buddhism – Page 2 – Richard Bryan McDaniel

Soyu Matsuoka

A conversation with Tim Ryuko Langdell – Tim Ryuko Langdell is the guiding teacher at Still Center Zen in Pasadena. He contacted me after I had written a post about the Japanese teachers who first brought Zen practice to North America. I had neglected, he informed me, to include Soyu Matsuoka. In fact, I wasContinue reading “Soyu Matsuoka”

Glenn Webb

Conversations with Genjo Marinello and Kurt Spellmeyer – “I came to Seattle in 1976 as a VISTA volunteer,” Genjo Marinello tells me. Genjo is the abbot of Dai Bai Zan Cho Bo Zen Ji. “I had already started studying Zen in 1975 with Daizen Victoria at the College of Oriental studies and a little bitContinue reading “Glenn Webb”

Issan Dorsey

Maitri Compassionate Care – Issan Dorsey died thirty-five years ago on Sept 6th, 1990, nearly a quarter of a century before I began this pilgrimage into the landscape of North American Zen. What I know about him comes from reading, especially David Schneider’s biography, Street Zen.[1] For me, Issan is a stellar example of aContinue reading “Issan Dorsey”

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”

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)”