Zen Desert Sangha – Dan Dorsey is the resident teacher at the Zen Desert Sangha in Tucson. He grew up in Texas, and first encountered Buddhism in the library at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches where he was studying forestry. “There were only three books in the library on Buddhism, and I readContinue reading “Dan Dorsey”
Tag Archives: mindfulness
Nona Strong
Empty Cloud Zen, California – Nona Strong of the Empty Cloud Zen Sangha in Northern California grew up in Oklahoma City. “Both my parents were from smaller towns in Oklahoma. And after World War II, they moved to Oklahoma City and bought a house. They were both educators – teachers – and they had me.Continue reading “Nona Strong”
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)”
Susan Myoyu Andersen
Great Plains Zen Center, Monroe, Wisconsin – Susan Myoyu Andersen was the tenth person to whom Taizan Maezumi gave Dharma transmission. She later received full authorization – inka – from Dennis Genpo Merzel. Currently she is the resident teacher at Great Plains Zen Center in Wisconsin. She is also a good old-fashioned activist. After aContinue reading “Susan Myoyu Andersen”
Michael Kieran
Palolo Zen Center, Hawaii The Zen boom of the 1960s and ’70s was largely a youth phenomenon. It’s said that one of the reasons Dainin Katagiri established his Zen Center in Minneapolis was because he had not been at ease with the counter-culture young people who flooded the San Francisco Zen Center. He wanted hisContinue reading “Michael Kieran”
Barry Magid
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”
