Rick McDaniel

Toni Packer

An excerpt from The Story of Zen – Toni Eggert was born in Berlin in 1927. Her parents both held Ph. D.’s in chemistry; her father was instrumental in the development of color photography. When Toni was six years old, the Nazis came to power, putting the family at risk because her mother was Jewish.Continue reading “Toni Packer”

Don Stoddard

Memories of Robert Aitken – “I’ve been a member of the Diamond Sangha since 1966 when the term referred only to the group practicing in Honolulu,” Don Stoddard tells me. “Now the term embraces groups in many places around the World.” He had also been personally involved with much of the construction work that tookContinue reading “Don Stoddard”

Kathy Ratliffe

Honolulu Diamond Sangha – “I was one of those people who in adolescence started looking for truth,” Kathy Ratliffe tells me. “Read Be Here Now.” Be Here Now had been written by Baba Ram Dass – formerly Richard Alpert – who, along with Timothy Leary, had pioneered the use of psychedelics as a means toContinue reading “Kathy Ratliffe”

Robert and Anne Aitken

The Diamond Sangha – The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese warships encircled the island of Guam. American military personnel posted there were outnumbered and surrendered without a fight. Robert Aitken, who had been working construction on the island, was among the civilians detained and transported to Japan as non-combatant internees. He wasContinue reading “Robert and Anne Aitken”

Susan Moon

Every Day Zen Sangha – Susan Moon begins our conversation by telling me she came to California from Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the 1960s, as “a kind of wandering hippie with my then husband. “My parents were WASP agnostics,” she says. “God was never mentioned in the house. That worried me as a child, and IContinue reading “Susan Moon”

Genpo Merzel

Kanzeon Big Mind Zen Dennis Genpo Merzel is the founder and abbot of the international Kanzeon Big Mind Sangha. He was the second person – after Bernie Glassman – to whom Taizan Maezumi gave Dharma transmission. Susan Myoyu Andersen was the tenth. “Well, Genpo is complex,” she tells me. “But one thing that I willContinue reading “Genpo Merzel”

Anita Feng (Zen Master Jeong Ji)

Albuquerque Zen Center – When the founding abbot of the Albuquerque Zen Center – Seiju Mammoser – let it be known that he was contemplating retirement, the board of directors began looking for someone to succeed him. Seiju had been a disciple of Joshu Sasaki in the Japanese Rinzai tradition. The search process – accordingContinue reading “Anita Feng (Zen Master Jeong Ji)”

Susan Myoyu Andersen

Great Plains Zen Center, Monroe, Wisconsin – Susan Myoyu Andersen was the tenth person to whom Taizan Maezumi gave Dharma transmission. She later received full authorization – inka – from Dennis Genpo Merzel. Currently she is the resident teacher at Great Plains Zen Center in Wisconsin. She is also a good old-fashioned activist. After aContinue reading “Susan Myoyu Andersen”

Michael Kieran

Palolo Zen Center, Hawaii The Zen boom of the 1960s and ’70s was largely a youth phenomenon. It’s said that one of the reasons Dainin Katagiri established his Zen Center in Minneapolis was because he had not been at ease with the counter-culture young people who flooded the San Francisco Zen Center. He wanted hisContinue reading “Michael Kieran”