Tucson, Arizona

"What is Zen?"
"The heart of the one who asks is Zen."

Zen meditation in Tucson, Arizona
in person
on the University of Arizona campus at the Little Chapel of All Nations
and on Zoom

please support Desert Rain Zen

Some Upcoming Events

Sunday, September 6, 3:30-5:00:
Sunday Sit on Zoom

Tuesday, September 8, 5:30-6:30:
Tuesday evening study group on Zoom

Thursday,September 10, 6:30-7:30: on Zoom only this week--back to hybrid starting September 17
Thursday Evening Meditation, in person at Little Chapel
--a hybrid event; you can join us via Zoom

for more upcoming events please visit our program page
or see our 
google calendar

what's new


Fall 2026
Cloud Gate Mahasangha Residential Retreat
with Sarah Bender Roshi, Tenney Nathanson Roshi, Megan Rundel Sensei
at the Redemptorist Renewal Center
out at Picture Rocks
in Tucson
October 17-23
for further information please email [email protected]


Tuesday Evening Study Group
we're working with the Heart Sutra
for more information about these classes please email [email protected]


Desert Rain Zen
is now podcasting:
newest episodes:
talks from our March Desert Rain Desert Sunrise Retreat at Picture Rocks in Tucson
by Tenney Nathanson and Megan Rundel

talks by Sarah Bender from the March Springs Mountain Sangha retreat in Colorado

you can find us by searching"Desert Rain Zen"
on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast hosting platform
you can also find soundfiles of recent talks here at tenneynathanson.com
and a big archive of older talks here on this website


you can also find new writing by our teacher Tenney Nathanson Roshi
at tenneynathanson.com  
most recently posted:
a long essay, "Riding the Dragon"
and "Golden Wind, part 1"

and
for lots of new writing by Tenney
you can subscribe to his Substack "tenneynathansonzen":
you can subscribe here
or see a full list that includes several recent posts here




about Desert Rain Zen

Desert Rain Zen
is a Zen Buddhist sangha
located in Tucson, Arizona
you can join our
meditation and koan conversation sessions 
in person on Thursday evenings at
Little Chapel of All Nations
on the University of Arizona Campus
and on Zoom on
Sunday afternoon and Tuesday and Thursday evenings

Desert Rain Zen is part of
Cloud Gate Zen
a lineage characterized by
innovative work with koans
that aims to foster a deep engagement
with awakening and individual transformation
and a lively commitment to the Bodhisattva vow
in a welcoming and encouraging practice environment

Cloud Gate Zen is a branch of the Pacific Zen School
a lineage
that supplements individual koan practice
with group koan work
with an eye toward making the wisdom, richness, and transformative power
of the koan tradition
available to all who practice with us.
Our koan conversations are lively, warm, and deep
supported by our continuing commitment to Zen meditation



join us on Zoom

most Desert Rain Zen events are on Zoom
some others are hybrid
to be added to our email list to receive zoom links to our various activities
please fill out our Mailchimp subscription form or phone us at 520-230-1458

you can find details here about
our weekly events
our special events
our residential retreats



our teacher

our teacher is Tenney Nathanson Roshi



some more Cloud Gate Zen news

Joan Sutherland Roshi, the founding teacher of our lineage, published 
Through Forests of Every Color: Awakening with Koans
with Shambala in June 2022. It's available from Shambala (or from Amazon or other sellers)

for related material about Through Forests of Every Color
and some of Joan's other recent activities
including a series of Zoom interviews about the book available online
you can look at this page on our website
or go to
Cloud Dragon: The Joan Sutherland Dharmaworks


there are Cloud Gate Zen groups in Colorado and California
as well as here in Tucson
all Cloud Gate groups and teachers are holding Zoom events open to everyone
for contact information and some scheduling information, see our
Cloud Gate Zen
page.




Desert Rain Zen is sustained entirely by individual contributions
Please consider donating to DRZ.

If you'd like to receive email announcements of upcoming events (with information about how to attend in person or on zoom), you can sign up here for our Mailchimp emails:

Where to find us (when we're not on zoom . . . )

The Little Chapel is located at 1401 East First Street, on the University of Arizona campus:

For our weekend and evening events, you can park for free in any of the spaces in the Little Chapel parking lot.  When you arrive, please check with us about how to enter a parking code on your phone. Questions? text or phone 520-230-1458, or email [email protected].

photos: Lynda Zwinger
this page last  modified September 6, 2026

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DRZ is a federally-recognized 501c3 non-profit corporation: all donations tax deductible to the extent allowed by law