Audio & Video - Jikoji Zen Center: Recent Episodes
Jikoji Zen Center
This week Jikoji offers a special Sunday program featuring the Voices of Women in Zen, who will speak about the Soto Zen ritual and ceremony they have been creating and nurturing with the guidance of Paula Arai, author of Bringing Zen Home: The Healing Heart of Japanese Women's Rituals and Women Living Zen: Japanese Soto Buddhist Nuns. Speakers will include Carolyn Hoshin Jikai Dille, Judy Gyokuho Reyes, Monica Darsana Reede, and Pamela Chōbun Nenzen Brown.
Carolyn Jikai Dille has been a dedicated student of Buddhist practices for 30 years in the Soto Zen and the Early Buddhist Insight traditions. She began teaching in dharma communities in 1998 and has studied with a variety of teachers in the United States and Asia. Carolyn is a poet, writer, and founding editor of Leaping Clear, www.leapingclear.org, a digital magazine of the arts featuring artists with meditative and contemplative practices.
Shoho Michael Newhall began practicing and studying with Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in the early seventies, and was ordained by Kobun in the mid-eighties. In the early nineties he was director at Jikoji Zen Center. Throughout this time he taught visual arts at various schools and universities, including Naropa University, where he also taught meditation and Buddhism. Since that time, Mike has been the Resident Teacher and chief priest at Jikoji
This week’s talk is by Robert Yanasak. Robert (Seiko Taikan) is retired as a Mechanical Design Draftsman/Supervisor at Perkin-Elmer, Leica and other Bay Area companies. He writes: “My attraction to Buddhism wasn’t to be a Buddhist but rather to follow the Buddha’s advice that if I wanted to know what was going on around me I needed to turn my attention inwards and look there. The rest evolved circumstantially. I love my practice more then anything and I know I’ve never been a very good buddhist based on the standards of what that might look like.”
Dan Zigmond is a Zen priest ordained by Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in 1998. He is also a writer, father, and data scientist. He has practiced at San Francisco Zen Center and Jikoji Zen Center, and studied a range of Dharma traditions.
Doug Jacobson began practicing Zen in Minneapolis in 1974 with Dainin Katagiri Roshi, and had Jukai in 1977. He was a householder, father, contractor, and civil engineer in Southern California for 25 years. Doug came to Jikoji in 2008, and received priest ordination in 2010, and transmission in 2015, from Shoho Michael Newhall. He currently serves as one of Jikoji’s Guiding Teachers.
Eric Remington was an early student of Kobun, Jikoji's Founder, in the early 1970s. After years spent studying with Kobun and founding a school for children, Eric was ordained and subsequently trained at Tassajara Monastery for a year. He became a biologist and naturalist before living for several years in the desert, and for several years was a Jikoji resident.
Allison was priest-ordained in 2016 in the Suzuki Roshi lineage, by Myoan Grace Schireson, and continues an established meditation practice of many years. She lives in Campbell with her husband Jeff and enjoys playing tennis, baking pies and spending time with her three young adult children when they return home to visit.
Dan Zigmond is a Zen priest ordained by Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in 1998. He is also a writer, father, and data scientist. He has practiced at San Francisco Zen Center and Jikoji Zen Center, and studied a range of Dharma traditions.
Ōshin Jennings is the founder and leader of No Barriers Zen, a Zen Buddhist community in Washington, DC. Ōshin is the first known Deaf Buddhist priest, and he has made it his mission to use his experiences as a Deaf and disabled practitioner to help make meditation practice and the Buddhist teachings accessible to all people, especially those with historically limited access. Ōshin is also a psychotherapist and artist, and he really wants you to meet his dog, Scout. https://nobarrierszen.org
Denko-e Sesshin is part of a cycle of four traditional sesshins initiated by Kobun, Jikoji's founder, and is our traditional fall teaching sesshin, with a lighter zazen schedule and an emphasis on dharma study. Denko-e means "Gathering of Light."
Chuck Hutchcraft teaches from the confluence of Buddhist and Western psychologies. He is particularly interested in the impact trauma has on dharma practice. A licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist, Chuck was trained and certified as a mindfulness teacher by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach.
Dan Zigmond is a Zen priest ordained by Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in 1998. He is also a writer, father, and data scientist. He has practiced at San Francisco Zen Center and Jikoji Zen Center, and studied a range of Dharma traditions.
Paula Jones first became a student of Jikoji founder Kobun Chino when she attended the Santa Cruz Zendo in the mid-seventies. A year or two later she, with her young daughter, moved into the residence with a changing group of caretakers and friends, one of whom she later married. During and after that time she attended sesshins at Hidden Villa with Kobun's students from Los Altos, including Angie Boissevain, who some years later became her teacher.
In the years that followed, she finished her MA in Creative Writing and began teaching poetry, literature and writing in colleges and private workshops in Santa Cruz, the Mojave Dessert and San Diego, where she and Balin now live. She received ordination and transmission from Angie and has since taught at several Jikoji sesshins. She is a teacher at Floating Zendo San Diego and is now one of the teachers at Floating Zendo San Jose.
