Abby Mushin Terris
Abby Mushin Terris has been practicing Zen since 1977. In 1992 she began Corvallis Zen Circle, a small sitting group that now has evolved into Sangha Jewel Temple where she is the guiding teacher. Mushin received Lay Transmission from Chozen Roshi in 2013 and is one of the sesshin leaders in ZCO. She also works as a psychotherapist and is the mother of two grown daughters.
Amy Kisei, Sensei
Amy Kisei, Sensei is an authorized Zen teacher, zen priest, spiritual counselor and mindfulness instructor. She has been practicing meditation for almost 20 years. Kisei has 12 years of monastic training and teaching experience from Great Vow Zen Monastery, and holds a BS in Earth Science and Gender Studies. She is trained in Mindful Eating through the University of California San Diego, MECL program. In her spiritual counseling practice Kisei utilizes the tools of meditation/mindfulness, dream-work, process art and ceremony to help people in their healing & awakening process. She is passionate about bringing the practices of meditation/mindfulness into environmental…
Anusha Enryu Fernando
Anusha Enryu Fernando was born in Sri Lanka to a Theravadin Buddhist family. Her grandparents founded the Vipassana Meditation Centre located in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1957. She began practicing Zen Meditation with Hogen and Chozen Roshi in 2007, and became a dharma holder in 2021. She holds a BA in Religious Studies, specializing in Buddhism and Hinduism from McGill University, and a Masters of Arts in Asian Studies from the University of British Columbia, specializing in Sanskrit. In her dissertation, she translated a Sanskrit poem of the life story of the Buddha, called the Padyacudamani. Enryu has been a…
Caverly Morgan
Caverly Morgan is a meditation teacher, nonprofit leader, and visionary. She is the Founder and Guiding Teacher of Presence Collective, dedicated to igniting personal transformation and collective awakening. She is also the Founder and Guiding Teacher of Peace in Schools — a nonprofit which created the nation’s first for-credit mindfulness class in public high schools. Peace in Schools is pioneering new depths in mindfulness education through teaching youth as well as training educators. Caverly blends the original spirit of Zen with a modern nondual approach. Her practice began in 1995 and has included eight years of training in a silent…
Danney Soten Lynch
Danney Soten Lynch is a Dharma Holder and ordained Zen priest. He was a monastic resident at Great Vow from 2010-2020 completing his novice training in 2018. During this time he contributed many songs to the Great Vow liturgy, and directed the monastery’s marimba band. He and his wife, Shinei, started leading backpacking Zen-style sesshin in the Wilderness of the Pacific Northwest in 2015. The program has continued annually and grown to include both meditation and walking intensives. In 2024 Soten will move with his wife to Corvallis where both will fill an assistant teacher position under Abby Mushin Terris…
Darah Shonin Ashton
Darah Shonin Ashton has practiced with the Zen Community of Oregon since 2009 and was made a Dharma holder in 2019. She currently co-leads Thursday evening meditation at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple. Since 2019 she has served as treasurer for ZCO. Shonin recently retired from a 30 year chiropractic career and enjoys spending more time with family and friends. A sewing hobbyist, she happily tutors zen students through the construction of wagessas and rakusus.
Denise Gour, LCSW
Denise Gour, LCSW, has worked with children and adults as a licensed clinical social worker since 1999 and specializes in the areas of stress, depression, anxiety, and addiction recovery. Her services are offered privately and under contract with health care, education, and private business organizations. Denise has enjoyed regularly facilitating three evidence-based mindfulness courses since 2009. Professional Mindfulness Training: Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction 2009, Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention 2010, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression 2011, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for Teens 2010 , Interpersonal Neurobiology 2010.
Dr. Paula Arai
Paula Arai received her Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from Harvard University, specializing in Japanese Sōtō Zen. She trained at Aichi Senmon Nisōdō for 4 months under the tutelage of Aoyama Shundō Rōshi. She is author of Painting Enlightenment: Healing Visions of the Heart Sutra––The Buddhist Art of Iwasaki Tsuneo (Shambhala Publications), Women Living Zen: Japanese Buddhist Nuns (Oxford University Press), and Bringing Zen Home: The Healing Heart of Japanese Buddhist Women’s Rituals (University of Hawai’i Press). Approaching her research with focus on embodied experience, she has received a range of support, including from Fulbright and the American Council of Learned…
Ed Gensho Welsh
Ed Gensho Welsh began practicing Zen in 2002 and was made a Dharma Holder in 2016. He served on the Zen Community of Oregon board of directors for 10 years. He works in IT and is a married father with three grown children.
