buddha’s birthday. Summer construction meant that attendance was lower than expected, and I was encouraged to take leftovers. I met some women who regularly offer alms to the monks as well as a few families with young children. Two teens told me that there is one Ajahn (monk) at the temple who speaks English, but that he was busy that day and I should email the temple to make an appointment to meet with him.
Wat Sirijundhawas
Wat Sirijundhawas seems to have (accidentally?) blocked me on Facebook after my friend request, but I don’t hold it against them. It just means that I don’t have a lot of info to share. It is also a Thai temple with a handful of resident monks, a little smaller than WPROM but with more Thai architecture. I would recommend looking into it yourself.
Wat Phradammakaya - Minnesota Meditation Center
MMC is a small Thai temple that is associated with the Dhammakaya tradition, which is a controversial sect that goes against the grain of mainstream Thai Buddhism. Most of the distrust in Thailand has to do with the way the clergy handle money. You can read more at AP:
Kang, D. (2017, March 22). AP Explains: What’s behind conflict at sprawling Thai temple. The Associated Press. https://apnews.com/article/6080ce7e212b4aada8e4088e9361c228
MMC is housed in a renovated church and from my online observation, the lay sangha are able to make merit by donating to the monks who live there while the monks perform rituals and offer meditation instruction in return, which is more or less par for the course. I would love to hear more Thai-speaking peoples’ take on them, though.
Watt Munisotaram
Watt Munisotaram is a gem of Cambodian America, a beautiful handcrafted temple in Hampton, MN. It also serves as a cultural hub– I witnessed the huge crowds gathered there for Khmer New Year. They host many events with lots of food and traditional dancing, as well as Vipassana meditation retreats. Some programming is in English but most is in Khmer. I highly recommend a visit and/or to watch local news coverage of the temple simply for its beauty.
Minnesota Buddhist Vihara
MNBV is a Theravada Buddhist monastery that is home to two monks who have trained in Sri Lanka. Every evening, they livestream their pirith chanting on Facebook to bless all sentient beings. Their website doesn’t seem to be entirely up to date, but it’s all in English and they seem very passionate about sharing the Dharma with all people. I look forward to visiting and maybe meditating there one day.
Mahamuni Theravada Buddhist Monastery
MTBS is a small monastery that conducts religious ceremonies for the Burmese-speaking community of St. Paul, MN. Venerable Varabuddhi, one of the monks there, seems to have a particularly active social media presence and is working to spread the Dharma in English as well as Burmese.
Karen Buddhist Temple of MN & Mon Buddhist Temple of MN
The Karen Buddhist Temple of MN and Mon Buddhist Temple of MN are two separate Buddhist communities of the Karen and Mon people, respectively, both of which are minority ethnic groups who fled from persecution in Burma. St. Paul is home to one of the largest Karen communities in the United States. Information about these temples is hard to find if one is not already part of the community, but their activities seem to be similar to MTBS. Monks chant, perform rituals, discuss Dhamma, and eat food with the dedicated laypeople who regularly come to give them alms.
Common Ground Meditation Center
Common Ground Meditation Center is a predominantly White sangha practicing mindfulness and Insight Meditation. They are fairly large, as the only stereotypically “Western” or “Convert” Buddhist center in this area (with a physical location) practicing primarily with Southeast Asian Theravada traditions as opposed to East Asian Mahayana Zen traditions. They offer many different practice groups, both general and identity-based, that feature guided meditation, a talk, and discussion both online and in-person. The sections on their website dedicated to ethics and Unraveling Oppression read as green flags to me. I have also heard good things about their BIPOC retreats, in particular, from individuals who have participated in those.
Twin Cities Vipassana Collective
The Twin Cities Vipassana Collective is a loose-knit group of practitioners who organize occasional residential English-language Vipassana (Insight) and metta (lovingkindness) meditation retreats in central Minnesota.
Minnesota Insight Meditation Community
The Minnesota Insight Meditation Community is based in Minneapolis but entirely online, another English-language Insight Meditation-focused group. I have not attended any of their activities, so I can’t speak to them or their attendees, but their teachers seem to approach mindfulness as a very scientific and secular type of thing. Take this with a grain of salt, but I’m personally suspicious of that kind of language because I associate it with White Buddhists who look down on Asian tradition as “superstitious”.
Mahayana-ish Temples
Soka Gakkai International - MN
This temple belongs to Soka Gakkai International, an organization so controversial that I hesitate to include it in this guide. On one hand, Sokka Gakkai’s main practice is that of chanting “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” in reverence to the Lotus Sutra, and preaching a doctrine of humanism and universal equality. Great. I even think that the fact that their founders were imprisoned by the wartime Japanese government is probably a green flag. On the other hand, it seems that Soka Gakkai promotes only their interpretation of Buddhism while scorning others, and there are ex-members who have accused Soka Gakkai of being abusive or focused on financial profit and political gain. It certainly exists on the fringes of Buddhism and I have been reluctant to visit, but maybe I should be more open-minded.