Doug Jacobson began practicing Zen in Minneapolis in 1974 with Dainin Katagiri Roshi, and had Jukai in 1977. He was a householder, father, contractor, and civil engineer in Southern California for 25 years. Doug came to Jikoji in 2008, and received priest ordination in 2010, and transmission in 2015, from Shoho Michael Newhall. He currently serves Jikoji as a teacher and resident. He also assists prisoners with Buddhist practice.
Born in Chicago, Jill Kaplan moved to the Bay Area in 1977 where she raised two boys and taught school for many years. Jill discovered Zen practice in 1993 and returned to graduate school in 1995. Working as a psychologist, she trained in Sandplay, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and in Body Soul Rhythms with Jungian analyst Marion Woodman, and studied Zen with Darlene Cohen. Jill recieved dharma transmission from Misha Shungen Merril in 2013. Her talks are informed by her body-focused meditation practice.
Born in Chicago, Jill Kaplan moved to the Bay Area in 1977 where she raised two boys and taught school for many years. Jill discovered Zen practice in 1993 and returned to graduate school in 1995. Working as a psychologist, she trained in Sandplay, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and in Body Soul Rhythms with Jungian analyst Marion Woodman, and studied Zen with Darlene Cohen. Jill recieved dharma transmission from Misha Shungen Merril in 2013. Her talks are informed by her body-focused meditation practice.
Carolyn Jikai Dille has been a dedicated student of Buddhist practices for 30 years in the Soto Zen and the Early Buddhist Insight traditions. She began teaching in dharma communities in 1998 and has studied with a variety of teachers in the United States and Asia. Carolyn is a poet, writer, and founding editor of Leaping Clear, www.leapingclear.org, a digital magazine of the arts featuring artists with meditative and contemplative practices.
Dan Zigmond is a Zen priest ordained by Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in 1998. He is also a writer, father, and data scientist. He has practiced at San Francisco Zen Center and Jikoji Zen Center, and studied a range of Dharma traditions.
Dan Zigmond is a Zen priest ordained by Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in 1998. He is also a writer, father, and data scientist. He has practiced at San Francisco Zen Center and Jikoji Zen Center, and studied a range of Dharma traditions.
Paula Jones first became a student of Jikoji founder Kobun Chino when she attended the Santa Cruz Zendo in the mid-seventies. A year or two later she, with her young daughter, moved into the residence with a changing group of caretakers and friends, one of whom she later married. During and after that time she attended sesshins at Hidden Villa with Kobun's students from Los Altos, including Angie Boissevain, who some years later became her teacher.
In the years that followed, she finished her MA in Creative Writing and began teaching poetry, literature and writing in colleges and private workshops in Santa Cruz, the Mojave Dessert and San Diego, where she and Balin now live. She received ordination and transmission from Angie and has since taught at several Jikoji sesshins. She is a teacher at Floating Zendo San Diego and is now one of the teachers at Floating Zendo San Jose.
Dan Zigmond is a Zen priest ordained by Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in 1998. He is also a writer, father, and data scientist. He has practiced at San Francisco Zen Center and Jikoji Zen Center, and studied a range of Dharma traditions.
Kokyo Henkel leads a new generation of Buddhist scholars and has been practicing and teaching at San Francisco and Santa Cruz Zen Centers since 1990. Kokyo's interests include how the original, classic teachings of Buddha-Dharma from ancient India, China, and Japan are still very much alive and useful in present-day America for bringing peace and harmony to this troubled world.
Carolyn Jikai Dille has been a dedicated student of Buddhist practices for 30 years in the Soto Zen and the Early Buddhist Insight traditions. She began teaching in dharma communities in 1998 and has studied with a variety of teachers in the United States and Asia. Carolyn is a poet, writer, and founding editor of Leaping Clear, www.leapingclear.org, a digital magazine of the arts featuring artists with meditative and contemplative practices.
Paula Jones first became a student of Jikoji founder Kobun Chino when she attended the Santa Cruz Zendo in the mid-seventies. A year or two later she, with her young daughter, moved into the residence with a changing group of caretakers and friends, one of whom she later married. During and after that time she attended sesshins at Hidden Villa with Kobun's students from Los Altos, including Angie Boissevain, who some years later became her teacher.
In the years that followed, she finished her MA in Creative Writing and began teaching poetry, literature and writing in colleges and private workshops in Santa Cruz, the Mojave Dessert and San Diego, where she and Balin now live. She received ordination and transmission from Angie and has since taught at several Jikoji sesshins. She is a teacher at Floating Zendo San Diego and is now one of the teachers at Floating Zendo San Jose.
David Shapiro became a student of Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche in 1973, and studied with him until his death in 1987. David was the founding director of the Milwaukee Dharma Study Group, now the Shambhala Center, and was a practicing internist for over 3 decades. He is currently involved with the Light of Berotsana Translation Group and continues to practice within the context of Tibetan Buddhism. For the last few years he has been involved in the translation and publication of a number of works involving the many stories of Gesar of Ling, the national epic of Tibet. David's talk will be on The Three Marks of Existence.
