Explore every episode of the podcast Sit, Breathe, Bow

This show is going on hiatus. I have taken a new job out west and I just won't have the time to keep it up. This has been a life-changing experience and I am so grateful to all of you.

The spiritual practice of sharing the dharma is not a form of entertainment. This is something we do to find out what life is. At the foundation of the practice is dana or generosity.

Each of us has a job to do and it depends on what is happening right in front of us. There is a role we play that asks for something specific. What is your job?

The challenges of the pandemic can provide the opportunity for us to see deeply into the many ways that we can connect with others.

Kozan shares his own journey as a priest and activist and how we can use the practice to provide a foundation for our work as people committed to healing our communities.

What is a great woman? The practice of Zen is about looking inward and seeing who you really are and what this life is about.

Everything is Included Here. Practice isn't about finding the perfect situation, it is about welcoming what is present and not making it wrong.

Your life is Zen. If you try to make your life Zen, then you are adding something. Don't make distinctions, don't make differences, and live your life in the present.

The essence of faith is not faith in some thing. It is not an object. It is the absence of doubt. When we are truly entrusting in the heart, there is no faith there just is no doubt. Faith is the eyes we are looking through, the ears we are hearing with. It is the doubtless, present awareness that allows what is arising to arise as intimate and worthy of engaging.

We are constantly trying to distract ourselves from our busy day or an uncomfortable reality. But if we don't make anything or distract ourselves, then our lives are not a problem.

Jiri (George) Hazlbauer, JDPSN, discusses what living in a Zen community can do for your practice. Your zen family will change you for the better, even if you can't see it in the moment. If you have the chance, please try living in community.

Ellen Birx, Roshi, is fully immersed and fully committed to both Zen Buddhism and Christianity. She doesn't collapse either into the other but allows the two paths the full integrity of their truth all the while following them into the ineffable.

When you’re living the precepts, when you’re living according to your values, then meditation becomes much easier because the precepts are the foundation for what it means to do the work of meditation.

Rev. Kokyo Henkel began practicing Zen in 1990 at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. He was ordained as a priest in 1994 by Tenshin Anderson Roshi and received Dharma Transmission from him in 2010. Kokyo has also been practicing with the Tibetan Dzogchen teacher Tsoknyi Rinpoche since 2003. Kokyo served as a teacher at the Santa Cruz Zen Center from 2010 to 2020.You can find out more by visiting Kokyo's websitehttps://kokyohenkel.weebly.com/Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com/Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zenhttps://kwanumzenonline.org

Arne Schaefer, JDPSN, began practicing in the Tibetan Kagyu Tradition — Diamond Way — in 1990. But in 1992, he sat a two-day retreat with Zen Master Seung Sahn in Berlin and has practiced with the Kwan Um School ever since. In April 2010, Arne received Inka, or permission to teach, from Zen Master Wu Bong. And today he serves as the guiding teacher of the Zen Centers in Dresden, Bad Bramstedt and in Hamburg. Together with his wife, Arne created Lotus Consult, a coaching and consulting business that integrates Buddhist insight with psychological frameworks to help small to medium-sized companies. In 2010, Arne also started mindsweets, a small confectioner specializing in organic sweets.You can find out more by visiting the website for the Kwan Um Centers in Dresden, Bad Bramstedt and Hamburg. Click here to find out more about Arne's company mindsweets Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen

