About us

Three Mountains Sangha

Welcome to Three Mountains Sanga, an Atlanta spiritual community.

Our name was inspired by our location, nestled between three iconic granite rock outcroppings: Stone Mountain, Panola Mountain, and Arabia Mountain, which are beautifully depicted throughout our website.

The Three Mountains Way Symbolism

Mountain of Awakening (Buddhism): clarity, insight, compassion
Mountain of Community (Kwanzaa): ethics, culture, responsibility
Mountain of Harmony (Taoism): balance, flow, sustainability

Founders' Reflection: Why These Three Traditions Walk Together

Three Mountains Way arose from lived practice, not theory.

Zen Buddhism teaches us how to sit still inside our mind and life—
To meet reality without turning away,
To trust practice even when clarity was absent.

Kwanzaa shows us the stillness of a moral direction.
It insists that awakening without ethics is incomplete.
That spirituality must serve people, culture, and community,
Not just personal peace.

Taoism teaches us how to breathe again.
How to move with the seasons,
How to act without forcing,
How to honor energy, rest, and natural limits.

Zen Buddhism grounds Kwanzaa in lived practice, presence, and embodiment.

Kwanzaa brings Zen into communal life, ethical action, and shared responsibility.

Taoism offers ease, balance, and natural flow, softening effort and inviting sustainability.

Like three mountains standing side by side—
Distinct, rooted, and shaped by different forces—
They create a landscape where life can flourish.

Three Mountains Way is not about mastery.
It is about showing up.
Returning again and again to breath, ethics, and balance.

This path exists so that spiritual practice may be lived—
In our bodies,
In our communities,
And across the changing seasons of our lives.

These traditions are held in respectful dialogue, not blended into sameness, but practiced side-by-side as complementary paths toward ethical living, embodied wisdom, and communal care.

Three Mountains Way supports ethical living, contemplative practice, and communal care by weaving Zen Buddhism, Kwanzaa philosophy, and Taoist wisdom into everyday life.

  • Core Values

  • Unity & Interdependence

  • Purposeful Living

  • Cultural Integrity

  • Balance & Sustainability

  • Compassionate Action

Who This Path Is For

  • Practitioners seeking depth without rigidity.

  • Communities centered on justice, healing, and belonging.

  • Those drawn to Zen and Taoism who want cultural and ethical grounding.

  • Those drawn to Kwanzaa who want contemplative depth.

Core Pillars of the Path

1. Ethical Grounding (Kwanzaa Nguzo Saba)

Ethics are not rules, but relational commitments that shape daily life.

  • Unity (Umoja)

  • Self-Determination (Kujichagulia)

  • Collective Responsibility (Ujima)

  • Cooperative Economics (Ujamaa)

  • Purpose (Nia) 

  • Creativity (Kuumba)

  • Faith (Imani)

These principles anchor the path in community, dignity, and liberation.

2. Contemplative Discipline (Buddhism)

  • Buddhism provides the methods of awakening:

  • Mindfulness and seated meditation

  • Ethical action (Right Speech, Right Livelihood)

  • Wisdom through seeing clearly

  • Compassion as lived practice

  • Meditation is not an escape, but training for presence and responsiveness.

3. Harmonizing with the Way (Taoism)

Taoism ensures the path remains balanced and humane:

  • Wu wei — skillful, non-forced action

  • Ziran — naturalness and authenticity

  • Yin–Yang — dynamic balance of rest/action, silence/speech

Trust in cycles and timing

Taoism keeps the practice from becoming rigid or extractive.

Our practice is structured around these core activities, allowing individuals to engage with the teachings in holistic and meaningful ways.

We dedicate our practice to benefit all beings.

We invite spiritual seekers to connect and practice with our community.