In any case, proceed cautiously. For a more well-rounded commentary on the Lotus Sutra, try the following:
Lopez, D. S., & Stone, J. I. (2019). Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side: A Guide to the Lotus Sūtra. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvfjczvz
Midwest Minnesota Buddhist Association
The MMBA is a small Chinese-speaking sangha led by Venerable Chuan Yang. Their activities mainly consist of chanting sutras and Pure Land recitation on Saturday mornings in a residential building in the Maplewood suburbs. They also eat together, study together, and invite Chinese Buddhist priests to give lectures on the Dharma as well as lead ceremonies. Their website shows most of the participants to be older adults, but this may vary.
Twin Cities Buddhist Sangha
The Twin Cities Buddhist Sangha is a historically Japanese American sangha that practices Jodo Shinshu (Pure Land) Buddhism. This small group meets in rented spaces, currently the Cha-Ami Japanese Cultural Center. They are part of the Buddhist Churches of America, a nationwide Jodo Shinshu organization that grew out of Japanese American incarceration during WWII. Due to this, many of their aesthetics echo those of Protestant Churches, from the gathas (hymns) sung by the congregation to the minister’s robes. The entire service is also in English, except for some chanting. Their practice prioritizes faith in the nembutsu, or chanting the name of Amida Buddha in order to be reborn in his Pure Land.
Family and ancestors are very important for this sangha. They hold a memorial service once a month to recite the names of community members who have passed away. I overheard many of these kinds of exchanges: “Did you hear [X]’s son graduated high school?” “Do you know if [Y] will make it to the Obon festival?”
I felt very welcomed by the members of TCBS as we shared homemade food after the service, balancing paper plates and tea on our folding chairs. The mixed congregation of Japanese Americans and others who had converted to Jodo Shinshu were happy to talk to me and interested to hear about my project. They recommended some books to me, and I was only mildly surprised to find that the priest knew many of my Japanese professors personally.
Chùa Phật Ân
Chùa Phật Ân was established in 1983 on former church grounds, seven years after the founding of the Vietnamese Buddhist Association of Minnesota in 1976. Since that time, the congregation has raised the funds to build a beautiful Vietnamese-style pagoda on the site. They welcome Vietnamese Buddhists from a variety of traditions, with practices that include Pure Land, chanting the phrase “Nam mô A Di Đà Phật”, as well as Vipassana meditation practice. The pagoda also hosts Vietnamese language classes as their mission is to both worship the Triple Gem of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha as well as the preservation and development of Vietnamese culture and language.
Chùa Niệm Phật
Chùa Niệm Phật is slightly smaller but very similar to Chùa Phật Ân, with a parking lot decorated by a beautiful garden and statue of Guanyin that aesthetically balances out the fact that it is located in what I believe is a renovated storefront. Their website seems to favor Pure Land, but Vietnamese Buddhism is very syncretic and tends to blend influences from all over. I visited them for their 10th anniversary celebration which included lion dancers, monastic visitors from all over the country, and a number of impressive musical performances.
I felt slightly in over my head at Niệm Phật, but I think that may be due to the fact that it was such a busy event. I wasn’t really able to connect with anybody like I could at other places. I really should go back though, especially now that I own merchandise with their logo on it (an anniversary gift).
Blooming Heart Sangha
BHS is a volunteer-run sangha of lay people practicing in the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, affectionately called Thay. On Thursday evenings, they meet in the sanctuary of New Branches, a rented church space shared by other congregations. They practice seated meditation, walking meditation, and dharma sharing, in which different members of the community take turns speaking about the dharma. The practice ends with prostrations to the altar, decorated with simple offerings, a Buddha image, and picture of Thay.
I happened to visit BHS on a special day, the Rose Ceremony. During this ceremony we sang and reflected on our relationships with our parents. Many of the participants were older adults, and very few of them had grown up with Buddhism in their childhoods.
Chùa Bồ Đề
Chùa Bồ Đề is a Vietnamese temple in the suburbs that is not officially a Plum Village monastery, but does practice with a lot of Thay’s teachings. It is a peaceful home to two monks who are supported by a close-knit group of dedicated lay people. BHS practices with them one Sunday each month. I had a wonderful lunch with the mixed sanghas after we listened to a dharma talk that was translated into English by a Vietnamese-speaking member of BHS.
Zen Centers - Introduction
In 1972, Dainin Katagiri Roshi (1928-1990) was invited to teach Zen in Minnesota– as fate would have it, by a group of practitioners whose interest in Zen began at Macalester College! More than 50 years later, four Soto Zen Centers in the Katagiri lineage coexist in the Twin Cities. American Zen has long wrestled with the question of self-identity as a tradition dominated by older, white, convert Buddhists: Is it better to practice with the ‘traditional accoutrements’ or to adopt a more ‘unadorned style’*? Each center has its own answer to that question, but all are communities of English-speaking practitioners of Zen meditation. They all offer Dharma classes, Sesshin (meditation retreats), and effective Zoom integration for virtual participants.
*language from Minnesota Zen Meditation Center website
Clouds in Water Zen Center
To be transparent, I consider myself a member of CWZC. I have been attending their Sunday services for about a year now as well as taken a Dharma class. CWZC is not the most glamorous Zen Center, but I go there because I value their explicit commitments to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. (It’s also close to my house). CWZC’s atmosphere is very accessible without sacrificing the traditions developed by our Chinese and Japanese Dharma ancestors. Not everything is perfect, but that’s part of being human.