Eduardo Zambrano
Eduardo Zambrano is a Professor of Economics at Cal Poly and started practicing Zen in 1995. Eduardo has been doing The Work since 2004, has been offering The Work in Buddhist centers since 2007, and at Great Vow since 2019. “The Work helps me see that everything I ever wanted I already have, that what I am without my story is kind, generous, patient, hilarious, and does not need anything other than what it has in any given moment. The Work is pure genius. This genius is also inside you.”
Guo Gu
Guo Gu (Dr. Jimmy Yu) is the founder of the Tallahassee Chan Center, the founder of the socially engaged intra-denominational Buddhist organization, Dharma Relief, and a professor of Buddhism and East Asian religions at Florida State University. He studied under the late Master Sheng Yen for over 30 years, nine of which as his attendant monk and most senior and closest disciple. He is the author of The Essence of Chan (2012), Passing Through the Gateless Barrier (2016), and Silent Illumination (2021). To view Guo Gu’s personal website, please visit: www.guogulaoshi.com
Hogen and Chozen Roshi
Chozen Roshi is the founding teacher of Zen Community of Oregon, which includes the Monastery and Heart of Wisdom Zen temple. She and Hogen Roshi now co-abbot Great Vow Zen Monastery together. Zen Community of Oregon is the culmination of years of training and practice. Chozen and Hogen also raised a family together maintained jobs outside of building this Sangha for many years. Chozen Roshi has written many books on mindfulness and mindful eating. Zen Community of Oregon is in the White Plum lineage. Both Hogen and Chozen Roshi practiced with Taizan Maezumi and also with Shodo Harada Roshi both…
Hogen Bays, Roshi
Hogen Bays, Roshi began practicing in 1968 with Philip Kapleau, Roshi and was part of the residential staff at Zen Center of Rochester in Rochester, New York until 1975. He lived and trained at Zen Center of Los Angeles under the direction of Taizan Maezumi, Roshi from 1980-1984. In 1990 he took priest’s ordination with Maezumi, Roshi. After advice and consultation with Harada, Roshi and other Zen teachers, in 2000 he received Dharma Transmission from Chozen, Roshi. Since 1990 Hogen has continued his Zen studies with Rinzai Zen teacher Shodo Harada, Roshi, abbot of Sogen-ji monastery in Japan and…
Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi
Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi has studied and practiced Zen Buddhism since 1973. She received Jukai (lay precepts) in 1975 and Tokudo, Priest’s Ordination, in 1979 from Taizan Maezumi, Roshi. From 1978 to 1983 she lived at Zen Center of Los Angeles, studying with Maezumi, Roshi and directing the Zen Center’s non-profit Medical Clinic. She finished formal koan study in 1983 and she was given Dharma transmission (authorization to teach) that same year. Following the death of Maezumi, Roshi in 1995 she has continued her training with Shodo Harada, Roshi, a Rinzai Zen teacher and the abbot of Sogen-ji monastery in…
Jogen Salzberg, Sensei
Jogen Salzberg, Sensei has been practicing Zen since 1997, entered monastic training at Great Vow in 2003 and received Dharma Transmission from Chozen Bays, Roshi and Hogen Bays, Roshi in 2017. Jogen leads the weekly Wednesday evening meditation gathering. His teaching draws on the teachings and practices of Zen, with inspiration from the Dzogchen tradition, as well as Depth and Archetypal psychology, Voice Dialogue parts work and more. In addition to being a Zen teacher, he is a parts work facilitator and spiritual counselor. Follow his work at Solisluna.org . Jogen Sensei lives in Portland, Oregon.
Josh Mann
Josh Mann, who will help guide this group, first started meditating with the Zen Community of Oregon in 2006. He has spent a total of eight months in residence at Great Vow Zen Monastery and has participated in several sesshin. Josh also lived at Trillium House for a year-and-a-half (2013-2015) and was active at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple. He started studying Nonviolent Communication in 2005 and has been leading practice groups in Eugene, Oregon since 2017. Additionally, Josh has a Master’s degree in Postsecondary, Adult, and Continuing Education from Portland State University.
