Tag Archives: philosophy

Seven Thunders – Leonard Marcel is a founding member – and current teacher – of Seven Thunders Zen Sangha in Portland, Oregon. He is also a retired psychiatrist and Jungian analyst. He grew up in Brooklyn, ten blocks away from Bernie Glassman’s home neighborhood. “We never knew each other, and, of course, he died aContinue reading “Leonard Marcel”

Atlanta Soto Zen Center – Taiun Michael Elliston is the founder and guiding teacher of the Atlanta Soto Zen Center in Georgia. He grew up in Centralia, Illinois. “Named after the Illinois Central Railroad. Due east of St. Louis, about 300 miles south of Chicago. Pretty much in the middle of the state,” he tellsContinue reading “Michael Elliston”

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”

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”

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”

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”

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)”

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”