Karin Ryuku Kempe, Roshi began practicing Zen in 1971 at the Rochester Zen Center with Philip Kapleau Roshi and later with Toni Packer. In 1997, Karin received jukai from Shishin Wick Roshi, dharma heir of Taizan Maezumi Roshi, at the Great Mountain Zen Center. She completed her koan training in 2005 with Danan Henry Roshi at the Zen Center of Denver, and served as an assistant teacher until receiving dharma transmission in 2010. Karin also completed her training with Shishin Roshi and received inka from him in January 2019. Today she serves as one of the guiding teachers of the Zen Center of Denver. For over 20 years, Karin worked as a family physician while raising her family. She is also an accomplished artist. Karin Ryuku Kempe, Roshi began practicing Zen in 1971 at the Rochester Zen Center with Philip Kapleau Roshi and later with Toni Packer. In 1997, Karin received jukai from Shishin Wick Roshi, dharma heir of Taizan Maezumi Roshi, at the Great Mountain Zen Center. She completed her koan training in 2005 with Danan Henry Roshi at the Zen Center of Denver, and served as an assistant teacher until receiving dharma transmission in 2010. Karin also completed her training with Shishin Roshi and received inka from him in January 2019. Today she serves as one of the guiding teachers of the Zen Center of Denver. For over 20 years, Karin worked as a family physician while raising her family. She is also an accomplished artist. You can find out more by visiting the website for the Zen Center of Denver at https://zencenterofdenver.org/ Her artist website is https://karinkempeart.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Kotatsu John Bailes began his practicing Zen in 1972 at the age of 19 at the San Francisco Zen Center. He was ordained a Zen Priest by Richard Baker Roshi in 1977, spending time at Tassajara, Green Gulch Farm and the San Francisco Zen Center until 1984 when he moved to the Boston area to study and work. In 2004, John returned to community dharma practice and received dharma transmission from Zoketsu Norman Fischer. John is the founding teacher of One Heart Zen in Somerville, MA and serves as the Buddhist chaplain at Wellesley College and the guiding teacher of Monmouth Zen Circle in Monmouth, NJ.You can find out more by visiting the website for One Heart Zen at http://oneheartzen.org/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maherhttps://www.theseekerstable.com/Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

We live in a Buddha-field that has delusion, greed, and hate and we should strive to overcome this by entering the Bodhisattva path. We do this to enact more and more helpful energy to heal this Buddha-field.

Rev. Kinrei Bassis began his Buddhist training in an effort to relieve a sense of meaninglessness to life. He felt bound circumstances, emotions, and desires, but when introduced to the Four Noble Truths he saw a way out of suffering and a path to peace and happiness. He began training with Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett and ordained as a monk under her direction in 1979, training at Shasta Abbey. He received Dharma Transmission in 1982 and was named Master by Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett in 1987. He has been the Prior of the Berkeley Buddhist Priory since 1997.You can find out more by visiting the website for the Berkeley Buddhist Priory at https://berkeleybuddhistpriory.org/Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher https://www.theseekerstable.comSit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zenhttps://kwanumzenonline.org

Hye Tong Sunim, JDPS, began practicing Zen Buddhism at Hwa Gye Sa temple in Seoul, South Korea in 1995. He ordained as a novice monk in the Jogye Order in 1996 at Haeinsa Temple. He received bhikkhu precepts (full ordination) in 2000 from the Kwan Um School of Zen and in 2005 from the Jogye Order. He has worked and practiced at Hwa Gye Sa, Seung Sahn International Zen Center Musangsa, Providence Zen Center in US and several other Korean Zen monasteries. Hye Tong Sunim received inka, or permission to teach, from Zen Master Dae Bong in 2012. He is currently Seon Won Jang Sunim (co-guiding teacher) and vice-abbot of Musangsa.You can find out more by visiting the website for Musangsa Temple athttps://www.musangsa.orgSit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.comSit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Zen Master Jeong Ji, Anita Feng, began practicing Zen in 1976 and later moved into the Providence Zen Center to study with Zen Seung Sahn. She received inka, or permission to teach, from Zen Master Ji Bong, Robert Moore, in 2008, and was given transmission by him in 2015. Today Zen Master Jeong Ji is the guiding teacher of the Blue Heron Zen Community in Seattle, WA. She is also an accomplished ceramicist and author. You can find out more by visitinghttps://blueheronzen.org/ And Anita Feng’s artist page athttp://www.anitafeng.com/wp/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zenhttps://kwanumzenonline.org

