Rick McDaniel

Taigen Henderson

The Toronto Zen Centre is on High Park Gardens in a well-to-do neighborhood on the west side of the city. I follow a stone path around the house to the back entrance passing carefully cultivated and maintained flower beds adorned with elegant Bodhisattva statues. Downstairs there is a Zendo (with about twenty-six places) and aContinue reading “Taigen Henderson”

Bodhin Kjolhede

There is a bumper sticker on Bodhin Kjolhede’s car that reads: “Ask me about my vow of silence.” We are driving to the Rochester Zen Center’s retreat house, located at Chapin Mill, forty minutes from the city. Bodhin’s hair is short, but not shaved off, and he is dressed in a navy blue short-sleeve shirtContinue reading “Bodhin Kjolhede”

Genjo Marinello

I would eventually have an opportunity to spend time at Dai Bai Zan Cho Bo Zen Ji in Seattle, meeting its abbot – Genjo Marinello – and joining the regular morning sitting group not only for zazen but also for coffee at a local cafe which has a table waiting for them. No one blinksContinue reading “Genjo Marinello”

AZTA Conference – July 8, 2021

[photo above with Genjo Marinello Roshi] [The American Zen Teachers’ Association invited me to address their Annual Conference on July 8, 2021. This is the text of that speech.] I started writing because my leg broke. I’d been taking a medication for osteoporosis called Fosamax. You used to see a lot of ads for FosamaxContinue reading “AZTA Conference – July 8, 2021”

Bobby Rhodes/Zen Master Soeng Hyang

In addition to the Japanese teachers who came to North America in the ’60s and ’70s, there were also Zen teachers from China, Vietnam, and Korea. The focus of my early books had been on the tradition as it came from Japan, but people frequently mentioned the importance in America of the Korean teacher, SeungContinue reading “Bobby Rhodes/Zen Master Soeng Hyang”

David Dae An Rynick

David Rynick is the husband of Melissa Blacker and, with her, co-teacher at the Boundless Way Zen Temple in Worcester. He is also a potter, and some of his pieces are displayed on the temple grounds. When I first visited the temple in 2013, David told me a story which I have frequently repeated since.Continue reading “David Dae An Rynick”

Greg Mayers

Fr. Gregory Mayers, C.Ss.R. is identified as the Emeritus Teacher of the East-West Meditation program at the Mercy Center in Burlingame, California. He is a Redemptorist priest and a fully authorized Zen teacher within the Sanbo Zen tradition. “I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana,” he tells me. “I was raised in Baton Rouge. SouthernContinue reading “Greg Mayers”

Ilia Shinko Perez

In October 2013, I visited Great Mountain Zen Center in Berthoud, Colorado, in order to interview Gerry Shishin Wick. I was working on a book which profiled some of the direct successors of the pioneer teachers who established Zen in North America, and I was interviewing Shishin because he was an heir of Taizan Maezumi.Continue reading “Ilia Shinko Perez”

Julie Nelson

Julie Nelson is the Interim Spiritual Director of the Greater Boston Zen Center, although – she tells me – “I don’t consider myself so much a Buddhist as a Zen student.” I first became aware of her through her blog, in which she wrote about the events which led up to the separation of GBZCContinue reading “Julie Nelson”