Ordinary Mind Zendo, New York – “Like a lot of people in the 1960s,” Barry Magid tells me, “I encountered Zen through the Beats, in reading Kerouac and Gary Snyder. I found Alan Watts and D. T. Suzuki and those folks. So at some point I noticed the characters who were still alive – whoContinue reading “Barry Magid”
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Kurt Spellmeyer
Cold Mountain Sangha, New Jersey “I’m from a mixed background/heritage, and religion really wasn’t an important part of my upbringing,” Kurt Spellmeyer tells me. “I became interested in all kinds of religious traditions, but it wasn’t part of our family’s experience.” I ask what the mix was. “Well, I was really ‘all of the above’Continue reading “Kurt Spellmeyer”
Flint Sparks
Appamada – Austin, Texas I begin my conversation with Flint Sparks by asking if that was, indeed, his birthname or perhaps a nickname “It’s my real name,” he tells me. “I grew up in Texas as my dad did, and he was a real fan of the cowboy novel genre. There was one series heContinue reading “Flint Sparks”
Peter Levitt
Salt Spring Zen Circle, British Columbia In early 1967, at the age of 21, New York-born Peter Levitt and his wife heard something was happening in San Francisco, so they headed west. “We rented a place in the Mission District that had four apartments, which was a great find,” he tells me. “Rent was $80Continue reading “Peter Levitt”
Ted O’Toole
Minnesota Zen Meditation Center – Ted O’Toole is the current Guiding Teacher at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis founded by Dainin Katagiri. It was a not an obvious location for a Zen Center in 1972. Dosho Port tells me that Katagiri had not been entirely comfortable with the hippies who were coming toContinue reading “Ted O’Toole”
Koun Yamada and Sanbo Zen
A conversation with Ruben Habito The Sanbo Kyodan school was founded by Yasutani Hakuun in 1954 when he formally cut ties with the Soto Establishment in Japan and promoted a style of Zen based on the work of his teacher, Harada Daiun. The suffix “-un” in both given names means “cloud” and would become commonContinue reading “Koun Yamada and Sanbo Zen”
Soen Nakagawa and Eido Shimano
Abridged from The Third Step East Although Soen Nakagawa spent only brief periods in the United States, he not only helped Robert Aitken establish the Diamond Sangha in Hawaii, he was also the inspiration behind the International Dai Bosatsu Zendo in the Catskill Mountains, the first Rinzai Monastery to be established in North America. HeContinue reading “Soen Nakagawa and Eido Shimano”
Matthew Juksan Sullivan
Awakened Meditation Center, Toronto – Matthew Sullivan is a Zen Master in the Korean Zen (Soen) lineage of Hwasun Yangil Sunim and a Dharma Teacher at the Awakened Meditation Centre in Toronto. “What I talk about when I’m teaching meditation to new students – what remains true for me – is there is no particularlyContinue reading “Matthew Juksan Sullivan”
Jiyu Kennett
Adapted in part from The Story of Zen– The history of the transition of Zen to the West is a tapestry of concepts, personalities, and events. One of the most distinctive elements is the story of a Japanese-trained Englishwoman who appeared in San Francisco in 1969. “I’ve been trying to reconstruct Jiyu Kennett Roshi’s history,”Continue reading “Jiyu Kennett”
Richard Bryan McDaniel 