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Cochise Zen Center, Bisbee, Arizona – Barry Briggs – Kwan Um Zen Master Hye Mun – first encountered Buddhism through a girlfriend. “She practiced in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition with Sogyal Rinpoche, who died several years ago.” Barry was studying the Philosophy of Religion at the time at university. “I’m interested in human behavior andContinue reading “Barry Briggs [Zen Master Hye Mun]”

Adapted from The Story of Zen – In his history of American Buddhism – How the Swans Came to the Lake – Rick Fields recounts the story of the time Rinzai master, Joshu Sasaki, gave a talk at the Berkeley campus of the University of California. One of the people in attendance asked if thereContinue reading “Joshu Sasaki”

Conversations with James Ford – James Ford was among the first twelve interviews I did in 2013 when I began this tour of teachers and centers. Our most recent conversation, ten years later, was the 231st I’ve conducted. James has transmission in both the Soto tradition – through Jiyu Kennett Roshi – and the Harada-YasutaniContinue reading “On the Matter of “Transmission””

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”