Rev. Myozan Ian Kilroy is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest and a Dharma heir of Taigu Turlur Roshi, in the lineage of Nishijima Roshi and Rempo Niwa Zenji. Rev. Myozan serves the Zen Buddhism Ireland sangha, where he is the founding teacher and abbot at Dublin Zen Centre. Rev. Myozan is the founding president of the Irish Buddhist Union and represents Buddhism on the Dublin City Interfaith Forum. In early 2025, Rev. Myozan's book "Do Not Try to Become a Buddha: Practicing Zen Right Where You Are" will be available via Wisdom Publications. (https://wisdomexperience.org/product/do-not-try-to-become-a-buddha/).

We talk about the history and development of Zen Buddhism in Ireland and Europe, using skillful means to discuss Buddhism and Buddhist teachings with Irish Catholic audiences, the importance of NOT recognizing a connection between zazen and creativity, and embracing 'great doubt' and feeling the cloth before you make a stitch.

Rev. Monshin Paul Naamon is the abbot and co-founder of the Tendai Buddhist Institute (Jiunzan Tendaiji), an officially recognized branch temple of Enryakuji Temple on Mt. Hiei located in East Chatham, NY.

We discuss the feng shui and geographical history of the Tendai Buddhist Institute’s location, finding what was missing in Zen in America within Tendai in Japan, converting a horse barn into a Hondo, ritual and meditation as informing each other, and the importance of finding and connecting with the bodhisattva 'superheroes' living among us.

Roshi June Ryushin Tanoue is a Zen Buddhist priest and the co-founder of Zen Life & Meditation Center based in Chicago, IL. June Roshi is also a Kumu Hula (Master Teacher of Hula) and the founder of Halau I Ka Pono, the Hula School of Chicago. For more information about June Roshi and the Zen Life & Meditation Center, please see the following links:

https://www.zlmc.org/

https://www.lionsroar.com/the-hula-sutra/

We talk about the connections between hula and Zen practice, maternal family histories and the sacred feminine, recognizing Kaiona (the Hawaiian goddess of the lost) as a Buddhist bodhisattva, islands of coherence, the honesty and beauty of Pele’s destructive anger, and following your bliss.

Wendy Dainin Lau, MD, is an Emergency Medicine and Addiction Medicine physician and an ordained Zen priest that serves the Upaya Zen Center sangha in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dainin is also the author of Inner Practice of Medicine, which compiles the lessons that she has been gathering throughout her time as a doctor and teacher of doctors. For more information about Dainin and the Upaya Zen Center, please see the following link: https://www.upaya.org/

We discuss Shuso Hossen-Shiki ceremonies, the learning and healing exchange occurring while treating Roshi Joan Halifax's recent injury, Upaya’s Nomads Clinic and the experience of pilgrimage in Nepal, humbling yourself to meet people where they are in their spiritual journeys, treating physician burnout, literally chopping wood and carrying water, and how her rescue dog highlights the liberating qualities of nature.

Sangen Salo is an ordained Zen Buddhist priest and teacher that serves as abbot of Sanneji based in Karjaa, Finland. Sangen sensei is also Sante Poromaa Roshi’s first Dharma heir in the lineage of Roshi Philip Kapleau and teaches at the Helsinki Zen Center as well as other zendos in the Sanneji network.

We talk about the connections between Zen practice and playing the shakuhachi, learning from Sante Poromaa Roshi and the deep sense of understanding and connection between teacher and student, participating in takuhatsu (alms-gathering) in Japan with a lightly sprained ankle, and practicing not just for your self but for other people.

Zenzele Isoke, PhD, is a black feminist theorist, urban ethnographer, and political storyteller and serves as an Associate Professor in The Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Maryland in College Park. Dr. Isoke practices meditation in the Insight and Zen traditions, with experience practicing at the Clouds and Water Zen Center and Common Ground Meditation Center.

We talk about the heart-opening qualities of Christianity and Buddhism, deepening an understanding of form and emptiness while chanting at George Floyd’s funeral, incorporating breath and mindfulness techniques into university courses about racial trauma, creating a relaxed environment and body for writing, and the importance of sangha.

Gillian Coote, Roshi, is a social documentary filmmaker, writer, grandmother and bush regenerator, and serves the Sydney Zen Centre sangha as a senior resident teacher.

We talk about camping out during sesshins amongst iguanas and noisy koalas, weeding and removing invasive species as part of Buddhist practice, synchronicities and meeting Robert Aitken Roshi, how she's weaved architecture and house building projects into her life, and the rewards of following your curiosity.

Rev. Kanse Capon Shonin, a Nichiren Shu priest, serves the Nichiren Shu Buddhist Temple of UK located in Dagenham, Essex.

We discuss celebrating Oeshiki and hosting members of the European Nichiren Shu sangha network, the closer-than-family relationship between master and disciple, embarking on a more than 300 mile pilgrimage from Penzance to Dagenham, the legacy of Captain John M. James, and cultivating a faith that's "like water."

Jinzu Minna Jain (they/them) is an artist, writer, and racial & systemic equity educator. They identify as BIPOC, disabled, queer and trans/nonbinary. Jinzu has been practicing Sōtō Zen Buddhism for over twenty years and is a novice priest at Clouds in Water Zen Center. They are also the Director of Learning & Development with Real Transformation Today, a racial equity education and consulting group. Jinzu is mostly curious about how Zen practice can help us be human well, meet ourselves and one another complexly, and enjoy our little lives a little more. They wish to break down barriers to access caused by systems of oppression and provide gateways into Sōtō Zen for anyone who wishes to experience it. More info at minnajain.com

We talk about the Clouds in Water Zen Center sangha holding space for (and nurturing!) a dying maple tree on their property, the Way of the Mississippi River, the comfort of wrapping yourself in the Buddha’s teachings, cyanotype and impermanence, and how getting comfortable with doubt can allow you to be your full self.

Catherine Raynor Brown is a sangha member of the Karma Kagyu Thigsum Chokhorling (or Karma Choeling Buddhist Monastery), a study, practice and retreat centre in the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism based in Waitoki, New Zealand. https://kagyu.org.nz/

We discuss the recent passing of the monastery's founding teacher and observing 49 days of prayer, traditional Tibetan healthcare and medicine, best practices for stupa renovations, a buddha statue's eye opening ceremony with blessings from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, and remembering that "it's okay."