Carolyn Jikai Dille has been a dedicated student of Buddhist practices for 30 years in the Soto Zen and the Early Buddhist Insight traditions. She began teaching in dharma communities in 1998 and has studied with a variety of teachers in the United States and Asia. Carolyn is a poet, writer, and founding editor of Leaping Clear, www.leapingclear.org, a digital magazine of the arts featuring artists with meditative and contemplative practices.
Meido Barbara Anderson is the Resident Guiding Teacher at O-An Zendo. She began practicing meditation in 1967 soon after receiving her doctorate in philosophy from Penn State University. She began her formal study and practice of Zen with the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, receiving the Five Precepts from him in 1994. In 2010 she received the Ten Grave Buddhist Precepts from her guiding teacher Shoho Michael Newhall, abbot of Jikoji and Dharma heir of Kobun Chino Roshi. She was ordained as a Zen priest in 2011, and transmitted to become a Dharma heir in the Phoenix Cloud lineage in 2019 by Shoho Michael Newhall.
Ryotan Cynthia Kear (Horyu Ryotan - Dharma Stream Completely Overflowing) has been practicing Soto Zen Buddhism for over 34 years. She received lay ordination from Zen Center Abbot Paul Haller in 2004, and was priest ordained (2008) and given Dharma Transmission (2010) by Darlene Cohen.
Dan Zigmond is a Zen priest ordained by Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in 1998. He is also a writer, father, and data scientist. He has practiced at San Francisco Zen Center and Jikoji Zen Center, and studied a range of Dharma traditions.
Kokyo Henkel leads a new generation of Buddhist scholars and has been practicing and teaching at San Francisco and Santa Cruz Zen Centers since 1990. Kokyo's interests include how the original, classic teachings of Buddha-Dharma from ancient India, China, and Japan are still very much alive and useful in present-day America for bringing peace and harmony to this troubled world.
Dogen Zenji writes, "At the very time of your sitting, you should examine exhaustively whether the total world is vertical or horizontal. At that very time, what is the sitting itself? Is it wheeling about in perfect freedom? Is it like the spontaneous vigor of a leaping fish? Is it thinking? Or not thinking? Is it doing? Is it nondoing?"
This sesshin will be a "Genzo-e", a concentrated study retreat on a chapter of Dogen’s Shobogenzo. In this retreat we will investigate together Dogen's understanding of zazen.
Misha Merrill is a Zen teacher in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki, Roshi of the San Francisco Zen Center. She received Dharma Transmission from his disciple, Les Kaye, in 1998, and since 1993 has been the guiding teacher of Zen Heart Sangha on the Peninsula. Misha also teaches young children at the Peninsula School of Menlo Park. She lives in the hills above Stanford with her husband and four-footed friends, and joyfully cultivates a large garden.
Jill Kaplan, born in Chicago, moved to the Bay Area in 1977 where she raised two boys and taught school for many years. Jill discovered Zen practice in 1993 and returned to graduate school in 1995. Working as a psychologist, she trained in Sandplay, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and in Body Soul Rhythms with Jungian analyst Marion Woodman, and studied Zen with Darlene Cohen. Jill received dharma transmission from Misha Shungen Merril in 2013. Her talks are informed by her body-focused meditation practice.
Carla Brennan, M.Ed., is an Insight Meditation teacher in Santa Cruz, CA. She has trained in the Zen, Insight Meditation and Tibetan Buddhist traditions since 1975. Carla is the Guiding Teacher for Bloom of the Present Insight Meditation and teaches at other centers in the Bay Area. As part of her Dharma teaching, Carla offers programs outdoors and encourages her students to practice in nature. Carla also trains students in the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. She is an artist, nature photographer and former psychotherapist.
Dan Zigmond is a Zen priest ordained by Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in 1998. He is also a writer, father, and data scientist. He has practiced at San Francisco Zen Center and Jikoji Zen Center, and studied a range of Dharma traditions. He is currently the Director of Data Science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and previously led teams at Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Google, and Microsoft. He is a contributing editor at Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, author of the new book Buddha's Office: The Ancient Art of Waking Up While Working Well, and co-author of Buddha’s Diet: the Ancient Art of Losing Weight Without Losing Your Mind. He lives with his family in Menlo Park.
After meeting Jikoji founder Kobun Chino Roshi in Austria, Shoho received priest ordination in 2000 from Vanja Palmers and traveled to USA/Tassajara to receive training. Having studied at all three centers of the San Francisco Zen Center, Shoho became a Jikoji resident in 2009. In 2010 she joined her partner Kokyo Henkel to live at the Santa Cruz Zen Center. Since then, she trained in the Tibetan Nyingma tradition, which led to her past and current studies at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute/Nepal as well as her embodied vocation as Hospital Chaplain.
Gerow Reece first sat with Yamada Reirin Roshi and the young monk, Maezumi Sensei, in the old brick Zenshuji in Los Angeles in the early 60s. He then practiced with Robert and Ann Aitken at Kokoan in their home in Honolulu. Later, while studying in Kyoto, Japan, he sat at Antaiji with Uchiyama Roshi and later with Morinaga Roshi at Daishu-in and Kobori Nanrei at Ryoko-in, never settling on a teacher --until the arrival of his son. Gerow serves ceremonial tea and occasionally teaches calligraphy at Jikoji.
