The Center

Located in a quiet rural setting in inland North San Diego County under historic hundred-years-old California Oaks, Hidden Valley Zen Center is a place for the inner spiritual quest, using the forms of Rinzai Zen, which emphasizes the practice of zazen, including work with koans.

Hidden Valley Zen Center was founded in 1968 by American Tien-li Lola Lee, Osho, long-time student of Dr. Henry Chikuen Kugai Platov, whose primary teacher was Sokei-an [Shigetsu Sasaki, founder of the First Zen Institute of America in New York City].

In 1996, her health deteriorating, Lola Lee, Osho, requested that her students search for a new teacher. Mitra-roshi was asked to visit and lead a retreat, at the end of which Lola Lee as well as her students asked Roshi to take over as the Center’s teacher. Thus, the tradition of practicing Rinzai Zen found a continuation in Mitra-roshi at Hidden Valley Zen Center.

We are a culturally diverse group and welcome sincere Zen practitioners of any ethnic background to our Center.