The roots of the North Carolina Zen Center were established in 1972, when Susanna Stewart began a sitting group in her home north of Pittsboro, near the site of the present Center. After several dai-sesshins with Joshu Sasaki Roshi she decided to build a small zendo near her house so he would have a place on the east coast. This became known as the Squirrel Mountain Zendo of the North Carolina Zen Center, which was incorporated in 1977. In the same year she married Sandy Gentei Stewart, a student of Joshu Roshi.
Knowing that for many years Sandy had envisioned the creation of a residential center, in 1995 one of Sandy's students contributed 15 acres of nearby land to the North Carolina Zen Center. Shortly thereafter constructin began on the Brooks Branch Zendo. The meditation hall was completed in 1998, the kitchen building in 2001, the multi-use/dormitory building in 2003 and the shower house in 2005. A dormitory/dining hall and a larger meditation hall are in the planning and fundraising stages.
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