Hobu Beata Chapman has practiced Zen with chronic nerve pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for 29 years. She was ordained by Katherine Thanas at Santa Cruz Zen Center and studied with Darlene Cohen until her untimely death, receiving Dharma transmission from Tony Patchell in 2013. Beata continues the Suffering & Delight groups for people with chronic pain that Darlene founded around 25 years ago, and teaches upon request at various center of practice. For more information about Beata's work with chronic pain, you can see sanddgroups.net. Beata works for the San Francisco Department of Public Health in Human Resources.
Kokyo Henkel leads a new generation of Buddhist scholars and has been practicing and teaching at San Francisco and Santa Cruz Zen Centers since 1990. Kokyo's interests include how the original, classic teachings of Buddha-Dharma from ancient India, China, and Japan are still very much alive and useful in present-day America for bringing peace and harmony to this troubled world.
Dan Zigmond is a Zen priest ordained by Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in 1998. He is also a writer, father, and data scientist. He has practiced at San Francisco Zen Center and Jikoji Zen Center, and studied a range of Dharma traditions. He is currently the Director of Data Science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and previously led teams at Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Google, and Microsoft. He is a contributing editor at Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, author of the new book Buddha's Office: The Ancient Art of Waking Up While Working Well, and co-author of Buddha’s Diet: the Ancient Art of Losing Weight Without Losing Your Mind. He lives with his family in Menlo Park.
Carolyn Jikai Dille has been a dedicated student of Buddhist practices for 30 years in the Soto Zen and the Early Buddhist Insight traditions. She began teaching in dharma communities in 1998 and has studied with a variety of teachers in the United States and Asia. She holds dharma transmission from Angie Enji Boissevain in the Phoenix Cloud lineage and graduated from Spirit Rock’s CDL program.
Carolyn is a poet, writer, and founding editor of Leaping Clear, www.leapingclear.org, a digital magazine of the arts featuring artists with meditative and contemplative practices. On occasion, she offers retreats and workshops that integrate meditation and artistic expression.
Nehan-e is our annual silent meditation retreat held in honor of the Buddha’s entering parinirvana, nirvana beyond death. This year, our week-long sesshin will again be led by Carolyn Dille, a transmitted student of Jikoji's founding director Angie Boissevain, continuing our tradition of a Floating Zendo connection to Jikoji's Nehan-e. Portions of out Monday program will be led by Paula Jones, from Floating Zendo San Diego.
Nehan-e this year focused on our bodhisattva vows, with the help of Shantideva’s “Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life.”
Hobu Beata Chapman has practiced Zen with chronic nerve pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for 29 years. She was ordained by Katherine Thanas at Santa Cruz Zen Center and studied with Darlene Cohen until her untimely death, receiving Dharma transmission from Tony Patchell in 2013. Beata continues the Suffering & Delight groups for people with chronic pain that Darlene founded around 25 years ago, and teaches upon request at various center of practice. For more information about Beata's work with chronic pain, you can see sanddgroups.net. Beata works for the San Francisco Department of Public Health in Human Resources.
Doug Jacobson began practicing Zen in Minneapolis in 1974 with Dainin Katagiri Roshi, and had Jukai in 1977. He was a householder, father, contractor, and civil engineer in Southern California for 25 years. Doug came to Jikoji in 2008, and received priest ordination in 2010, and transmission in 2015, from Shoho Michael Newhall. He currently serves Jikoji as a teacher and resident. He also assists prisoners with Buddhist practice.
Shoho Michael Newhall began practicing and studying with Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in the early seventies, and was ordained by Kobun in the mid-eighties. In the early nineties he was director at Jikoji Zen Center. Throughout this time he taught visual arts at various schools and universities, including Naropa University, where he also taught meditation and Buddhism. Since that time, Mike has been the Resident Teacher and chief priest at Jikoji
Doug Jacobson began practicing Zen in Minneapolis in 1974 with Dainin Katagiri Roshi, and had Jukai in 1977. He was a householder, father, contractor, and civil engineer in Southern California for 25 years. Doug came to Jikoji in 2008, and received priest ordination in 2010, and transmission in 2015, from Shoho Michael Newhall. He currently serves Jikoji as a teacher and resident. He also assists prisoners with Buddhist practice.
Rohatsu is the traditional winter sesshin commemorating Buddha’s enlightenment. For the last decade, Jikoji has held silent Rohatsu sesshins, initially led by Peter Szydlowski, in the Antaji-style, with no talks, no service, and no chanting. This year, due to the pandemic, an all silent sesshin was difficult, with so many of our Sangha isolated and even alone.
For this Rohatsu, we took as our study text one of the pinnacles of Mahayana Buddhism, the Avatamsaka Sutra (Flower Ornament Sutra.) The Avatamsaka Sutra illuminates the interpenetrating nature of all phenomena. We explored through chanting and study the myriad ways of skillful practice found in this sutra.
