Monthly Archives: May 2024

Abridged from The Third Step East Although Soen Nakagawa spent only brief periods in the United States, he not only helped Robert Aitken establish the Diamond Sangha in Hawaii, he was also the inspiration behind the International Dai Bosatsu Zendo in the Catskill Mountains, the first Rinzai Monastery to be established in North America. HeContinue reading “Soen Nakagawa and Eido Shimano”

Awakened Meditation Center, Toronto – Matthew Sullivan is a Zen Master in the Korean Zen (Soen) lineage of Hwasun Yangil Sunim and a Dharma Teacher at the Awakened Meditation Centre in Toronto. “What I talk about when I’m teaching meditation to new students – what remains true for me – is there is no particularlyContinue reading “Matthew Juksan Sullivan”

Adapted in part from The Story of Zen– The history of the transition of Zen to the West is a tapestry of concepts, personalities, and events. One of the most distinctive elements is the story of a Japanese-trained Englishwoman who appeared in San Francisco in 1969. “I’ve been trying to reconstruct Jiyu Kennett Roshi’s history,”Continue reading “Jiyu Kennett”

The May 2024 issue of Tricycle magazine includes an abbreviated description of the personal experience which eventually led me to Zen practice. I provided a fuller account of the event in the epilogue to Zen Conversations: Epilogue in Island View There is a story Elaine MacInnes is fond of telling about a Little Salt DollContinue reading ““Zen Conversations” Epilogue”