Ryushin Paul Haller
Ryushin Paul Haller, co-Abbot of Zen Center, received dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman and has taught at Zen Center for over 20 years. He is founder and former Director of Outreach at San Francisco Zen Center, works with the Zen Hospice Project, and founded the EPP (Establishing the Path of Practice) program at City Center. He also teaches throughout the United States and Europe. Paul has been a practitioner of Hatha Yoga for many years.
Myogen Steve Stücky received dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman in 1993. He founded Dharma Eye Zen Center in Marin County and combines his work as a temple priest and parent with designing gardens. He is currently co-Abbot of Zen Center and has completed a program in advanced pastoral studies at Lloyd Center for Pastoral Counseling and level II training in Internal Family Systems Therapy. Steve was one of the five people who met the fires at Tassajara last summer.
Victoria Austin came to Zen practice in 1971. She was ordained by Zentatsu Richard Baker in 1982 and received dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman in 1999. Since her first Iyengar Yoga practice in 1978 and her first “Yoga for Sitters” class offering in 1984, she has explored how these two disciplines of mindful action support and sustain each other. She currently teaches at San Francisco Zen Center, the Iyengar Yoga Institute, Abode of Iyengar Yoga, and other venues around the country.
Sherri Baptiste, founder of Baptiste Power of Yoga, offers classes, workshops, retreats, and teacher training. Her retreats and teacher training programs provide an empowering, peaceful oasis in a hurried world—a place where students can find within themselves the tools and knowledge to support and maintain a happier, healthier, and more spiritual lifestyle. Sherri’s specialties include breath-based yoga flow (for all levels), chakras, breath work, meditation, yoga personal training, yoga for older adults, and therapeutic yoga applications.
Letitia Bartlett has been working in the Mime, Clown and Circus world for 35 years. She has taught at American Conservatory Theater, The Academy of Art University, and Stanford University. She was Artistic Director of Make*A*Circus during the 1980s. Letitia is also a Yoga instructor.
Ingen Breen
is a Zen priest and a practitioner of aikido. He was ordained by Zoketsu Norman
Fischer in 2000 and received Dharma Transmission, also from Norman, in 2009. He is originally from Ireland where he practiced with the
Western Buddhist Order for four years. He came to Zen Center
in 1995 where he lived for twelve years.
Kainei Edward Brown, author of The Tassajara Bread Book, began cooking and practicing Zen in 1965. He was ordained as a priest by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi in 1971. Following a 20-year residency at San Francisco Zen Center, he has studied Vipassana, mindfulness touch, handwriting, yoga, and qigong, and leads meditation retreats, cooking classes, and workshops throughout the United States and Europe. He was recently featured in the film How to Cook Your Life.
Laura Burges, a lay teacher in the Soto Zen tradition, lectures and leads retreats at practice centers in Northern California. Her column Is That So? appears monthly on the Zen Center website. She co-leads, with Jeffrey Schneider, the Sangha in Recovery program at San Francisco Zen Center.
Eugene Bush, D.D., has practiced meditation since 1972 and was priest ordained by Katherine Thanas in 2005. He is a bilingual teacher with 34 years of experience in the public school system grades pre-K through University. Currently he is a teacher in an alternative high school in Santa Cruz.
Deirdre Carrigan has been teaching yoga in the San Francisco Bay Area for 22 years, and is a long-time student of Donald Moyer. She will receive priest ordination from Tenshin Reb Anderson in March, 2010.
Surei Darlene Cohen Surei Darlene Cohen, M.A., has written three books describing a meditative approach to life’s physical and emotional pain. She currently leads five meditation groups, two for people in pain. Darlene and her husband, Tony Patchell, live at the Russian River Zendo in Guerneville, CA.
Russell Comstock, Co-Director of Metta Earth Institute, holds an M.A. in Contemplative and Ecological Leadership, a B.A. in Human Ecology, and is certified in Interdisciplinary and Jivamukti Yoga. Russell has extensive experience teaching yoga and has written a handbook called: Metta Earth Yoga — Contemplative Ecological Practices for a Sustainable Future.
