spirituality – Richard Bryan McDaniel

Bodhin Kjolhede

Rochester Zen Center – At one point in the course of our Zoom conversation, Bodhin Kjolhede has to get up from his desk and leave the room. As he comes back, I notice he is wearing a t-shirt with the Latin phrase: Ego Sum Abbas. “My students give me a lot of gag gifts,” heContinue reading “Bodhin Kjolhede”

Sheng Yen

Conversations with Rebecca Li Rebecca Li is a second-generation Dharma heir of Chan Master Sheng Yen, whose Dharma Drum Foundation now has affiliate centers in fourteen countries. “The first time I met Master Shen Yen in person,” she tells me, “was when I was in grad school, and he visited Los Angeles. It was veryContinue reading “Sheng Yen”

Nelson Foster

Ring of Bone Zendo and East Rock Sangha Nelson Foster begins our conversation by telling me, bluntly: “As I’ve said to you before – fair warning – I really think this is a story of Zen communities and organizations, sanghas. Teachers come and go, but the Dharma stays with the Sangha. I see a focusContinue reading “Nelson Foster”

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”