Haju Sunim began studying with her teacher, Samu Sunim, in 1976 in Toronto. In 1982, she moved into the Ann Arbor Buddhist Temple and was ordained as a priest in 1989. Haju Sunim was given dharma transmission by Samu Sunim in 1999. In the 1990s, interested in involving entire families in an integrated Buddhist life, she helped launch the temple’s Peace Camp, an annual six-day retreat, which draws people from around the world. She continues to teach at the Ann Arbor Buddhist Temple, a residential community that has just expanded its facilities to accommodate students of the Way who are seeking a more immersive practice life. You can find out more by visiting https://www.zenbuddhisttemple.org If you would like to learn more about the residential possibilities in the newly expanded temple you can email AnnArborZenTemple@gmail.com Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher https://www.theseekerstable.com Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Sallie Jiko Tisdale began practicing Zen in 1983 and received Lay Dharma transmission in 1997 from her teacher, Kyogen Carlson. She currently serves as Godo, or head of teaching, for Dharma Rain Zen Center in Portland, Oregon. She has written nine books, including Women of the Way: Discovering 2,500 Years of Buddhist Wisdom and most recently Advice for Future Corpses: a Practical Perspective on Death and Dying, which was a NY Times Book Critic's top 10 book of the year. Her essays have appeared in many magazines and journals, including Harper’s, The New Yorker, and Tricycle. Jiko also works part-time as a registered nurse in palliative care and is an end-of-life nursing educator. You can find out more by visiting the website for the Dharma Rain Zen Center at: https://dharma-rain.org/ And at: http://sallietisdale.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

So many people are chasing after happiness like it is something that can be attained. But happiness comes and goes. How can you be with "what is" in this moment?

Andrzej Stec, Ji Do Poep Sa Nim, met Zen Master Seung Sahn at a dharma talk at Gdansk Polytechnic University in 1981 where Andrzej was working on his Masters of Architecture. He began formal practice in 1983, became a monk, and trained in Korea for 13 years. He received inka, or permission to teach, from Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1998 and has been teaching in Europe, Asia and the United States ever since. Andrzej has led several 90-day retreats and served as abbot of the Kwan Um School of Poland and several Zen centers worldwide. He was the second guiding teacher at Su Bong Zen Monastery in Hong Kong from 2009 to 2016. Today, Andrzej lives in Korea and is the guiding teacher of the Kwan Um Seoul Zen Group and the Kwan Um Daejeon Zen Group. You can find out more by visiting the Kwan Um Seoul Zen Group at http://zenseoul.org/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Meido Moore Roshi is the abbot of Korinji monastery near Madison, Wisconsin and guiding teacher of the Korinji Rinzai Zen Community. Meido Roshi began Zen training in 1988 and practiced under three Rinzai Zen teachers Tenzan Toyoda Rokoji, Dogen Hosokawa Roshi and So'zan Miller Roshi all of whom are in the lineage of Zen master Omori Sogen Roshi. He received inka, or permission to teach, in 2008 and travels widely teaching and leading retreats. Meido Roshi is the author of two books: The Rinzai Zen Way: A Guide to Practice and the soon-to-be released Hidden Zen: Practices for Sudden Awakening and Embodied Realization, both published with Shambala. Before his ordination Meido Roshi traveled internationally for many years as a professional martial art teacher. You can find out more by visiting the website for the Korinji Rinzai Zen Community (with branches in the USA and Europe) at: https://www.korinji.org/ Meido Roshi also moderates a very active Facebook group for Rinzai Zen. https://www.facebook.com/groups/183043823782 He has published two books: Hidden Zen: Practices for Sudden Awakening and Embodied Realization https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781611808469 The Rinzai Zen Way: A Guide to Practice https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781611805178 Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Dr. Catherine Anraku Hondorp Sensei is a Soto Zen Buddhist Priest and an authorized Zen teacher in the White Plum lineage of Taizan Maezumi Roshi. Anraku Sensei is co-founder, with her spouse Ryūmon Hilda Baldoquín Sensei, of Two Streams Zen, a dedicated practice space for People of Color, in Westhampton, Massachusetts, United States. Anraku Sensei’s passion for social justice arose from growing up White in a northeastern U.S. urban Black community. Born to a Dutch Reformed Church minister father, and an Early Childhood educator mother in a multiracial family during the times of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, racial inequities were painfully apparent. Anraku Sensei began her Zen studies with John Daido Loori Roshi at Zen Mountain Monastery in 1987. In 1996 she began studying with Enkyo O’Hara Roshi. Anraku Sensei received dharma transmission from Enkyo Roshi in 2009. Anraku Sensei is co-founder, with her spouse Ryūmon Hilda Baldoquín Sensei, of Two Streams Zen, a dedicated practice space for People of Color, in Westhampton, Massachusetts, United States. You can find out more by visiting the website for Two Streams Zen. https://twostreamszen.org/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Haemin Sunim was born in South Korea, but after high school he moved to the U.S. to study film at U.C. Berkeley. Dissatisfied with the reality of film making he switched to religious studies and went on to complete a masters at Harvard, a doctorate at Princeton, and taught Asian religions at Hampshire College in Massachusetts for 7 years. At 25, Haemin decided to become a monk and did his formal monastic training from Haein monastery in South Korea. His first book Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down has been translated into over 35 different languages and sold over four million copies. His second book, Love for Imperfect Things was the number one bestseller of the year in South Korea in 2016 and became available in multiple languages in 2019. Haemin Sunim is the founding teacher of the School of Broken Hearts in Seoul, South Korea. And you can also follow him on Twitter with a million other people who seek out his daily reflections. You can find out more by visiting his website at https://www.haeminsunim.com/ He is very active on Twitter and offers a lot of teaching there. https://twitter.com/haeminsunim His books are available on his website or by following these links: Love for Imperfect Things https://amzn.to/3eGBYEt The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down https://amzn.to/30ygHb2