Kaira Jewel Lingo
Kaira Jewel Lingo from her website https://www.kairajewel.com/about: “As soon as I saw the Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, or Thay as his students call him (Vietnamese for ‘teacher’), I knew he was my teacher. The community of nuns, monks and lay practitioners was also deeply inspiring to me, living authentically what he taught. In 1999 I was ordained as a Buddhist nun at the age of 25 and spent fifteen years as a nun, engaging in a 24-hour-a-day mindfulness practice made up of daily sitting and walking meditation, eating meals in silence to be fully present for our food,…
Kaz Tanahashi, Sensei
Kazuaki Tanahashi (棚橋一晃, October 4, 1933) is an accomplished Japanese calligrapher, Zen teacher, author and translator of Buddhist texts from Japanese and Chinese to English, most notably works by Dogen (he began his translation of Shobogenzo in his twenties).
Keith Dowman
Keith Dowman is one of the most influential Western Buddhist teachers in the transition of the vast Tibetan heritage to the West. A disciple of Dudjom Rinpoche, Kanjur Rinpoche, and the 16th Karmapa, he is a translator of Tibetan texts and a meditation teacher. Based in Kathmandu, India and Tibet for more than 30 years, Keith is dedicated to the teaching and practice of Dzogchen. Free of traditional forms and rituals, his style of teaching and transmission is direct and powerful.
Kim Hoben Hansen
Kim Hoben Hansen has been practicing Zen since 1995 and is the guiding teacher of the North Shore Zendo in Vancouver, Canada. Hoben received Lay Transmission from Chozen and Hogen Roshi in 2015. He is one of the sesshin leaders in ZCO. He practices law as a tax litigator and is married with three grown daughters.
Kodo Conover
Nancy Kodo Conover has been practicing Zen since 2000 and received Lay Transmission from Chozen and Hogen Roshi in 2015, ordained as a temple priest in 2021 and received Dharma Transmission and Preceptor authorization in 2023. Kodo retired from a career as a vocational rehabilitation counselor to help establish Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple and is the Temple Manager since 2010. She leads Tuesday night meditation and discussion at Heart of Wisdom, co-leads Grasses and Trees Sesshin and has a life long interest in the natural world. She is married and has lived in the Pacific Northwest her whole adult life.
Kosho Ault
Kosho Janet Ault lives in Portland and holds the roles of Assistant Temple Manager at Heart of Wisdom and Manager of Trillium Zen practice house. She previously lived and trained at Great Vow Zen Monastery for six years, including two years of postulancy. She is a co-chair of the Engaged Buddhism Committee and believes deeply in the power of immersion into our original forest home and the universal soundscape to heal our perceived separation and guide our lives.
Kurt Hoelting
Kurt Hoelting has been a student of Zen for over forty years, working with a number of teachers, including Shodo Harada Roshi since 1995. From 1994-2021 he was Head Guide and Founding Teacher with Inside Passages, guiding over 75 week-long kayaking meditation retreats in Southeast Alaska. Kurt is certified as a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher through the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, and has taught MBSR in a wide variety of settings. Since concluding his work as a wilderness guide in Alaska, he has continued to teach mindfulness both online and in-person. Kurt has lifelong roots in the Pacific…
Lama Lekshe
Lama Lekshe (Julia King Tamang) has been praticing Tibetan Buddhism since 1994 in Portland, Oregon, Nepal and India. Her teachers are Bokar Rinpoche, Khenpo Lodro Donyo Rinpoche, and Lama Michael Conklin. In 2018, she completed a traditional 3-year meditation retreat in the Shangpa Kagyu tradition. Before retreat, was a university teacher and a consultant to colleges. Lekshe is the founder of Dekeling.
