Junsei Jana Drakka runs a 'street ministry' - popularly known as 'The Zendo Without Walls'- taking the Dharma teachings of loving kindness and total acceptance out of the temples and into the streets. Teaching in shelters, hospices and low-income hotels offers the possibility of peace of mind to all without exception. Junsei travels widely sharing 'Harm Reduction Meditation' in universities, zen centers, hospitals and shelters.
Satyavayu began Zen practice while studying Asian religion in college, and soon after moved to California to pursue practice full time. He first met Kobun in sesshin at Jikoji in the early nineties, while also practicing at Berkeley Zen Center, and at Tassajara. He was ordained a priest by Kobun at Hokoji in Taos, New Mexico, and soon after went to Japan to train at Bukkokuji monastery for most of the next five years. Since 2000, he's lived in the northwest - mostly in Portland Oregon - where he leads a small sangha that focuses on expressing practice through simple, low-impact living and engagement with the natural world. In addition to the core practice of zazen, he incorporates the body practice of taiji and qigong, and the voice practice of Indian raga into the sangha's expression, and he also leads contemplative wilderness retreats. Inspired by the traditions of spiritual renunciation or voluntary siimplicity, he has lived without income or his own house for many years.
Andy is a Jikoji Resident and student of Chinese medicine and Zen. In this "Way Seeking Mind" talk he will describe his practice, how he uses his back-round to care for the body when sitting Zazen/Shikantaza, and what led him (and continues to lead him) to Zen. After being raised Catholic & having an amicable "break-up" with theism in his late teens, he began studying Taoism & Qigong in 1997 & Buddhist meditation in 2000 with both Sokuzan Bob Brown & Mike Dosho Port. He has studied and practiced intensively in the Shambhala, Tibetan Kagyu, & Zen lineages. Andy moved from Minneapolis to Boulder, Colorado in 2002 to attend Naropa University, where he studied transpersonal psychology, religious studies, somatics, writing, & music- graduating with a BA in 2005. After a period at Jikoji five years ago, he returned to the midwest and practiced again with Sokuzan Bob Brown at Sokukoji in Michigan, & Dosho Port at Wild Fox Zen Center near Minneapolis. He has recently returned to California & Jikoji, resuming his studies at Five Branches University in San Jose and Zen training here at Jikoji with Shoho Mike Newhall.
To listen to his dharma talk, click HERE
Jo-Shin has written a beautiful summary of the experience and intentions of sitting practice, using metaphors and dharma poems. He has just completed his second annual Rohatsu Sesshin at Jikoji, and is a visiting resident for the next few weeks. He will read some of his insights, and describe some of his history and experience that brought him back this year.
To listen to Jo-Shin's Dharma Talk, Click Here
Shoho Michael Newhall was ordained and transmitted by Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi. Prior to his installation as Jikoji’s Resident Teacher, he taught art and Buddhism at Naropa University, the Art Institute of Chicago, and other universities in the midwest. He leads sesshins and meditation workshops at Zen centers in the U.S. and Europe. Shoho has also practiced and studied with Keibun Otogawa in Japan, Dainin Katagiri Roshi, and Tenshin Reb Anderson.
In 1976, Misha Merrill graduated from college, showed her work in small galleries and earned her living as a graphic designer. In 1988 she ordained as a Zen priest with Les Kaye Roshi, went to the monastery and became a librarian. She received Dharma Transmission in 1998 and became the Primary Teacher for Zen Heart Sangha in Menlo Park/ Woodside. Misha has been teaching tea to others (including children) for over 15 years. As Misha says it, art, gardening, teaching, tea, and her husband and animals are the crucial pieces of her 'pie'--meditation is her 'pie plate'!
Marco moved from Italy to California in 2008. As a scientist, he conducts research at Stanford University exploring the frontiers of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells. From a young age, Marco embraced the path of Martial Arts as part of his personal, integrated view of a body-mind-spiritual Way. His passion for Asian and Western transformative arts, sciences and philosophies, infused with Taoism and Alchemy, has enriched and sustained his exploration of Nature, inside and outside the self, in the never ending quest for the Truth.
Val Szymanski is the founding teacher of Bamboo in the Wind, a Zen practice group that meets in Sunnyvale. She was ordained by Diane Martin in the Danin Katagiri Roshi lineage. Reverend Val is an esteemed calligrapher and offers calligraphy workshops, as well as dharma studies. For more information about Bamboo in the Wind, go to: www.bamboointhewind.org.
Shinshu was ordained in 1988 and received teacher certification in 2005 from Sojun Mel Weitsman, Abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. She trained for 17 years at the San Francisco Zen Center holding various leadership positions. She holds the appointment of Kokusaifukyoshi (International Teacher) with the Soto Zen School in Japan.