Shoho Michael Newhall began practicing and studying with Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in the early seventies, and was ordained by Kobun in the mid-eighties. In the early nineties he was director at Jikoji Zen Center. Throughout this time he taught visual arts at various schools and universities, including Naropa University, where he also taught meditation and Buddhism. Since that time, Mike has been the Resident Teacher and chief priest at Jikoji
Jundo Cohen is a Zen teacher and founder of the Treeleaf Zendo, a Sōtō Zen community using visual media to link Zen practitioners around the world. Treeleaf serves those who cannot easily commute to a Zen center due to health concerns; age or disability; living in remote areas; or work, childcare, or family needs; and provides zazen sittings, retreats, discussion, interaction with a teacher, and all other activities of a Zen Buddhist sangha, all fully online without thought of location or distance. Jundo's most recent book is The Zen Master's Dance - A Guide to Understanding Dōgen and Who You Are in the Universe. More.
David Chadwick studied Zen with Suzuki Roshi in 1966 and was ordained by him in 1971, shortly before Suzuki's death. He is the author of Crooked Cucumber: the Life and Zen Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki, and Thank You And OK!: an American Zen Failure in Japan. Chadwick is also the Poobah of cuke.com, an archival site on the life and world of Shunryu Suzuki and those who knew him.
Taiga Ito trained at Daihonzan Sojiji, one of the head monasteries of Soto Shu (Soto Zen in Japan). In 2016, Taiga Ito became Kokusaifukyoshi (international teacher of Soto Shu). He served as the secretary of the Soto Zen Buddhism International Center between 2016 and 2018, where he has taken the role of Assistant Director since 2019.
Bryan Gaynor began a lifelong commitment to zazen in 1979 when he met his teacher, Kobun Roshi. He has been a Jikoji sangha member since its founding in 1982. Bryan’s commitment to activism began as a monitor in the 1965 March from Selma to Montgomery Alabama. That opportunity laid the groundwork for continued activist work in a variety of ways, including legal representation of U.S. political prisoners, successful environmental litigation to expand wilderness areas throughout California and, most recently, as one of the founding trustees of a large foundation whose sole purpose is the preservation and restoration of native plants and wildlife throughout the country.
David Shapiro became a student of Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche in 1973, and studied with him until his death in 1987. For the last few years he has been involved in the translation and publication of a number of works involving the many stories of Gesar of Ling, the national epic of Tibet.
After meeting Jikoji founder Kobun Chino Roshi in Austria, Shoho received priest ordination in 2000 from Vanja Palmers and traveled to USA/Tassajara to receive training. Since then, she trained in the Tibetan Nyingma tradition, which led to her past and current studies at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute/Nepal as well as her embodied vocation as Hospital Chaplain. More.
Denko-e Sesshin is part of a cycle of four traditional sesshins initiated by Kobun, Jikoji's founder, and s our traditional fall teaching sesshin, with a lighter zazen schedule and an emphasis on dharma study. Denko-e means "Gathering of Light."
Pamela Nenzen Brown was introduced to sitting meditation practice in 1976. Forty years later, as her father was declining with a neurodegenerative disease, she decided to stay seated. In 2017, Pamela met Sensei Gary Koan Janka and has been his student and sitting with Santa Barbara Zen Center ever since. She finds herself very happy now to be a student of Shoho Michael Newhall and Kaizan Doug Jacobson.
Kokyo Henkel has long been interested in exploring how the classic teachings of Buddha-Dharma from ancient India, China, and Japan can still be very much alive and useful here and now, to bring peace and openness to the minds and hearts of this troubled world.
Shishin Junsei Ben is a San Francisco Bay Area native. Ben has been practicing Soto Zen since 2010 after a diagnosis of PPMS. Until age 20 Ben saw much of Europe but was continuously drawn to Japan and Japanese art and stories. the topic of Ben's talk is "Religion - What it means, and how we relate as Americans inundated with Christian ideals."
Chuck Hutchcraft teaches from the confluence of Buddhist and Western psychologies. He is particularly interested in the impact trauma has on dharma practice. A licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist, Chuck was trained and certified as a mindfulness teacher by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach.
Shoho Michael Newhall began practicing and studying with Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in the early seventies, and was ordained by Kobun in the mid-eighties. In the early nineties he was director at Jikoji Zen Center. Throughout this time he taught visual arts at various schools and universities, including Naropa University, where he also taught meditation and Buddhism. Since that time, Mike has been the Resident Teacher and chief priest at Jikoji
Meido Barbara Anderson is the Resident Guiding Teacher at O-An Zendo. She began practicing meditation in 1967 soon after receiving her doctorate in philosophy from Penn State University. Meido began her formal study and practice of Zen with the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, receiving the Five Precepts from him in 1994. She was ordained as a Zen priest in 2011, and transmitted to become a Dharma heir in the Cloud Phoenix lineage in 2019 by Shoho Michael Newhall. Meido's talk will be on “The Wisdom Of Not Knowing.” More.