Lama Rod Owens
Officially recognized by the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, Lama Rod received his teaching authorization after spending over 3 years in silent group retreat at Kagyu Thubten Chöling Monastery (KTC) outside of New York City. It was during this time that he dealt with years of past pain and trauma and found forgiveness and compassion for himself, which he views as a critical step before truly being able to help others. Since completing retreat he has been pursuing his Master of Divinity degree at Harvard Divinity School and is a core teacher with the Natural Dharma Fellowship. He has been…
Larry Fuho Trussell
Larry Fuho Trussell has been practicing Zen since 1976, and received Lay Transmission from Chozen and Hogen Roshi in 2015. Fuho is the lead teacher on Sunday mornings at Heart of Wisdom. He is one of the sesshin leaders in ZCO. He works as a research scientist and is married with one grown son.
Laura Jomon Martin
Laura Jomon Martin has been practicing Zen since 2004, receiving Lay Teacher Transmission from Chozen and Hogen Roshi in 2019. She has served in various capacities within the ZCO Sangha, leading retreats, classes, and is always excited about Sangha-building activities and organizational development. She continues a long career as a social worker (since 1993), with most of those years in community mental health agencies. She is an LCSW in private practice, specializing in working with healthcare professionals. She has taught MBSR and secular mindfulness since 2009. She and her husband Bansho currently reside at Great Vow.
Myoyu Haley Voekel
Myoyu attended her first meditation retreat in 2006. Following that, she took a dive into Zen practice and also yoga training. She began practicing with ZCO in 2013. She ordained in 2019 as a novice priest, following her vow to serve ZCO and to deepen her own practice. She is currently the Training Director at the Monastery. Before coming to the monastery, Myoyu taught yoga in Olympia WA, after graduating from Evergreen State College. During her time at the monastery, Myoyu has managed the garden and grounds, served as tenzo and Shuso and also participated in the management of the…
Patrick Bansho Green
Patrick Bansho Green has practiced with the Zen Community of Oregon since 2004 and received Lay Transmission from Chozen Bays and Hogen Bays in 2019, priest ordination in 2021, and completed Preceptor Authorization and Dharma Transmission in 2023. As board president, he led the effort to found Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple, a lay practice center in Portland, Oregon (2010). Prior to becoming the current Administrator for ZCO, Bansho worked for twenty years in the labor movement leading social and economic justice political and legislative campaigns. He is married to Laura Jomon Martin and lives at the Monastery.
Rebecca Li
Rebecca Li, PhD, is a Chan Buddhist teacher in the lineage of Master Sheng Yen, and the founder and guiding teacher of Chan Dharma Community. She began practicing in 1995 while in graduate school in California and took refuge with Master Sheng Yen, founder of Dharma Drum Mountain, the same year. While in graduate school, she flew to New York to attend seven-day intensive retreats with Master Sheng Yen. She then moved to New Jersey for an academic position and to be closer to Master Sheng Yen, and in 1999 she began serving as his translator and also began teacher…
Sara Shinei Monial
Sara Shinei Monial is a Zen priest who completed her novice training at Great Vow in 2020. She has been practicing meditation intensively since 2007, and has practiced closely with various teachers including Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi, Hogen Bays, Roshi, and Satya Vayu. Shinei has a BA in Education, but left the field years ago to pursue full-time spiritual practice. She is one of the founders of Touching Earth Sangha in Portland, whose intention is simple living in harmony with the natural world. Shinei also teaches yoga and co-leads outdoor and wilderness retreats in the PNW and Latin America. She…
Senior Lay Practitioner and/or Ordained Priest
A senior lay practitioner and/or an ordained priest will be guiding this retreat. The ordained priests have been practicing for many years at Great Vow Zen Monastery, leading retreats and teaching classes. The senior lay practitioners have been intimately involved in Zen Community of Oregon, practicing and teaching primarily at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple in Portland OR and also attending sesshin at the monastery.
Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
Osho Zenju Earthlyn Marselean Manuel, poet, author, ordained Zen priest, and medicine woman of the drum, was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the middle daughter of Lawrence Manuel Jr. and Alvesta Pierre Manuel, who both migrated from rural Louisiana. Zenju’s practice is influenced by Native American and African indigenous traditions. She participated in ceremony with Ifá diviners from Dahomey, Africa and briefly studied Yoruba. She was raised in the Church of Christ where she was an avid reader of the Bible and adored the true mystic teachings on Christ’s path well into adulthood. She holds a Ph.D. and…