Mindfulness Meditation Teacher

Jason Jensen

Jason is certified by ZLMC as a “Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher”.

Jason Jensen was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and spent his twenties and thirties as a counter-cultural artist—co-founding a collectively owned café in Minneapolis, hosting an anti-establishment radio show, performing with anarchist marching bands in Seattle, and leading a troupe of "angry, drunken clowns" that disturbed unsuspecting patrons in bars and clubs. He wrote a monthly column espousing clown-centered socio-political philosophy and MC'd a serialized vaudeville show satirizing post-9/11 American life.

After moving to Chicago to study improv (and meeting his wife), Jason eventually traded psychedelic supervillainy for suburban fatherhood. He discovered ZLMC in 2012 after a spontaneous internet search for local Zen centers, seeking guidance following a transformative experience in his youth that had left him feeling caught between the mountaintop and the prison of everyday life.

Through years of meditation and koan study at ZLMC, Jason has learned to let go of the mental construct that separates the sublime from the mundane. As he puts it, he's grateful for the center's role in helping him "enjoy being an idiot"—living more fully in the present moment rather than chasing an exalted state from the past.

Jason lives in Chicago with his wife and children.

  • A woman with curly hair and a red apron prays with her hands pressed together in front of a shrine during a ceremony, as an older woman with glasses and a black shawl participates. There is a vase with flowers, a black box, and a notepad on the table.

    Student Ceremonies

  • A Buddhist monk or nun in a brown robe prays with hands clasped while talking to a clergy member in black and orange robes, holding a binder, standing outside against a beige wall and surrounded by greenery.

    Buddhist Services

  • People sitting in a circle during a group discussion, with a woman holding a microphone.

    Conversations with teachers

  • A group of people sitting with their eyes closed, likely meditating or praying, in a room with a whiteboard and a TV screen.

    Meditation