Sensei Dean Williams is the guiding teacher of the Crooked River Zen Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Dean received dharma transmission in 2014 from Shoho Michael Newhall, the abbot of Jikoji Zen Center in the Santa Cruz Mountains in California, making him a dharma holder in the Kobun Chino lineage.
David Shapiro became a student of Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche in 1973, and studied with him until his death in 1987. For the last few years he has been involved in the translation and publication of a number of works involving the many stories of Gesar of Ling, the national epic of Tibet.
In 2018 he was ordained a Zen priest in Kobun's Phoenix Cloud lineage by Jikoji Zen Meditation Center's guiding teacher, Shoho Michael Newhall. Currently he lives in Aromas, California, and is a guiding dharma teacher with the A-Town Sangha, posting-in-place on WildCountryZen.com.
Shoho Michael Newhall began practicing and studying with Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in the early seventies, and was ordained by Kobun in the mid-eighties. In the early nineties he was director at Jikoji Zen Center. Throughout this time he taught visual arts at various schools and universities, including Naropa University, where he also taught meditation and Buddhism. Since that time, Mike has been the Resident Teacher and chief priest at Jikoji.
Vanja Palmers is an animal rights activist of many years, and a Dharma heir of the late Jikoji founder Kobun Chino Otogowa Roshi. Vanja spent 10 years as a monk at Green Gulch Farm and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. In 1981 he co-founded Buddhists Concerned for Animals (BCA), which now operates as Human Farming Association (HFA.) In 1989 he co-founded Puregg, a house of interreligious dialogue, particularly between Christians and Buddhists, where Kobun lead Sesshin for 15 years. In 1998, Vanja founded Stiftung Felsentor in Switzerland, a combined meditation center and animal sanctuary that runs a vegetarian garden restaurant.
Hogan lives at Jikoji. Many different practices and teachings have shaped him. He is grateful for those who seek a more stable and harmonious life and needs their help.
Zen Teacher Myoan Grace Schireson, PhD, is Abbess of Central Valley Zen and President of Shogaku Zen Institute, offering body-friendly practices and teaching she has brought forward from the Japanese Soto and Rinzai traditions, blended with practical understanding and terminology based in Western psychology.
Meido Barbara Anderson is the Resident Guiding Teacher at O-An Zendo. She began practicing meditation in 1967 soon after receiving her doctorate in philosophy from Penn State University. She began her formal study and practice of Zen with the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, receiving the Five Precepts from him in 1994. Thereafter, she studied and practiced in the Soto and Rinzai styles, and was ordained as a Zen priest in 2011, and transmitted to become a Dharma heir in the Phoenix Cloud lineage in 2019 by Shoho Michael Newhall.
Shoho Michael Newhall began practicing and studying with Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in the early seventies, and was ordained by Kobun in the mid-eighties. In the early nineties he was director at Jikoji Zen Center. Throughout this time he taught visual arts at various schools and universities, including Naropa University, where he also taught meditation and Buddhism. Since that time, Mike has been the Resident Teacher and chief priest at Jikoji.
Hogan lives at Jikoji. Many different practices and teachings have shaped him. He is grateful for those who seek a more stable and harmonious life and needs their help.
Kokyo Henkel leads a new generation of Buddhist scholars and is currently a Teacher at Santa Cruz Zen Center. Kokyo's interests include how the original, classic teachings of Buddha-Dharma from ancient India, China, and Japan are still very much alive and useful in present-day America for bringing peace and harmony to this troubled world.
Shoho Michael Newhall began practicing and studying with Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in the early seventies, and was ordained by Kobun in the mid-eighties. In the early nineties he was director at Jikoji Zen Center. Throughout this time he taught visual arts at various schools and universities, including Naropa University, where he also taught meditation and Buddhism. Since that time, Mike has been the Resident Teacher and chief priest at Jikoji.
Born in Utah and raised in London, Tim Wicks studied fine art at San Francisco State University and received his MFA with distinction from California College of Arts and Crafts. He studied for four years with Spirit Rock teacher Eugene Cash and was a steering committee member of the Insight Meditation Community of San Francisco. Impressed with Mahayana Buddhism and the bodhisattva ideal he studied with Michael Wenger and received lay ordination (jukai) in 2006. He has trained in the sewing of Buddha's robe with Zenkei Blanche Hartman since 2007. Tim received priest ordination from Michael Wenger in 2013 and is enrolled in the Shogaku Priest On-going Training (SPOT) program. He has worked with Buddhists in recovery at San Francisco Zen Center for over ten years and has led the Friday night recovery meeting at Hartford Street Zen Center for two years. He has co-taught the year-long Sangha in Recovery program. Tim practices and paints in San Francisco and is self-employed as a decorative painter.
Dan Zigmond is a Zen priest ordained by Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in 1998. He is also a writer, father, and data scientist. He has practiced at San Francisco Zen Center and Jikoji Zen Center, and studied a range of Dharma traditions. He is currently the Director of Data Science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and previously led teams at Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Google, and Microsoft. He is a contributing editor at Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, author of the new book Buddha's Office: The Ancient Art of Waking Up While Working Well, and co-author of Buddha’s Diet: the Ancient Art of Losing Weight Without Losing Your Mind. He lives with his family in Menlo Park.