Shinge Sherry Chayat, Roshi began formal Zen practice at the Zen Studies Society in 1967. She served as co-director of the first residential community at Dai Bosatsu Zendo from 1974 until 1976, when she moved to Syracuse and began leading the Zen Center there. She received lay ordination from Maurine Stuart Roshi in 1985, and full ordination from Eido Shimano Roshi in 1991. She was installed as abbot of the Zen Center of Syracuse in 1996; received Dharma Transmission from Eido Roshi in 1998; and in 2008 was authorized as a roshi, or Zen Master, and given the name Shinge, meaning “heart-mind flowering.” In addition to her work as a Zen teacher, the Shinge Roshi is an award-winning writer and editor of several books and her articles and reviews have appeared in numerous publications You can find out more by visiting: Zen Studies Society https://zenstudies.org Zen Center of Syracuse https://zencenterofsyracuse.org Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher https://www.theseekerstable.com Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Zen Master Hae Kwang, Stanley Lombardo, first started to practice with Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1978, receiving inka from him in 1992 and transmission in 1998. An emeritus classics professor at the University of Kansas he is known for his translations of the Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, and the Divine Comedy, and has also co-authored a translation of the Tao Te Ching. He is the editor and/or co-editor of three of Zen Master Seung Sahn's books, Bone of Space, Only Don't Know, and the Ten Gates; and he has co-edited A Zen Sourcebook, an anthology of many of the traditional documents from China, Korea, and Japan that shaped the Zen tradition. He is a founding member of the Kansas Zen Center in Lawrence, Kansas, where he teaches along with his wife Zen Master Bon Hae (Judy Roitman). You can find out more by visiting the website for the Kansas Zen Center at https://kansaszencenter.org/ You can find many of his translations here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AStanley+Lombardo&s=relevancerank&text=Stanley+Lombardo&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1 Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Zen Master Jok Um (Ken Kessel) began studying with Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1975, received inka, or permission to teach, in 1996, and transmission in 2017. Zen Master Jok Um is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a psychotherapist specializing in infant and early childhood mental health. He is guiding teacher for the New Haven Zen Center, Hwa Um Sa-Orlando Zen Center, Gateless Gate Zen Center (Gainesville) and Cypress Tree Zen Group (Tallahassee), Ten Directions Zen Community in Chicago and the Hermitage of Beneficence in McHenry, IL. He also teaches at the Chogye International Zen Center of New York. http://www.newhavenzen.org/ https://orlandozen.com/ http://gatelessgate.org/ http://webdharma.com/ctzg/ https://tendirectionszen.org/ https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Religious-Center/Ja-Gak-Am-Hermitage-of-Beneficence-108781357157949/ http://www.chogyezencenter.org/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Zen Master Dae Kwan studied Buddhism at the Kwok Kwong Buddhist College in Hong Kong in the 1970’s and ordained as a nun at Ajahn Chaa's International Forest Monastery in Thailand in 1981. She practiced in Chiangmai for a decade including two years of intensive solo retreat in Tu Boo Cave. As a Theravada nun she visited for the first time Korea in 1992 and met Zen Master Seung Sahn during a three-month winter kyol che. Following the retreat she asked her teacher for permission to help establish a Zen Center in Hong Kong, which became Su Bong Zen Monastery. In 1995, she received inka, or permission to teach, from Zen Master Seung Sahn and in April 2001, she received Dharma transmission from him. Today Zen Master Dae Kwan serves as abbot and guiding teacher of Su Bong Zen Monastery in Hong Kong. She has translated several of Zen Master Seung Sahn's books into Chinese including "Dropping Ashes on the Buddha," "Only Don't Know," and "The Whole World is a Single Flower." You can find out more by visiting the website for Su Bong Monastery https://www.subong.org.hk/en Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Zen Master Bon Soeng, Jeff Kitzes, began practicing Zen in 1975 and became a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1979. He received inka, or permission to teach in 1992 and was given dharma transmission by Zen Master Seung Sahn in 2001. Zen Master Bon Soeng is also a licensed psychotherapist in private practice integrating Zen, Buddhism, and Western Psychotherapy. He has served as the guiding teacher of Empty Gate Zen Center in Berkeley, California since 1992. To find out more visit Empty Gate Zen Center. http://emptygatezen.com/ They also curate a very active YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/emptygatezen Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Reirin Alheidis Gumbel was born in Germany and moved to the United States in 1981. She began practicing Zen in 1990 and received lay ordination from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 1993. Reirin became a resident of the San Francisco Zen Center in 2003 and lived at Green Gulch Farm and Tassajara for nearly 12 years. She ordained as a Soto Zen Priest in 2007 and in May of 2019 Reirin received shiho (Dharma transmission) from Furyu Nancy Schroeder at Green Dragon Temple of San Francisco Zen Center. Currently, Reirin is the resident priest of the Milwaukee Zen Center. You can find out more by visiting the website for the Milwaukee Zen Center: http://mkzen.org Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

