Author Archives: Rick McDaniel

Everyday Zen in Berkeley, CA Exciting things were happening elsewhere in the world as I was attending high school in the mid-’60s in LaPorte, Indiana (population 22,000). As the Bob Dylan put it, “There was music in the cafés at night / And revolution in the air.” But most of that passed us by inContinue reading “Alan Block”

A conversation with Dosho Port Dainin Katagiri was born in Osaka in 1928. His birth name—Yoshiyuki—means “Good Luck.” He was the last of ten children, and his family believed him to be the reincarnation of an elder sister who had drowned. He apparently shared this belief. Years later, when a student in Minneapolis confessed thatContinue reading “Dainin Katagiri”

Cuke Archives There are a handful of digital archives I refer to regularly in the composition of these profiles. One of the most useful is cuke.com maintained by David Chadwick. David is the author of Crooked Cucumber, generally accepted as the official biography of Shunryu Suzuki. Cuke.com originated as a supplement to the book, whichContinue reading “David Chadwick”

Ordinary Mind Zen, Sacramento, CA A significant number of the Zen teachers I have interviewed in California grew up in New York City. It’s an interesting migration pattern. Bob Rosenbaum was raised in Mount Vernon, which, he tells me, is an extension of the Bronx. “I was raised Jewish. My parents did not practice religiouslyContinue reading “Bob Rosenbaum”

Still Mind Zendo, New York City During the 1970s and ’80s, as skepticism about Christianity and Western religious traditions was becoming common, there was a corresponding upsurge of interest in Eastern meditation particularly among the young. At the time, Thomas Keating was the Abbot of St. Joseph’s Trappist Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts – the monasticContinue reading “Janet Jiryu Abels”

Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple, Portland, Oregon Kodo Conover is the “temple manager” of the Heart of Wisdom temple in Portland, Oregon. Originally a Methodist Epsicopal Church, the structure was built in 1891. The Methodists sold the building to a Ukrainian Orthodox congregation in 1959, who installed a three-bar cross on the steeple which stillContinue reading “Kodo Conover”

The Three Pillars of Zen Larry Johanson now lives in Ontario but grew up in Kingston, Jamaica. He tells me that when he was a child, violence was pervasive on the streets, in the home, and even in the school system. He was deeply unhappy and leery of the form of Christianity common in theContinue reading “Philip Kapleau”

Kansas City Zen Center Stan Lombardo and his wife, Judy Roitman, are the co-founders of the Kansas Zen Center. They are both Dharma heirs of Zen Master Seung Sahn in the Korean Kwan Um school, although Stan is probably better known as a classics scholar and translator. I note that “Lombardo” sounds Italian. “Sono siciliano,”Continue reading “Stan Lombardo”

Appamada Zen Center, Austin, TX Peg Syverson and Flint Sparks are the Senior Teachers at the Appamada Zen Center in Austin, Texas, although Peg lives in a suburb outside Chicago and Flint lives in Hawaii. The nature of Zen Centers has changed since the COVID-19 outbreak, and now many centers do much of their workContinue reading “Peg Syverson”