Peter Cunningham (Kuku to his Zen friends) has been a professional photographer for over 30 years (www.egoaltar.com). His teachers include Lester Tate, a Baptist fisherman; Henri Cartier-Bresson, a photographer; Bernie Glassman, a Zen teacher; and Bruce Springsteen, a singer-songwriter. Kuku is also a founding member of The Order of Disorder.
Eijun Linda Cutts is a Senior Dharma Teacher at the San Francisco Zen Center where she has studied since 1971. After serving as Abbess for seven years, she has continued to teach and lead practice periods and retreats at Zen Center, and for other groups, including in Italy. She lives and practices at Green Gulch Farm.
Deborah Donohue is a lover of language, Somatic Writing practitioner and Integrative Yoga Therapist. Her empathic tenderness and clarity is garnered from navigating her own acute health challenges and decades in the healing arts. She is the author of a series of DVDs with RealBodyWork.
Kathy Egan has been a Zen practitioner for nearly 20 years and has been cooking for even longer. Her culinary experience includes three seasons cooking for Tassajara summer guests and serving as tenzo (head cook) at Green Gulch Farm. Kathy is now working at the Child Development Center at Sacramento City College while earning a degree in early childhood education.
Zenshin Greg Fain was ordained by Sojun Mel Weitsman in 2002, and was Shuso at Tassajara in spring 2005. Greg is married and currently serves as Ino at City Center. He also helps Seido Lee deBarros lead the San Quentin Buddhadharma Sangha.
Zoketsu Norman Fischer is a poet, author, Zen priest, and former Abbot of Zen Center. He is founder and teacher of the Everyday Zen Foundation, dedicated to sharing Zen teaching and practice widely in the world. He is the guiding teacher to several Zen groups, including in the Bay Area, Washington state, Vancouver, B.C., New York City, and Mexico. He co-founded Makor Or, a Jewish Meditation Center in San Francisco, with the late Rabbi Alan Lew.
Bruce Fortin is a MFT psychotherapist in private practice in Santa Rosa, California, with a specialty in couples counseling. Bruce leads the Occidental Laguna Sangha in Sebastopol, received dharma transmission from Zoketsu Norman Fischer, and teaches at Sonoma State University.
Chris Englehorn Fortin is a MFT psychotherapist in private practice in Sonoma County. She teaches at Sonoma State University, is ordained as a priest by Zoketsu Norman Fischer, and leads the women’s Lotus Sangha in Sebastopol, California.
Kodo Linda Galijan was ordained by Sojun Mel Weitsman in 2004. She is licensed as a clinical psychologist, and has practiced yoga for 20 years. She lives at City Center, where she is currently Program Director.
Eric Gower developed his 'breakaway cooking' style in the US after living in Japan for 15 years. He is the author of The Breakaway Cook and The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen. He was a pioneer of lay Zen practice at Mt. Baldy alongside Sasaki Roshi in the early 1980s.
Steven Harper is a wilderness guide, author, and consultant. He has taught at Esalen Institute for 30 years and is a resident of Big Sur. A student of Buddhism since 1972, he also has an M.A. in Psychology.
Marie Howe has published three books of poems, The Good Thief, What the Living Do, and The Kingdom of Ordinary Time. She currently teaches at Sarah Lawrence and Columbia University in New York City, where she lives with her daughter
Leslie James is a resident teacher at Tassajara and has practiced at San Francisco Zen Center since 1971. She received lay dharma transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 2002. She has two grown children and a grandson, and lives at Tassajara with her husband.
Wendy Johnson has practiced Zen and organic horticulture more than 35 years. She received lay dharma entrustment from Eijun Linda Cutts in 2006 and is also a lay-ordained dharma teacher in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. Wendy is author of the recent San Francisco Zen Center book Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate.