Jennifer Setsuho Hohman first came to Jikoji in 2008, and received Jukai from Shoho Michael Newhall in October 2009, remaining in service to Jikoji until 2011. After leaving Jikoji she taught yoga and managed a busy yoga studio until returning to Jikoji in 2017. She received Priest ordination from Shoho Michael in October 2019. Jen continues to teach yoga part-time, and is passionate about vegan meals, sacred plant medicines, alternative healing practices, and is in the process of healing while on sabbatical at Jikoji. Jen's topic was on the Bodhisattva vow, what we do for other people, and other crazy things.
David Shapiro became a student of Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche in 1973, and studied with him until his death in 1987. David was the founding director of the Milwaukee Dharma Study Group, now the Shambhala Center, and was a practicing internist for over 3 decades. He is currently involved with the Light of Berotsana Translation Group and continues to practice within the context of Tibetan Buddhism. David's talk will discuss the practice of Mind Training, known as Lojong, brought to Tibet from India by the sage Atisha in the 9th century. The practice centers on slogans that tease the mind from its usual foundations.
Shoho Michael Newhall began practicing and studying with Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in the early seventies, and was ordained by Kobun in the mid-eighties. In the early nineties he was director at Jikoji Zen Center. Throughout this time he taught visual arts at various schools and universities, including Naropa University, where he also taught meditation and Buddhism. Since that time, Mike has been the Resident Teacher and chief priest at Jikoji.
Nico Detourn has been practicing for three years at Jikoji, where she serves as shika (guest manager) and event coordinator among other roles. She also practices in San Jose with Floating Zendo, founded by her teacher, Angie Boissevain. This was her first dharma talk at Jikoji. Among Nico's topics this Sunday were McMindfulness, dharmasplaining, and being "unleashed" in a Zen community.
Doug Jacobson began practicing Zen in Minneapolis in 1974 with Dainin Katagiri Roshi, and had Jukai in 1977. He was a householder, father, contractor, and civil engineer in Southern California for 25 years. Doug came to Jikoji in 2008, and received priest ordination in 2010, and transmission in 2015, from Shoho Michael Newhall. He currently serves Jikoji as a teacher and resident. He also assists prisoners with Buddhist practice.
After meeting Jikoji founder Kobun Chino Roshi in Austria, Shoho received priest ordination in 2000 from Vanja Palmers and traveled to US/Tassajara to receive training. Having studied at all three centers of the San Francisco Zen Center, Shoho became a Jikoji resident in 2009. In 2010 joined her partner Kokyo Henkel in Santa Cruz. Since then she trained in the Tibetan Nyingma tradition, which led her to study in Nepal, where she finished studies in Buddhism at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute, and stayed to assist in recovery efforts after a devastating earthquake.
Vanessa Able is a priest ordained in both Deshimaru and Suzuki lineages, and she mainly practices at Kannon Do Zen Center in Mountain View, CA. An artist and writer, Vanessa is also the editor of The Dewdrop, a platform for inspirational writing. For this Sunday talk at Jikoji, Vanessa’s talks was about perfection.
Ryotan Cynthia Kear has practiced Soto Zen Buddhism for over 25 years. She received Jukai from Zen Center Abbot Paul Haller in 2004. In 2008 she was given priest ordination by Darlene Cohen, her heart teacher, from who she also received Dharma Transmission in December 2010. In 2009 Cynthia graduated from the Shogaku Zen Institute. Cynthia has taught Mindfulness and Multi-tasking at the University of Washington as part of a NSF-funded research project based on Darlene’s book, "The One Who Is Not Busy." She leads workshops and gives Dharma talks throughout the Bay Area. Cynthia has 26 years of recovery, and co-leads a sangha for meditation and recovery. As a full-time employee, Cynthia considers the questions of practice in the “marketplace” to be of keen interest.
Dan Zigmond was ordained as a priest by Kobun Chino Otagawa Roshi in 1998, and was Shuso with Michael Newhall in 2009. He currently serves on the board of the Jikoji and San Francisco Zen Center. Dan is the Director of Analytics at Facebook, and is co-author of the best-selling book Buddha’s Diet: the Ancient Art of Losing Weight Without Losing your Mind.
Denko-e is Jikoji’s traditional fall dharma teaching week of practice and study. This fall the study topic was Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi. This is one of our usual chants, a poem from our ancestor Dongshan Liangjie, that with multiple metaphors explores the meaning of “suchness.” Teachers of the Phoenix Cloud lineage will be sharing the teaching. We worked with Dan Leighton’s book “Just This is It” and other texts.
Misha Merrill is a Zen teacher in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki, Roshi of the San Francisco Zen Center. She received Dharma Transmission from his disciple, Les Kaye, in 1998, and since 1993 has been the guiding teacher of Zen Heart Sangha on the Peninsula. Misha also teaches young children at the Peninsula School of Menlo Park. She lives in the hills above Stanford with her husband and four-footed friends, and joyfully cultivates a large garden.
