Sit, Breathe, Bow

Josh Bartok, Roshi, began practicing Zen practice with John Daido Loori, at Zen Mountain Monastery in the early 1990s while a student at nearby Vassar College, and later lived there for 18 months. In 2000, he began practicing with James Ishmael Ford, Roshi. He was ordained by James Ford in 2008 and received permission to teach from him in 2012. Presently Josh serves as the guiding teacher and spiritual director of the Greater Boston Zen Center. For many years he worked as a Senior Editor at Wisdom Publications, a leading publisher of classic and contemporary Buddhist books from all of the major Buddhist lineages. During his tenure he edited nearly 250 books having to do with meditation, mindfulness, and Buddhist traditions. Josh is the co-author of Saying Yes to Life (Even the Hard Parts) and the author of Daily Doses of Wisdom. His writings have appeared in Buddhadharma, Lion's Roar, and The Handbook of Zen, Mindfulness, and Behavioral Health. He remains with Wisdom on a part-time basis as the Executive Editor and has a private practice in contemplative and Buddhist pastoral therapy in Cambridge, MA. You can find out more by visiting https://bostonzen.org/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://ianwhitemaher.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Providence Zen Center. http://providencezen.org/

Nancy Brown Hedgpeth has been a Zen student and part of the Kwan Um School of Zen since 1979. She has practiced at the Cambridge Zen Center, the Providence Zen Center, the New Haven Zen Center as well as in South Korean temples. She is a retired nurse. She helped run a farm in southern Rhode Island her husband. Nancy received inka, or permission to teach, from Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1994. She currently lives at Providence Zen Center where she serves as co-guiding teacher. You can find out more about her teaching and retreat schedule by visiting http://providencezen.org/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://ianwhitemaher.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Providence Zen Center. http://providencezen.org/

Robert Kando Cornell was on track to become a college professor in Theoretical Physics and the Philosophy of Science when he dropped out of graduate school to become a Zen monk. He lived as a monastic for 10 years. After turned in his robes he journeyed through a variety of vocations before going back to school to become a psychotherapist and spiritual director exploring the boundary lands between Buddhist, Christianity, and psychology. He is the author of “50 Ways of Letting Go.” And for many years he led interfaith meditation and practice groups at his church To find out more about his teaching visit his website at http://www.spirittherapist.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://ianwhitemaher.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Providence Zen Center. http://providencezen.org/

Joshin Byrnes, Sensei has walked a braided path in his spiritual journey studying philosophy and theology, seeking inspiration in Vedic yoga and the interspiritual practices of the New Monastic movement, and even in his youth, taking vows as a Dominican brother. He is a student of Upaya’s founder and guiding teacher, Roshi Joan Halifax, and is a lineage holder in the Maezumi Roshi and Bernie Glassman Roshi family of Soto Zen and the Zen Peacemaker Order. He has been a dharma teacher at Upaya Zen Center as well as its President and Vice Abbot. Joshin continues to direct Upaya’s Chaplaincy Training program and lead practice periods at Upaya as well as social justice initiatives and Upaya’s Street Ministry. Joshin recently started Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community in Vermont. His understanding of the dharma holds that personal and social liberation co-arise as a result of an integrated life. You can find out more about his teaching and retreat schedule by visiting www.breadloafmountainzen.org Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://ianwhitemaher.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Providence Zen Center. http://providencezen.org/

Rev. Shoda Douglas Kanai, Shonin, was raised Buddhist in America by his Japanese parents. His father Rev. Shokai Kanai founded the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada, but initially his son was not interested in following in the family tradition and went on to earn an MBA and worked in the back offices of a casino. But as his father neared retirement, Kanai began to reevaluated his path and decided to commit himself to the faith. He moved to Japan and spent 3.5 years studying and practicing at a remote mountain-side temple in northern Osaka Prefecture. During this time, he completed two separate 100-day ascetic training sessions, or Aragyo, which involved chanting the sutras, ritual water purification with cold water, eating two meals and only sleeping 2.5 hours per day. In 2015, he succeed his father as the new head priest of Kannon Temple and has taken on the task of making the Nicherin Shu path more accessible to an American audience. You can find out more about his teaching by visiting his temple’s website at www.kannon-temple-nevada.org Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://ianwhitemaher.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Providence Zen Center. http://providencezen.org/

Genjo Marinello began his Zen training in 1975 sitting his first sesshin in the summer of 1977. He began the formal process of ordination 1980 in Seattle and trained at Ryutaku-Ji in Japan in 1981-82. In 1999, Genjo Roshi was installed as abbot of Chobo-ji temple in Seattle, where he has served ever since. Genjo was affirmed as the dharma heir of the late Eido Shimano Roshi in May of 2008. His talks and essays have been widely published and his commentary on koan practice has been translated into several languages. Committed to both justice and the teachings of Buddhism, Genjo serves several local and national interfaith organizations and has participated in Bearing Witness retreats at Auschwitz/Birkenau, Rwanda and the Black Hills of South Dakota. You can find out more about his teaching and retreat schedule at choboji.org Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://ianwhitemaher.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Providence Zen Center. http://providencezen.org/

Kathy Park, JDPSN, began practicing Zen in 1999 while living in London. And began studying with the Kwan Um School after visiting the Zen Center in Paris. Over the following 20 years she lived in Zen centers and temples in the United States, Hong Kong, and Korea, where she sat several 90-day retreats. She is currently an administrative director at Mu Sang Sa Temple in Korea and the coordinator of the International Initiative Project for the global Kwan Um School of Zen. Kathy lives in Korea with her husband, Andrzej Stec JDPSN. Together they lead the Kwan Um Seoul Zen Group and Daejeon Zen Group. Kathy is also an art and design consultant focusing on traditional Korean craftwork helping artists become more sustainable. To find out more about the Kwan Um School's online sangha visit their website at: https://kwanumzen.org/online Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://ianwhitemaher.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Providence Zen Center. http://providencezen.org/

Santikaro moved to Thailand with the Peace Corps in 1980 and ordained as a Theravada monk in 1985. He trained at Suan Mokkh with Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, a leading Thai teacher, scholar, and reformer of Theravada Buddhism. He became Ajahn Buddhadasa's primary English translator. He led meditation retreats at Suan Mokkh for many years before returning to the United States in 2001. In 2004 he retired from formal monastic life, but continues to teach in the Buddhist tradition with an emphasis on the early Pali sources. He is the founder of Kevala Retreat, a 70-acre refuge in Norwalk, WI dedicated to Buddhist practice, study, and social responsibility. He is a founding member of Think Sangha, a community of socially engaged Buddhist thinker-activists that has given special attention to the ethical and spiritual impact of consumerism and militarism. His translation of Ajahn Buddhadāsa’s teachings on dependent co-arising, Under the Bodhi Tree, was published in 2017. Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://ianwhitemaher.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Providence Zen Center. http://providencezen.org/

Gesshin Claire Greenwood has been practicing Vipassana and Zen for over 12 years. She’s an ordained Zen priest and spent over 5 years in Japan, training in monasteries, studying, and teaching. Gesshin is involved with Blue Cliff Sangha in Long Beach, CA. She is the author of Bow First, Ask Questions Later: Reluctant Wisdom on Ordination, Love, and Zen Training in Japan. Sit, Breathe, Bow is hosted by Ian White Maher. https://ianwhitemaher.com/ Sit, Breathe, Bow is sponsored by the Providence Zen Center. http://providencezen.org/