Sangha Jewel Elders
Our Elders have years of study, practice and experience with the Dharma and Zen.
As reliable guides they are available to meet with anyone who’s new to Zen and the sangha.
Contact any of them to arrange for a practice interview where you can bring your questions about practice and get support. Clicking an Elder’s name will pull up an email where you can contact them directly.
Genei – I took the precepts, a commitment to explore the Buddha Way in my life, 18 years ago, coming to Zen after many years of participation and spiritual inquiry in Christian communities. Why does Zen work for me? I’m a retired biologist, and Zen supports my appreciation for life’s intricacy and beauty. Zen’s emphasis on practicing with right-here right-now also makes a great conversation with my current practice as an amateur musician, as you might imagine. With Zen, I appreciate my ordinary life. And the more I’m with Zen, the more it brings a deep, surprising and challenging engagement with what my ordinary life actually is. Humor is about unexpected realizations in a moment of experience, and I do appreciate a good joke. Contact Genei
Doryu – I have been practicing for 27 years in the Zen and Insight Meditation traditions. In recent years, I have found my greatest inspiration and happiness in the radical simplicity and deep penetration of the present moment, as taught by the great Zen masters. I try to bring this understanding into all areas of life, and especially love seeing the Buddha in the natural world, the rivers, lakes, and hiking trails. I also share the teachings of many other Buddhist approaches in a Friday morning group I offer through the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship – while Zen is my home, the life of the spirit has been my passion for my entire life. Contact Doryu
Jiden – My lifelong appreciation of Nature continues to inspire much curiosity, inquiry, joy and contentment as I’ve roamed field and forest… this deepens my awareness and practice that allows me to bring a clearer seeing into all activities. One is assisting Sangha members to sew their wagesa or rakusu. This deep practice fosters developing of Magnanimous Mind, Parental Mind and Joyful Mind. Contact Jiden
Taigen – Physical experiences, especially in nature, have always been my path to realizing the buddhadharma. Over the last eleven years, practicing zazen, embracing the precepts, and studying the dharma with the sangha helps open the door for the buddhadharma in every moment. Curiosity fused with the koan to “trust direct experience” energizes me to look into each moment, noticing in what ways I’m present or sleepwalking. The Sangha Jewel Zen Center is a precious jewel in my life and I appreciate walking the path with you. Contact Taigen
Sogen – I’ve been practicing since 2009, was involved with the development of our beloved Sangha Jewel center, serve on the board, and find sangha involvement to be a rich field of practice. I love to invite people to help with events or take up a role supporting the sangha. I also love studying and discussing dharma literature. I’m married and have two children and three grandchildren. Contact Sogen
Junyo – My path to Buddhism began with a “free-range” childhood, growing up in the country on the coast of Oregon. Riding horses kept me free as a cloud to explore the forests, play in the creeks, make mud-pies on their banks, go barefoot and eat wild berries and apples. Nothing but simple. Lots of idle time, and a great big sky overhead. My fascination with Buddhism began with the 1970’s TV series titled Kung Fu about a barefoot Chinese Shaolin Buddhist priest who ate wild foods and lived free-range in the American old west. He was kind, compassionate, peace-loving and helpful to other people and I could relate to him and to his very wise Chinese teacher. Following this interest through books, wise people and meditation retreats brought me to encounter the Buddhadharma through Mushin Abby Terris, Roshi — and now I fully embrace the Buddha’s Middle Way and our universal connectedness. Contact Junyo
Seikyo – Buddhism found me when I was 26 years old in a surprising book by Alan Watts titled THE BOOK: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. To this day I am grateful to the friend who left it on my coffee table. The Dharma blossoms for me in both intra- and interpersonal ways, and I experience deep gratitude daily for the enveloping experience of sangha at Sangha Jewel. Contact Seikyo