This practice invites us to be vulnerable, open, and intimate. This is incredibly challenging and requires courage, but it also is the only way to look deeply into who we are.

Abby Mushin Terris first began studying Zen in 1976 after practicing Transcendental Meditation for several years. She met Robert Aitken Roshi in 1976 when he visited the Seattle Zen group she sat with. Recognizing him from a significant dream she had had, she attended a period of residential training at his Maui Zendo the following winter and sat several more retreats with Aitken Roshi before settling in with practice Genki Roshi, who had moved to Seattle. Mushin began studying with Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi in 1987. Mushin was named a Dharma Holder by Chozen Bays, Roshi in 2004 and received Sangha Transmission from her in the White Plum lineage of Soto Zen in 2013, becoming her first lay successor. She is on the teacher panel at Great Vow Zen Monastery in Clatskanie Oregon and co-leads regular retreats there. She also is a visiting teacher at Zen West in Eugene Oregon. Mushin founded the Corvallis Zen Circle in 1992 and remains the sangha’s guiding teacher. They have recently completed building the Sangha Jewel Zen Center, the first dedicated center for study and practice of the Way in Corvallis, Oregon. You can find out more by visiting: https://corvalliszencircle.com Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Myokei Caine-Barrett, Shonin, first encountered Buddhism in 1963. She has been practicing the Lotus Sutra ever since. In 2002, she began training to become a priest. She became head priest and guiding teacher of the Nichiren Buddhist Sangha of Texas in Houston, also known as Myoken-ji Temple in 2007. She has active prison and hospice ministries. Myokei Shonin, is currently bishop of the Nichiren Shu Order of North America.

