In the early 70's, Michelle E. Martin was a student of Zen Master Kyozan Joshu Sasaki who practiced at Mount Baldy Zen Center near Los Angeles CA. Michelle loved New Mexico and asked the Roshi if he would come and teach there. The Roshi playfully replied, “You find hot springs, I come." Michelle's friend Maria Chabot was at that time the receptionist for the Servants of the Paraclete, a Catholic order in Jemez Springs NM. She overheard aconversation about the possible sale of a Catholic monastery on the Jemez river and called Michelle immediately. Michelle invited the Roshi to come and inspect the site. It had hot springs and he approved of it. Michelle generously donated the down payment, and the Bodhi Manda Zen Center of Rinzai-ji was purchased and subsequently incorporated on November 29, 1973.

The Jemez Bodhi Mandala was founded as a place for Zen Buddhist practice and teaching. Over the years, the spirit of Michelle’s donation has grown into a quiet and reflective retreat location, meditation center, and teaching space. We are indebted to Michele’s vision, passion, and generosity, and for finding and helping acquire this site. We continue to grow and develop from Michele’s original intention. In 2021, Michele recorded a retrospective video of the early days at the Bodhi. You can view this video on our Youtube Channel.

In the same year of its founding, the Bodhi Manda Zen Center invited Sasaki Roshi to offer his guidance in the Rinzai Zen Buddhist tradition. Sasaki Roshi came from Japan in 1962, when a group of people in Los Angeles asked Myoshin-ji, Japan’s largest Rinzai school, to send a teacher. The Rinzai-ji home temple was established in Los Angeles in 1968. Sasaki became the guiding light of a Zen community that flourished as interest in Buddhism grew in North America in the 1960’s. It was followed by the creation of training centers and affiliated Zen temples in the United States, Canada and Europe. Joshu Sasaki Roshi retired from teaching in January 2012, and this lineage is carried forward today by ordained Zen teachers (oshos), monks, nuns, and numerous lay practitioners.