Jeremy Levie has lived and practiced at San Francisco Zen Center since 1995. He was ordained by Eijun Linda Cutts in 2005 and trained as shuso with her in 2009. He currently serves as director at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, where he lives with his wife and daughter.
Lee Lipp, Ph.D. has practiced Zen and Vipassana since 1990. She has taught in psychology graduate programs for 16 years, and teaches Transforming Depression and Anxiety classes throughout the Bay Area. Lee has a psychotherapy practice in San Francisco.
Darcy Lyon is a certified Anusara Yoga instructor and a Marriage and Family Therapist intern. Reflecting an exuberant playfulness, her classes are based in Anusara's Principles of Alignment which support body, mind and heart to live with deep strength, wisdom and ease.
Dale & Melissa Gilbert Kent, authors of the new cookbook Tassajara: Dinner & Desserts, lived and practiced at Tassajara for many years—including several years serving as tenzo (head cook), ino (supervisor of monks) , and shika (guest manager). They currently live and work as caretakers in the foothills of the eastern Sierras where they garden, cook, and promote simple living and organic food for all.
Dale & Melissa Gilbert Kent, authors of the new cookbook Tassajara: Dinner & Desserts, lived and practiced at Tassajara for many years—including several years serving as tenzo (head cook), ino (supervisor of monks) , and shika (guest manager). They currently live and work as caretakers in the foothills of the eastern Sierras where they garden, cook, and promote simple living and organic food for all.
Gloria Lee was ordained as a priest in 1998, and received dharma transmission from Zoketsu Norman Fisher in 2009. During her years as Tassajara gardener, Gloria started the native plant program to restore storm damaged slides and landscape the new bathhouse.
Christina Lehnherr has a degree in Clinical Psychology and worked as a psychotherapist in Switzerland before becoming a resident at San Francisco Zen Center in 1988. Ordained as a priest in 1993, she received Dharma Transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 2005. She now lives in Mill Valley, California, and currently leads the Mountain Source Sangha in San Rafael and a sitting group in Tiburon, California.
Lee Klinger Lesser has been leading workshops in Sensory Awareness in English and Spanish for over 30 years. She studied and led workshops together with Charlotte Selver, including during the last year of Charlotte’s life at 102 years old. She leads trainings in diversity work throughout the United States and was a Zen student at Green Gulch Farm and Tassajara from 1978 to 1983.
Marc Lesser is CEO of ZBA Associates LLC, a company providing executive coaching, workshop, and facilitation services. He is the founder and former CEO of Brush Dance Publishing. He was a resident of the San Francisco Zen Center for 10 years, was director of Tassajara, and is a Zen priest. He is the author of Less; Accomplishing More By Doing Less; and Z.B.A. Zen of Business Administration.
Jackie McGrath is an executive coach committed to supporting leaders toward greater authenticity, presence, and power. She has lectured extensively on the topic of personal creativity and innovative leadership, and has been a guest lecturer at Chicago’s Graduate School of Business and Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and Engineering. Jackie holds a B.S. in Engineering and a Master’s in Organizational Psychology, and is a Certified Professional Coach.
Mary Mocine is a Zen priest who trained at San Francisco Zen Center and was ordained in 1994. She received dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman in 2005. Mary practiced law for 18 years and now leads a dharma group for lawyers.
Donald Moyer, founder of The Yoga Room in Berkeley, California, has been practicing Iyengar Yoga since 1971 and teaching since 1974. He is the author of Yoga: Awakening the Inner Body.
Naomi Shihab Nye was born to a Palestinian father and an American mother and grew up in St. Louis, Jerusalem, and San Antonio. Drawing on her Palestinian-American heritage and her experiences traveling throughout the world, Nye uses her writing to attest to our shared humanity. She is the author or editor of more than 20 volumes.
Anne O’Brien is an inspiring teacher of 20 years in the Krishnamacharya lineage of Hatha Yoga,. Classes beautifully balance precise alignment and fluidity, intensity and ease, humor and grace. She teaches students of all levels, trains yoga teachers, and has contributed to several yoga books and magazines. www.anneobrienyoga.com.