Jennifer Setsuho Hohman received Jukai from Michael Newhall in October 2009 while in service to Jikoji from 2008-2011. She taught yoga and managed a busy yoga studio from 2011 to 2017 and continues to teach yoga part time after returning to Jikoji in August 2017. She is passionate about vegan meals, sacred plant medicines, alternative healing practices, and is in the process of healing while on sabbatical at Jikoji. Wellness has come by making some major life changes, asking herself tough questions and using the practice zen provides.
Kokyo Henkel leads a new generation of Buddhist scholars and is currently a Teacher at Santa Cruz Zen Center. Kokyo's interests include how the original, classic teachings of Buddha-Dharma from ancient India, China, and Japan are still very much alive and useful in present-day America for bringing peace and harmony to this troubled world.
Gerow Reece first sat with Yamada Reirin Roshi and the young monk, Maezumi Sensei, in the old brick Zenshuji in Los Angeles in the early 60s. He then practiced with Robert and Ann Aitken at Kokoan in their home in Honolulu. While studying in Kyoto, Japan, he sat at Antaiji with Uchiyama Roshi and later with Morinaga Roshi at Daishu-in and Kobori Nanrei at Ryoko-in, never settling on one person as teacher until the arrival of his son. Gerow serves Ceremonial Tea and teaches calligraphy at Jikoji. Gerow's Sunday Dharma Talk followed the conclusion of his weekend Calligraphy Workshop.
Shoho Michael Newhall began practicing and studying with Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in the early seventies, and was ordained by Kobun in the mid-eighties. In the early nineties he was director at Jikoji Zen Center. Throughout this time he taught visual arts at various schools and universities, including Naropa University, where he also taught meditation and Buddhism. Since that time, Mike has been the Resident Teacher and chief priest at Jikoji.
Eric Remington was an early student of Kobun, Jikoji's Founder, in the early 1970s. After years spent studying with Kobun and founding a school for children, Eric was ordained and subsequently trained at Tassajara Monastery for a year. He became a biologist and naturalist before living for several years in the desert, and more recently joined Jikoji as a Resident.
Doug Jacobson began practicing Zen in Minneapolis in 1974 with Dainin Katagiri Roshi, and had Jukai in 1977. He was a householder, father, contractor, and civil engineer in Southern California for 25 years. Doug came to Jikoji in 2008, and received priest ordination in 2010, and transmission in 2015, from Shoho Michael Newhall. He currently serves Jikoji as a teacher and resident. He also assists prisoners with Buddhist practice.
Carolyn Dille has been practicing Buddhist and other meditative forms for over 30 years and teaches dharma in the Vipassana Insight and Soto Zen traditions. She holds dharma transmission from Angie Enjo Boissevain and is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s CDL program. As a poet and writer she has facilitated creativity retreats. Carolyn is the founding editor of Leaping Clear, an online journal for artists who practice contemplation.
Shoho Michael Newhall began practicing and studying with Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in the early seventies, and was ordained by Kobun in the mid-eighties. In the early nineties he was director at Jikoji Zen Center. Throughout this time he taught visual arts at various schools and universities, including Naropa University, where he also taught meditation and Buddhism. Since that time, Mike has been the Resident Teacher and chief priest at Jikoji.
Eric Remington was an early student of Kobun, Jikoji's Founder, in the early 1970s. After years spent studying with Kobun and founding a school for children, Eric was ordained and subsequently trained at Tassajara Monastery for a year. He became a biologist and naturalist before living for several years in the desert, and more recently joined Jikoji as a Resident.
Mark Adams's path in Zen began in earnest in 1989 with the winter residential practice (Ango) period at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center and his first teacher, Zoketsu Norman Fischer, who set him on a 30 year path. In 2009, Mark received the Jukai precepts and lay ordination from Eiko Carolyn Atkinson, a dharma heir of Jikoji founder Kobun Chino Otagowa Roshi. In 2018 Shoho Michael Newhall, Jikoji's guiding teacher, ordained Mark as a Zen priest in Kobun's Phoenix Cloud lineage. Taizan Mark's talk will be on “Pain, Suffering, and the Noble Truths," and will also tie in with his Science & Buddhism discussion at 2 pm that afternoon.
Shoho Michael Newhall began practicing and studying with Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in the early seventies, and was ordained by Kobun in the mid-eighties. In the early nineties he was director at Jikoji Zen Center. Throughout this time he taught visual arts at various schools and universities, including Naropa University, where he also taught meditation and Buddhism. Since that time, Mike has been the Resident Teacher and chief priest at Jikoji.
Kokyo Henkel leads a new generation of Buddhist scholars and is currently a Teacher at Santa Cruz Zen Center. Kokyo's interests include how the original, classic teachings of Buddha-Dharma from ancient India, China, and Japan are still very much alive and useful in present-day America for bringing peace and harmony to this troubled world.
These 4 talks are from our June 2018 Genzo-e Sesshin with Kokyo Henkel, Head Teacher at Santa Cruz Zen Center, where we studied a text from Dogen’s Shobogenzo titled: “Mind Can Not Be Grasped.”