Greg Campbell is a Staff Resident who also serves as Business Manager at Jikoji. Greg was born in Washington state in 1938. He joined the Marines while still a teenager. He later practiced Zen Buddhism and studied Japanese culture in Japan. Back in America in his late twenties, he became a nurse, served as an interpreter-monk for Sasaki Joshu Roshi, and studied world mysticism. In Europe in his fifties he served as an ecumenical counsellor/comforter for the dying and also gave talks, retreats, and educational programs. He received lay ordination from Michael Newhall at Jikoji.
At 18, Ying arrived in the U.S from China. Now she leads design efforts for emerging markets at LinkedIn. She’s also a translator and interpreter, and an experiential and outdoor educator. She has traveled to five continents and 30 countries, always affirmed by people's relationship with the environment they live in--their creativity and spirituality in everyday life. At a young age she envisioned a world without borders and is constantly inspired by the next generation of global citizens and their steady movement toward connection.
Joseph W Hall is a resident priest at Jikoji Zen Center. His energy is enthusiastically focused on the nexus between Lay Practice and the Monastic world and he is fascinated by the ways in which we interpret the world and the means by which physical motion trains the mind. He wakes up in the morning excited to witness the ongoing birth of American Zen. His favorite words are Sublime, Exquisite, and Ravissant. His blog can be found here.
A Wayseeking mind is the first talk given by a Zen student and is the story of how we arrived on the cushion. As Michael says,"Zen has colorfully and seamlessly sewn together the fabric of my entire spiritual and philosophical journey." His talk begins with playing lead guitar in a heavy metal band in the 80's which was the inspiration to get a doctorate and to establish himself as a Christian Philosopher until a car wreck led to Hinduism and becoming a resident of Jikoji. To understand how this all fits together, don't miss Michael's talk.
Shoho Michael Newhall was ordained and transmitted by Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi. Prior to his installation as Jikoji’s Resident Teacher, he taught art and Buddhism at Naropa University, the Art Institute of Chicago, and other universities in the midwest. He leads sesshins and meditation workshops at Zen centers in the U.S. and Europe. Shoho has also practiced and studied with Keibun Otogawa in Japan, Dainin Katagiri Roshi, and Tenshin Reb Anderson.
After only 40 years of practice, Cliff Isberg, PhD, was ordained by Shoho Michael Newhall as a Soto Zen Buddhist Monk in 2010. A longtime student of Kobun Chino, he sometimes serves as one of Jikoji's oversight managers. Cliff has created and maintains a growing archive of the teachings and life of our founding teacher.
Dan Zigmond was ordained as a priest by Kobun Chino Otagawa Roshi in 1998, and was Shuso with Michael Newhall in 2009. He has been a regular speaker at Jikoji over the years. In addition to his day job at Hampton Creek Foods, he is a Contributing Editor at Tricycle, and an occasional contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. He also started two wheelchair factories in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Dan's practice is wide ranging.
Vincent Horn is a mind hacker & buddhist geek. He has been practicing meditation intensively since his freshman year in college—including a full year doing intensive silent retreat practice. He began teaching meditation in 2010 with the encouragement of his own teachers, Kenneth Folk and Daniel Ingram. In addition, in 2006, Vincent cofounded Buddhist Geeks, which has gone on to become one of the most important venues for exploring the future of Buddhist thought & practice for new generations. You can find out more about Buddhist Geeks on the pages of the Los Angeles Times, Fast Company, and Tricycle. Vincent was also honored to be part of Wired UK’s "Smart List 2012: 50 people who will change the world." Along with his wife and creative partner Emily Horn, he makes his home in Asheville, North Carolina—that is until the distinction between atoms and bits dissolves.
Angie Enji Boissevain was a student of Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi for 40 years and was one of his students who, with Kobun, created and founded Jikoji, where she was director during its first twelve years. For a long time she was a visiting teacher to a number of distant sanghas, as well as guiding teacher for Floating Zendo in San Jose. Floating Zendo is now her primary focus, and she also offers occasional writing workshops in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Shoho Michael Newhall was ordained and transmitted by Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi. Prior to his installation as Jikoji’s Resident Teacher, he taught art and Buddhism at Naropa University, the Art Institute of Chicago, and other universities in the midwest. He leads sesshins and meditation workshops at Zen centers in the U.S. and Europe. Shoho has also practiced and studied with Keibun Otogawa in Japan, Dainin Katagiri Roshi, and Tenshin Reb Anderson.
After meeting 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 SFZC, Shoho became resident of Jikoji in 2009. By 2010 she moved to join her partner Kokyo's life in Santa Cruz. Since then she picked up training in the Tibetan Nyingma tradition, which also led her to study in Nepal, where she currently studies Buddhism at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute.
Your generosity supports our teaching and meditation programs, helps us renovate and maintain our buildings and grounds, and lets us extend our teachings and offerings to the world beyond our Santa Cruz Mountains temple as we make a growing number of events available to our expanding online Sangha.