Zesho Susan O’Connell has been practicing Zen since 1987 and was ordained as a priest by Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1999. Previously, Susan spent 30 years in the television and film industries, both as an actress and a producer. She currently serves as Vice President of SFZC.
Samantha Ostergaard is a Zen student and yoga teacher who has used yoga to support her zazen practice for many years. She lived and practiced at Tassajara for three years, receiving lay ordination from Zoketsu Norman Fischer in 2000. Her teaching of yoga is deeply influenced by Zen practice. Samantha has been teaching yoga in the Iyengar tradition for eight years, and specializes in yoga therapy for back care in private yoga therapy sessions. She is a graduate of the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco. Samantha lives next door to the City Center with her husband, Robert Thomas.
Nannette Overley, M.A., is an educator with 30 years of experience. As a bilingual educator, she has offered high quality programs as a teacher, head teacher and administrator, and at secondary, middle school, and high school levels. Nannette received lay ordination at Santa Cruz Zen Center from Katherine Thanas in 2008.
Charlie Pokorny was ordained as a priest by Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1999. He practiced as a resident at Tassajara and Green Gulch Farm for 12 years, including serving as tenzo and director at Tassajara. He currently resides in Sebastopol.
Bobbi Poncé-Barger has been a practitioner of yoga for over 26 years. Her yoga lineage is split between that of Sri Swami Sivananda and the legacy of Sri T. Krishnamacharya. She runs a yoga teacher training school and provides group and private instruction in her studio, Bagheera Yoga, in Washington, DC. Bobbi received lay ordination from Dairyu Michael Wenger in 2005.
Diane Renshaw began Zen practice at Tassajara in 1978, the summer following the great Marble-Cone fire, and watched the mountains burn and recover again in 1999. She received lay ordination in 1998 and is working with Tassajara on a native plant project. Diane lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is a professional consulting ecologist.
Allan Rohlfs is a psychotherapist in private practice in Chicago, a mediator, and a certified trainer of Nonviolent Compassionate Communication. He is married and has an 18-year-old son.
Jeffrey Schneider has practiced at Zen Center, where he is a priest, since 1978. He began the Buddhism and Recovery program at Zen Center in 2000 and has taught and led retreats in a variety of venues in California, Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina. Along with Laura, he leads the Sangha in Recovery program, a year long group which began in August of 2008. He is a member of the California Association of Alcohol/Drug Educators.
Furyu Nancy Schroeder
Furyu Nancy Schroeder, a resident at San Francisco Zen Center for over 30 years, has most recently been the Director of Green Gulch Farm, where she lives with her partner and daughter. Fu has been active in the Marin Interfaith Council for many years and has continued supporting special events for children, people of color, and the gay and lesbian communities. She received dharma transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1999.
Hozan Alan Senauke is Vice-abbot of Berkeley Zen Center, where he's been living for 25 years. He is founder of Clear View Project, engaged Buddhist action for social change and relief. Alan has been a well-known performer of American traditional music, and is often seen behind a camera.
Annie Somerville, a former resident of Tassajara, is currently the Executive Chef of Greens Restaurant in San Francisco, and has earned a national reputation for her imaginative approach to vegetarian cooking. Somerville is a popular teacher of cooking classes throughout the Bay Area, and is the author of Fields of Greens: New Vegetarian Recipes from the Celebrated Greens Restaurant and Everyday Greens. Her works have also been featured in many publications, including Gourmet, Food and Wine, Ladies Home Journal, and Vegetarian Times.
Brother David Steindl-Rast is a Benedictine monk who has participated in Buddhist-Christian dialogues since 1967. His Zen teachers are Hakuun Yasutani Roshi, Soen Nakagawa Roshi, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, and Eido Shimano Roshi. He received the 1975 Martin Buber Award for his achievements is building bridges between religious traditions. At present, Brother David serves a worldwide Network for Grateful Living.