Minnesota Zen Meditation Center
I visited the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center’s villa on the shore of Bde Maka Ska to sit in their Zendo and walk in their garden for a Saturday service. As the oldest Zen center in the Twin Cities, they are probably the largest and have the most programming, including many resources on their website. I regret that I did not meet many of their members, but I expect I will in the future.
Dharma Field Zen Center
Dharma Field Zen Center is probably the least ritual-focused of any of these zen centers. I attended one of their Wednesday evening sitting meditations as well as the dharma discussion that happened afterward, and there was much higher attendance at the dharma discussion rather than the sitting. It was an interesting exercise, but I question the futility of reading too closely into an English translation of an ancient Chinese Chan text. The participants were very experienced though, and I would estimate that many of them are of the generation that has been practicing with Buddhism since the 1970s.
Compassionate Ocean Zen Center
What struck me first about Compassionate Ocean was the smell of the wood in the zendo. The internal aesthetics are probably my favorite out of any of these Zen centers. The offerings are fairly standard, with regular meditation and dharma classes, one more Buddhist-focused and one more about non-sectarian mindfulness. Guiding teachers Joen and Michael Genpo O’Neal have both trained with Thich Nhat Hanh, so they bring their own flavor to some of the rituals, such as taking refuge in the Pāli language instead of English.
Vajrayana-ish Temples
Diamond Way Buddhist Center
The DWBC is a live-in sangha, a house where a rotating cast of sangha members reside. It is part of the international Diamond Way, an organization/movement founded by Hannah and Lama Ole Nydahl in the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Controversies abound around Lama Ole and his not-very-enlightened behavior. What I experienced in this particular group of followers was a thirty minute guided meditation in which I was told to visualize the 16th Karmapa sending me light and blessings. It was fine, but I felt hesitant about it because I didn’t really know the guru who I was supposed to be envisioning. Additionally, the clean, museum-like aesthetics of their practice centers kind of freak me out in contrast to the colorful maximalism of the traditional Tibetan monasteries I’ve visited.
Further reading (this entire website is a good place to learn about Tibetan ‘Convert’ Buddhism):
Scherer, B. (2018). Neo-orthodox Tradition and Transition: Lama Ole Nydahl and the Diamond Way. Tibetan Buddhism In the West: Problems of Adoption & Cross-Cultural Confusion. https://info-buddhism.com/Ole_Nydahl_and_Diamond_Way_B_Scherer.html
Shambhala Meditation Center of Minneapolis
The Shambhala Meditation Center of Minneapolis is part of the Shambhala tradition, a movement founded by the reincarnate lama Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1970 upon his arrival to the U.S. They offer regular Sunday sitting meditation, dharma classes, and community celebrations. Their meditation practice involves recognizing the ‘fundamental nature of basic goodness’ in every human being. Shambhala is Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s modernist take on Tibetan Buddhism ‘for the West’, and is renowned for having expanded greatly in popularity very quickly.
Sera Jey Buddhist Cultural Center
In December 2022, a suburban house was purchased by Tibetan Buddhists to establish the SJBC, a small branch of the illustrious Sera Jey monastery in India. Since 1992, the Tibetan population has grown in Minnesota from 160 to over 3000, the second largest community in the U.S. SJBC now serves this community with ceremonies, religious teachings, and language classes from the geshe (monastic professor) who lives on-site. I visited SJBC for Saga Dawa Düchen, the holiest day of the year in Tibetan Buddhism. I was the only non-Tibetan in the crowded house but I was welcomed to listen to everyone around me chanting and reading sutras. I learned that meritorious deeds on this day are multiplied 100,000x as I sipped my butter tea and ate a generous portion of chow mein.
Joyous Path Buddhist Meditation Center (& Gyuto Wheel of Dharma Monastery?)
The Gyuto Wheel of Dharma Monastery seems to have been, similarly to Sera Jey, a branch of the tantric Gyuto Monastery in India, but I can’t tell if they are still active. In any case, Abong Rinpoche, one of its former teachers, formed the Joyous Path Buddhist Meditation Center in 2014. Joyous Path seems to be a dharma center teaching for both Tibetans and non-Tibetans. All chanting is in Tibetan, but Rinpoche gives his teachings in English and often online.
Khacholing Center
The Khacholing Center was founded in 1997 under the spiritual guidance of Gankar Tulku Rinpoche, and its current teacher is Drupa Rinpoche Lobsang Yeshi. Drupa Rinpoche is highly educated in both psychology and Buddhist monastic studies. He continues to teach the dharma regularly online and in-person in both English and Tibetan, with many resources available on his website.
Gassho 🙏
The zine associated with this article is offered for free for the benefit of all sentient beings. I humbly ask you to consider making a donation to the Tzu Chi - Buddha Land Project, which is doing a lot of good work to aid impoverished communities in places like Bodh Gaya, as a repayment for the kindness this place has shown me.
