Category Archives: Uncategorized

Monterey Bay Zen Center, California – Patricia Wolff is a lay member of the teaching council at the Monterey Bay Zen Center. The other three members are ordained. She is also a chiropractor, a homeopathic physician, and a psychotherapist. “I feel like I’m the eccentric aunt in the sangha. As a teacher, it is importantContinue reading “Patricia Wolff”

Adapted from The Third Step East – D. T. Suzuki was a scholar. Nyogen Senzaki was an effective teacher, but he had not been formally authorized as one. The first fully authorized, or transmitted, Zen Master to teach in North America was Sokei-an Sasaki. He was the son of a Shinto priest who died whenContinue reading “Sokei-an and Ruth Fuller Sasaki”

Sangha Jewel Zen Center, Corvallis, Oregon – Mushin Abby Terris is the founding teacher of the Sangha Jewel Zen Center in Corvallis, Oregon. She was raised in a household in the Bronx which she describes as culturally Jewish, although her mother’s family were members of the High Church of England. “My father was Jewish, althoughContinue reading “Mushin Abby Terris”

Zen Center of Los Angeles – Wendy Egyoku Nakao – abbot emeritus of the Zen Center of Los Angeles – invites me to call her Wendy which, she explains, is easier to pronounce than her Dharma name. It is a light-hearted conversation. She laughs easily and frequently. She was born and raised in Hawaii. “MyContinue reading “Wendy Egyoku Nakao”

Adapted from The Third Step East – When telling me about Shunryu Suzuki’s arrival in the United States, David Chadwick pointed out that Suzuki “landed in the middle of the Alan Watts Zen boom.” Two men, in particular, can be credited with preparing the way for the extraordinary success of early Zen teachers like SuzukiContinue reading “D. T. Suzuki and Alan Watts”

Blue Mountain Zendo, Bethlehem, PA – When he was 25 years old, Joriki Baker dropped a set of keys and, when bending over to pick them up, fell to the ground and was unable to get up. “I’d damaged my back in my teens body surfing,” he tells me. The injury had been considered healed,Continue reading “Joriki Baker”

Open Mind Zen, Melbourne, Florida – There are more than a dozen teachers identified on the Open Mind International website. Fusho Al Rapaport is the founder and director of the general organization and remains a teacher at the Melbourne, Florida, zendo although he tells me he no longer works much with beginners. His students areContinue reading “Al Fusho Rapaport”

Kwan Um School of Zen – The Kwan Um School of Zen (or Seon in Korean) began in Providence Rhode Island in 1983 and is now a global phenomenon. Its founder was the Korean monk, Seung Sahn, originally a member of the Chogye Order in Korea. He came to the United States in the 1970sContinue reading “Seung Sahn”

Dharma Rain, Portland, Oregon – When I was in high school, I became involved with the Mormons for a bit. It had nothing to do with religion and everything to do with a girl, but I acquired a basic knowledge of their belief system. It’s hard to believe someone attracted to it would also beContinue reading “Sallie Jiko Tisdale”