Zen Master Bon Haeng, Mark Houghton, became a student of Zen Master Seung Sahn's in 1976 and was an early member of the Cambridge Zen Center where he lived for 14 years and was abbot for 12. He received inka, or permission to teach, in 1990. Zen Master Bon Haeng received transmission from Zen Master Seung Sahn in 2000. Today he is retired but continues to serve as the guiding teacher of the Open Meadow Zen Group in Lexington, MA, the co-guiding teacher the Providence Zen Center. If you are considering either short or long-term residence in a Zen community please visit: https://providencezen.org/ You can find ZM Bon Haeng's practice and retreat schedule by visiting: http://www.openmeadowzen.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher: https://www.theseekerstable.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Kim Hoben Hansen began formal Zen practice in 1995 and the following year he became a student of Chozen Bays, Roshi and Hogen Bays, Roshi. In 2009 Hoben completed Sanghakai training, a 3-year program for lay Zen students designed to cultivate different aspects of Sangha service. He was made a Dharma Heir by Chozen Bays, Roshi and Hogen Bays, Roshi in 2015. Hoben is the founding teacher of the North Shore Zendo in Vancouver, Canada. And in addition to leading traditional retreats, Hoben has taught Zen Buddhism in specialized communities like lawyers and youth. You can find out more by visiting: http://www.northshorezen.org/welcome/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Mitra Bishop Roshi began practicing Zen in 1974 while living in Turkey and soon after began training at the Rochester Zen Center with Roshi Philip Kapleau. In 1986, Mitra-roshi was ordained by Roshi Kapleau and after completing her formal training in 1992, she moved to Sogen-ji, a Rinzai Zen temple, in Okayama, Japan, to train under the guidance of the Ven. Harada Shodo-roshi. Mitra-roshi returned to the United States in 1996 was formally sanctioned to teach by Roshi Kapleau as one of his dharma heirs. In that same year, she was asked to guide the Hidden Valley Zen Center in San Marcos, California, and as well, established Mountain Gate Sanmonji, a monastic practice center in the mountains of northern New Mexico. Mitra-roshi is an accomplished calligrapher and her writings have appeared in the books Mu, Zen Teaching, Zen Practice, Blossoms of the Dharma, and in Record of the Hidden Lamp, as well as numerous websites and magazines. A number of videos of her teisho [Zen talks] are available on YouTube. You can find out more by visiting the website for Mountain Gate Sanmonji at https://www.sanmonjizen.org/ She also works with the Regaining Balance Program which offers retreats for women veterans with PTSD. You can learn more by visiting https://www.regainingbalance.org/ And Hidden Valley Zen Center at https://www.hvzc.org/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Ilan Luttenberg was first introduced to Buddhism while studying philosophy in university. And he began practicing the path in 1996 with a variety of teachers from both the Theravada and Mahayana traditions. He was a founding member of "Akoda" and "Middle Way", organizations that bring tools and insights from the Buddhist practice into social action promoting a culture of non-violence, compassion, and peace. He co-translated the books End of Time by Krishnamurti, What the Buddha Taught, by Walpola Rahula and Samasati-An Exposition of Right Mindfulness by Ven P.A. Payutto into Hebrew. Ilan is a co-founder of the "Buddhism in Israel" website and of the program "One Dharma - Many Paths" As a teacher, his approach combines the practice of meditation with practical applications for daily training and a way of life that brings release and liberation from suffering. If you read Hebrew you can find out more by visiting the website for Buddhism in Israel at https://www.buddhism-israel.org/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Myong Hae Sunim, JDPS, was originally planning on becoming Catholic nun when a friend invited her to hear a visiting Chinese Zen Master, Su Bong Sunim. Lithuania had recently become independent from Communism and was opening up to the world. She had never seen a Chinese person before and initially went just to meet him. But she was so moved by his message she immediately signed up to sit a three-day retreat. Myong Hae Sunim quickly realized that the Buddhist path fit her better than the Catholic one and she began sitting retreats in Poland before finally moving to Hwa Gye Sat Temple in South Korea in 1996 to begin her monastic training. The following year, after ordaining as a nun, she moved to Hong Kong to serve at Su Bong Zen Monastery, where she has been ever since and now serves as the second guiding teacher. You can find out more by visiting the website for Su Bong Monastery in Hong Kong at https://subong.org.hk/en Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Zen Master Bon Yeon, Jane McLaughlin-Dobisz, began