Rafe Martin’s Foreword to “Further Zen Conversations”

Rick McDaniel’s two-book set, Zen Conversations and Further Zen Conversations, goes to the horse’s mouth – Zen teachers themselves – to open up the evolving tale of North American Zen. Most of the contemporary teachers interviewed are homegrown, having trained in the US or Canada, not in Japan. Many did so with first and secondContinue reading “Rafe Martin’s Foreword to “Further Zen Conversations””

Jissai Jeanette Prince-Cherry

When I first looked up the website for the Louisville Zen Center, Bodhin Kjolhede of Rochester was identified as the Guiding Teacher. The local “Group Leader” and “Resident Novice Priest” was Jeanette Prince-Cherry. At the time, I asked her what the difference between the two roles was. “A Group Leader is just a hands-on personContinue reading “Jissai Jeanette Prince-Cherry”

Mountain Cloud Zen Center

Mountain Cloud outside of Santa Fe has recently been designated the hub Sanbo Zen community in North America, although for many years it was barely hanging on. The building was constructed in mid-1980s by members of Philip Kapleau’s Rochester Zen Center who skillfully and beautifully combined the structure of a traditional Japanese zendo with localContinue reading “Mountain Cloud Zen Center”