Monthly Archives: May 2023

Zen Mountain Monastery [This is an abridgement of my chapter on ZMM in Cypress Trees in the Garden.] John Daido Loori, the founder of Zen Mountain Monastery, had been dead for four years when I visited ZMM in 2013 to conduct a series of interviews. On my second day, I was introduced to the monastery’sContinue reading “John Daido Loori”

Zen Center of Los Angeles Katherine Senshin Griffith is an actress, writer, and comic performer. She is also the current Head Teacher at the Zen Center of Los Angeles. She was raised in Texas and, on occasion, slips back into the regional accent. Her father had been a professor at Our Lady of the Lake,Continue reading “Katherine Senshin Griffith”

Bright Sea Zen Sangha, Weymouth, MA When Kate Hartland was growing up, her parents were atheists, but Kate wondered if she was missing something. “My neighbors were all involved in churches, and I felt the lack of something.” So at the age of ten, she walked to a local church, “maybe a mile away,” wentContinue reading “Kate Hartland”

Russian River Zendo Cynthia Kear is a Soto priest in the Shunryu Suzuki lineage attached to the Russian River Zendo north of San Francisco and an articulate spokesperson for that style of Zen practice. She was raised on the East coast, but after college she moved across the country to the west coast. “I wasContinue reading “Cynthia Kear”

Zen Center of Denver Peggy Sheehan is one of the Spiritual Directors – along with Karin Kempe  – of the Zen Center of Denver founded by Danan Henry, an heir of Philip Kapleau. Both Peggy and Karin have medical degrees, although Karin is now retired. I ask Peggy if she is jealous. She laughs andContinue reading “Peggy Sheehan”