Kika Susan Hellein has been a residential practitioner since 2013 at Tassajara, Green Gulch, and her home temple, Berkeley Zen Center. She has served in many administrative temple positions, including ino (zendo manager) and shuso (head student) at Green Gulch, where she currently lives. Kika ordained as a zen priest in 2020 with Sojun Mel Weitsman and in 2022 began study with her current teacher, Tenshin Reb Anderson. She received a Master’s degree in writing from Sarah Lawrence College in 1995.