to get interested in Buddhism in college, which led to her studying abroad in Nepal during her senior year. After graduation, she moved to Los Angeles to get a Masters in Tibetan Studies but also began practicing vipassana with Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein. After several shorter retreats, she sat her first 90 retreat at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre MA when she was 23 and she enjoyed it so much she stayed for a second three-month sit. Zen Master Bon Yeon first heard Zen Master Seung Sahn when he came to teach at Barre, instantly connected with him as her teacher, and moved to the Providence Zen Center. Not long after she sat another 90-day retreat followed by a one-hundred day solo retreat in Maine. She moved into the Cambridge Zen Center at age 25, where she lived for the next 14 years. Zen Master Bon Yeon received Inka, or permission to teach, at 31 and began traveling and teaching in the US, Europe, and South Africa. She received transmission in April of 2000 at the age of 39 and published The Wisdom of Solitude, an account of her 100-day solo retreat, the following year. Zen Master Bon Yeon lives in the Greater Boston area with her husband and two children and continues as the Guiding Teacher of the Cambridge Zen Center. Check out her book One Hundred Days of Solitude: Losing Myself and Finding Grace on a Zen Retreat https://amzn.to/2HVISZj You can find her retreat and interview schedule by visiting The Cambridge Zen Center website https://cambridgezen.org/ And you can find some of her talks and videos on her personal website https://www.jane-dobisz.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://www.theseekerstable.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Yonathan Dominitz began practicing Insight Meditation in 1997 and has been teaching the dharma since 2002 mainly with Tovana, the largest Buddhist community in Israel. In 2015, inspired by more than 10 years of service as a hospice volunteer, Yonathan co-founded Meditation 1:1 to help cancer patients find and foster inner strength during periods of crisis and uncertainty. He is also the founder of Mindscapes, where he trains and teaches creative thinking to companies worldwide. If you understand Hebrew you can listen to his dharma talks here: https://www.tovana.org.il/en/user/153 If you would like to help support the work of Meditation 1:1, you can find their information here (If you're using Chrome, right click and use the translate page option if you don't speak Hebrew) https://www.yaelsimcha.org.il/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://ianwhitemaher.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Acharya Fleet Maull, Ph.D came of age in the late sixties and discovered Buddhism as part of the counter-cultural search for authenticity. After college he moved to Peru where he encountered the writings of his first teacher, Trungpa Rimpoche, and the opportunities of living outside the system by smuggling drugs. He moved to Colorado to study with Trungpa becoming one of his primary attendants but continued to live a dual life as a dharma practitioner and drug user and smuggler. This karma caught up to him in 1985 and he faced the choice of going on the run or turning himself in. He turned to Trungpa for advice and he recommended that Fleet face what he had created, which began the pain and chaos of long term incarceration. Again faced with the choice of hunkering down and just trying to get through the time or finding a way to help others with their suffering, Fleet began to develop his practice along the ethical teachings of the precepts. Four years into his fourteen-year sentence, Fleet founded the Prison Mindfulness Institute, which has become a leading provider of mindfulness programming for both prisoners and criminal justice professionals. Today Fleet is a senior lineage teacher in the Shambhala community and is a dharma successor of Roshi Bernie Glassman. He is a senior priest in the Zen Peacemaker community assisting with Auschwitz Bearing Witness retreats and co-founded the Rwanda Bearing Witness retreats. To find out more about Fleet Maull's work visit his websites: https://windhorseseminars.fleetmaull.com/ https://fleetmaull.com/ He also has a website for his new book Radical Responsibility: https://www.radicalresponsibilitybook.com And you can buy Fleet Maull's books at Radical Responsibility https://amzn.to/2LMPw8o Dharma in Hell: The Prison Writings of Fleet Maull https://amzn.to/30oPFCe Fleet Maull is involved with a number of other organizations, many of which we talked about in the podcast. You can find information about there here: Prison Work: www.prisonmindfulness.org Work with Criminal Justice Professionals: www.mindfulpublicsafety.com Training Mindfulness Teachers in Trauma-Informed Approaches: www.engagedmindfulness.org Mindful Justice Advocacy: www.mindfuljustice.org Bearing Witness work: www.zenpeacemakers.org Prison Hospice work: www.npha.org