Mark Stephens has taught and practiced yoga since the early 1990’s. The author of Teaching Yoga: Essential Foundation & Techniques, he received Yoga Journal's Karma Yoga Award for his service in creating Yoga Inside Foundation, bringing yoga into prisons, treatment centers and schools across the U.S.
Bill Sterling is a lay Buddhist practitioner and Rhodes Scholar. He enjoys the eloquence of both dead and living languages. He is an ardent bird watcher.
Patricia Sullivan has been teaching yoga for over 30 years, and her knowledge of alignment, anatomy, and kinesiology promotes healing and aesthetic awareness in every student. Foundational study of Iyengar Yoga, with years of personal exploration and exposure to many traditions, including Buddhist meditation, has created a continuing evolution in Patricia’s teaching. In addition, her work as a sculptor adds a creative, improvisational element to the class.
Kazuaki Tanahashi is a calligrapher, painter, Zen scholar, and writer. Originally from Japan, he has had solo exhibitions worldwide. As a peace worker, Kaz is founding director of A World Without Armies.
Robert Thomas has been living and practicing Zen at San Francisco Zen Center since 1993 and has been a student of yoga for 10 years. Ordained as a priest by Norman Fischer in 2000, Robert currently serves as the President of Zen Center.
Anna Thorn has been practicing at all three temples of San Francisco Zen Center since 1995. She was ordained as a priest by Tenshin Reb Anderson in 2003 and is currently the City Center Director. Anna studied tai chi with Liping Zhu for several years.
Felicia Marie Tomasko, RN, E-RYT-500, draws on her nursing training and twenty years of studying, teaching and writing about the sacred practices of Yoga and Ayurveda to inform her East-West understanding of the mind-body connection. She is the editor-in-chief of LA YOGA Ayurveda and Health magazine.
Dana Velden has been living, working and practicing at San Francisco Zen Center and Tassajara for over 12 years. She was priest-ordained by Ryushin Paul Haller in 2002 and currently serves as Zen Center’s Secretary.
Mako Voelkel has been living and practicing at Tassajara since 2002. She was ordained as a priest by Ryushin Paul Haller in 2004. Mako has been tenzo (head cook), summer guest cook, and is currently the Tassajara director.
Sojun Mel Weitsman is Abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center, and a former Abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center. He began practice with Suzuki Roshi in 1964, and was ordained as a priest in 1969. He received dharma transmission from Suzuki’s son Gyugaku Hoitsu Roshi in 1984. He has led many practice periods, ordained many students, given dharma transmission to a number of priests, and enjoys spreading Suzuki Roshi’s teaching. He especially welcomes beginners.
Michael Wenger received dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman and is the author of Thirty-Three Fingers, a collection of modern American koans, and editor of the book Wind Bell. He oversees Dharma group support at San Francisco Zen Center.
Bruce Wilson is a chartered accountant and CEO of an employee-owned investment and financial planning company based in London. He has been advising people about their finances for over 20 years. His view is that money should be an enabler, helping you to create the life you want, and thus achieve life happiness.
Larry Yang teaches meditation retreats nationally and has a deep interest in creating access to teachings of spiritual liberation for diverse communities. Larry is a core teacher and leader of the East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland—a center dedicated to create accessibility to the Buddha’s Teachings for multicultural communities. Larry is trained within the Theravadan tradition and has practiced meditation extensively in the US, Burma, and Thailand. Larry is also trained as a psychotherapist, with a dedicated interest in cultural competency within organizations.
JPolly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D., Psychologist and Jungian Analyst, is the author of The Resilient Spirit, among other books and articles. Polly has practiced Zen since 1971 and is certified as a teacher in the Vipassana tradition of Shinzen Young.
Jito Yumibe began her yoga studies in 1978 and began teaching in 1984. She attended the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco, as well as studying with the Iyengars in India and the United States.
Liping Julia Zhu, L.Ac., is a certified qigong instructor from China and a disciple of Taoist Master Yu Anren. She is the qigong instructor at the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a licensed acupuncturist, and a resident of San Francisco Zen Center.