Dharma talks from Clouds In Water Zen Center – Details, episodes & analysis

Date: 2025-10-12. Speaker: Rev. Kikan Michael Howard. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.

Kikan Michael Howard started practicing at Clouds in Water Zen Center in the late 1990s and was ordained by Sosan in 2018. He is an associate member of the Teacher Ryo at Clouds. Kikan is an independent app developer, a licensed consultant in Dynamic Emotional Integration®, and he transcribes Katagiri Roshi’s dharma talks at the Katagiri Transcripts website, katagiritranscripts.net. He lives in Northfield, MN with his wife and cats.

Date: 2025-10-05. Speaker: Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn. Location: Clouds in Water Zen Center, Saint Paul, MN

Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion. She has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and has worked in both community mental health and staff training.

This talk was given on July 27, 2025 by Guiding Teacher Sosan Teresa Flynn.

Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. She has officiated at many ceremonies (daily & special liturgies, weddings, baby namings, and memorial services), and offers premarital and couples counseling. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion. She has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and has worked in both community mental health and staff training. Sosan and her husband of 37 years live a short distance from Clouds in Water.

This is a talk by Guiding Teacher Sosan Teresa Flynn given on July 20, 2025 at Clouds in Water Zen Center.

Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. She has officiated at many ceremonies (daily & special liturgies, weddings, baby namings, and memorial services), and offers premarital and couples counseling. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion. She has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and has worked in both community mental health and staff training. Sosan and her husband of 37 years live a short distance from Clouds in Water.

This talk was given on July 6, 2025 by Taizan Alford at Clouds in Water Zen Center.

Taizan (he/him) was ordained as a Soto Zen priest by Sosan Flynn in 2016, and completed shuso in 2021. He received dharma transmission from Sosan in 2024 and has full authority to teach in the Soto Zen tradition. Taizan's journey with meditation began on the yogic path in the early 1980s after getting sober. In 1995, he spent two months meditating in an ashram in India, studied Ayurveda in 2005 and has taught yoga since 1998. Taizan spent four months as a resident at Zen Mountain Monastery in 2020, Taizan’s focus in Soto Zen Buddhism is on how zazen, taking refuge and loving kindness can heal old wounds and help create less suffering for individuals and their communities. He is a full member of the Teacher Ryo at Clouds. Taizan is committed to long-term recovery from addiction, healing from trauma, and not creating more suffering. Taizan is deeply grateful for his loving and supportive husband Tom with whom his lives in Mexico.

This talk was given on July 20, 2025 at Clouds in Water Zen Center by guiding teacher, Sosan Teresa Flynn.

Sosan (she/her) has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. She has officiated at many ceremonies (daily & special liturgies, weddings, baby namings, and memorial services), and offers premarital and couples counseling. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion. She has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and has worked in both community mental health and staff training. Sosan and her husband of 37 years live a short distance from Clouds in Water.

This dharma talk was given on July 7, 2025 at Clouds in Water Zen Center by Myoshin Diane Benjamin.

Myoshin Diane Benjamin (she/her) is a lay dharma teacher, a path that reflects her deep interest and engagement in the ways that Buddhist practice both permeates everyday work and family life, and supports engagement in social change. Myoshin began practicing Buddhism in 1996 and received dharma transmission in 2022 from Sosan Flynn. She taught for over a decade in the children’s program at Clouds in Water, and has practiced at Hokyoji and Ryumonji monasteries and attended numerous retreats with Thich Nhat Hanh and his community. She has worked for many years in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, and is also a musician. Additionally, she is fully certified to teach the Realization Process. She lives in Minneapolis with her wife and they are parents of a young adult.

This dharma talk was given on June 29, 2025 at Clouds in Water Zen Center by Kyoku Tracy Walen.

Kyoku Tracey Walen resides at Hokyoji Zen Practice Community in Eitzen, MN. Kyoku was ordained as a Soto Zen priest by Byakuren Judith Ragir in 2008 and received Dharma transmission from Byakuren in 2015. She trained for three years at Great Vow Zen Monastery and also with Thich Nhat Hanh in France. She worked as a business consultant and financial executive in corporate America until she discovered the Buddha Way in 1997 and retired to take it up full-time. Kyoku is a member of the teacher ryo at Clouds.

This talk was given on June 15, 2025 by Flying Fish Barbara Murphy at Clouds in Water Zen Center.

Flying Fish studied Zen at MZMC and was ordained by Diane Martin at Udumbara Zen Center in Evanston, IL in 2004 and received dharma transmission from Byakuren Judith Ragir.. She currently practices at Dharma Rain in Portland, but continues to be a beloved part of the Clouds in Water community. She was trained at Abbott Northwestern Hospital as a medical chaplain and has worked as a hospice chaplain with Allina Healthcare system. Her background includes college degrees in both Architecture and Art History and she has worked both as a designer and art consultant in these fields. Her family with two adult children continues to be an important part of her life.

This talk was given on June 8, 2025 by Katto Laura Phillips at Clouds in Water Zen Center.

Katto (she/her) started practicing Zen at Clouds in Water in 1997. After a few years, she stepped away to focus on her new family and explore other spiritual traditions. She eventually returned to Zen with renewed enthusiasm and became a member of Zen Bridge, a meditation community in Stillwater. She later re-engaged with Clouds, receiving jukai in 2014. In 2022 she was ordained as a priest by Sosan Theresa Flynn. In 2023, she entered the role of sensei at Zen Bridge after having been a member there for 17 years. She is a psychotherapist emeritus and draws on her 20 years of trauma-related work as she explores ways for people to build nurturing, respectful ways of connecting with vulnerability, authenticity, and curiosity.