Living in the dharma allows us to be vulnerable and to connect with the rest of the universe. Practice dismantles the habits of trying to build up the delusions around us.

Paul Park, JDPSN first met Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1972 in Los Angeles when he was 14. He began practicing Zen in earnest in 1980 after he got out of the military. He received inka, or permission to teach, from ZM Seung Sahn in 1998. He is the guiding teacher of Dharma Zen Center, a residential Zen Center, in Los Angeles. You can find his practice and retreat schedule by visiting www.DharmaZen.com Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://ianwhitemaher.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Lama Willa Miller is the founder and spiritual director of Natural Dharma Fellowship in Boston, MA, and its retreat center Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, NH. She was authorized as a dharma teacher and lineage holder in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism after 12 years of monastic training and two consecutive three-year retreats. In 2013, she received a doctorate from Harvard University in Religion, and was a Visiting Lecturer in Buddhist Ministry at Harvard Divinity School from 2013 to 2017. Her academic interests include Tantra and the Body, Buddhism and Ecology, and Buddhist Contemplative Care. Her dharma teachings investigate the body as a door to awakening, natural meditation (mahamudra), and heart-cultivation (lojong). She is the editor, author, and translator, respectively, of three books: The Arts of Contemplative Care: Pioneering Voices in Buddhist Chaplaincy and Pastoral Work, Everyday Dharma: Seven Weeks to Finding the Buddha in You, and Essence of Ambrosia, a 17th-century collection of meditations by Tibetan scholar Taranatha. Her articles and translations have appeared in Lion’s Roar, Buddhadharma, the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, the Tibet Journal, and other periodicals. You can find out more about Lama Willa Miller's teaching by visiting: https://www.naturaldharma.org/ and http://www.wonderwellrefuge.org/ Please explore her books: The Arts of Contemplative Care: Pioneering Voices in Buddhist Chaplaincy and Pastoral Work Everyday Dharma: Seven Weeks to Finding the Buddha in You Essence of Ambrosia A Guide to Buddhist Contemplations Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen

Dr. Einav Rosenblit is a dharma teacher and a lecturer of Dance Research and Philosophy of Arts. She earned her Ph.D. at Tel-Aviv University with a dissertation called The Original Face of the Body, which presented a Zen reading of contemporary dance. Einav's first book: Too Human Body: Zen Buddhism in the Art of Contemporary Dance was published in 2014. Her second book: Hungry Ghost: Israeli Dance and National Identity was published in September 2018. If you would like to communicate with Einav you can reach her through Facebook https://www.facebook.com/einav.rosenblit.3 Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://ianwhitemaher.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org

Ofosu Jones-Quartey aka Born I has been practicing meditation since 1999. In 2002, he met his teacher, Bhante Buddharakkhita, who taught him Vipassana meditation in the Burmese tradition. Ofosu has taught with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington D.C. since 2004 and has also served as a guest teacher with the Insight Meditation Society. He is currently a guest teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Ofosu has been working with Minds, Incorporated since 2014 to bring mindfulness practice to schools. Ofosu is also an accomplished hip hop and electronic music artist, performing under the stage name Born I and often weaves his Buddhist philosophy into his music. He currently lives in the Washington DC area with his wife and their four children. You can listen to some of Ofosu's dharma talks on dharmaseed: https://dharmaseed.org/teacher/480/ You can find out about his retreat schedule with IMCW here: https://imcw.org/Calendar/Event-Calendar/PageId/EventListView/categoryId/28/teacherId/22 And at Spirit Rock here: https://calendar.spiritrock.org/event-speaker/ofosu-jones-quartey/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher https://ianwhitemaher.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Online Sangha of the International Kwan Um School of Zen https://kwanumzenonline.org Listeners are eligible for a free month of training by using the promo code "sitbreathebow"