Peter van der Sterre

Peter Van der Sterre

Peter Van Der Sterre arrived at San Francisco Zen Center in 1972, a few months after Suzuki Roshi had passed.  He was a student at City Center and Green Gulch Farm, and then practiced at Tassajara from 1973 to 1975, receiving priest ordination from Richard Baker.  In 1983, Peter formed a construction company, which he ran until 2015.  Returning to community practice with Everyday Zen Community in 2000, Peter was given transmission by Norman Fischer in 2011. The The Oak Street Zendo was established in 2015 and the The 7th Street Zendo in Boise, Idaho, the following year, where Peter and others host small classes on Sutra and Koan Study, and more recently, Suzuki Roshi's legacy. “I came to practice because of encountering Suzuki Roshi’s work.  I have stayed because of my appreciation of the Sangha he founded, and because he is still the best resource for considering and expanding our sense and appreciation of practice.”