Rick McDaniel

John Tarrant

Pacific Zen Institute – I first interviewed John Tarrant at his home in Santa Rosa in 2013. His was the third interview I conducted in this project, and I was still finding my way as an interviewer. I did a second interview with him last November; it was my 289th. He is Australian and grewContinue reading “John Tarrant”

Walter Nowick

Moonspring Hermitage – Walter Nowick was one of seven children born to Russian immigrants who were potato farmers on Long Island. It was a cultured family. Walter’s mother insisted that her children take piano lessons. A local teacher came to the farm every Saturday from 9:00 in the morning until 6:00 in the evening toContinue reading “Walter Nowick”

Nicole Baden

Dharma Sangha – Nicole Baden succeeded Richard Baker as the abbot of the two Dharma Sangha practice centers, the Crestone Mountain Zen Center in Colorado, and the Zen Buddhistisches Zentrum Schwarzwald in Germany. Her first encounter with Richard, however, was not particularly auspicious. “I was born in Northern Germany in a small village just southContinue reading “Nicole Baden”

Lou Nordstrom

“Memoirs of an American Zen Pioneer” I have not interviewed Lou Nordstrom. This profile is gleaned, in part, from his book, Memoirs of an American Zen Pioneer.[1] My only communication with him was through a student who replied to my request to quote material from that book. The student wrote back: “Lou says of courseContinue reading “Lou Nordstrom”

Stephen Zenki Salad

American Zen Facebook Page Zenki Salad has cycled through a number of careers. He was a New York cab driver, he was a teacher of the deaf, he taught English in Japan, he held a number of adminstrative posts both in hospitals – including the Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles – and with the enterntainmentContinue reading “Stephen Zenki Salad”

Sheng Yen

Conversations with Rebecca Li Rebecca Li is a second-generation Dharma heir of Chan Master Sheng Yen, whose Dharma Drum Foundation now has affiliate centers in fourteen countries. “The first time I met Master Shen Yen in person,” she tells me, “was when I was in grad school, and he visited Los Angeles. It was veryContinue reading “Sheng Yen”

Nelson Foster

Ring of Bone Zendo and East Rock Sangha Nelson Foster begins our conversation by telling me, bluntly: “As I’ve said to you before – fair warning – I really think this is a story of Zen communities and organizations, sanghas. Teachers come and go, but the Dharma stays with the Sangha. I see a focusContinue reading “Nelson Foster”

Richard Baker

Dharma Sangha Centers – “There was a psychic at Tassajara that I visited with my best friend, Bob, and my sister,” David Chadwick tells me. David is Shunryu Suzuki’s biographer and chronicler of the San Francisco Zen Center. “He was a very powerful psychic, and we’d each gotten readings which were kind of cool.Continue reading “Richard Baker”

David Parks

Bluegrass Zen – I was a member of an amateur bluegrass group while in university, so am charmed by the idea that there is Bluegrass Zen community in Lexington, Kentucky. It’s resident teacher, David Parks, was born in Phoenix, Arizona but grew up in Kentucky. “When I was born, my father was a doctor withContinue reading “David Parks”