Bio

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and as a late teen was immersed in the counter-culture of the late 1960’s. Later, I studied, taught, and performed classical, folk, and rock ‘n roll guitar, attended the experimental Goddard College in Vermont, and ended up - much to my own surprise - in seminary, in Berkeley.

After ordination, I served for 30 years as priest and Rector of an Episcopal congregation in New Mexico. During those years I also led retreats, published writings on spirituality, and received an honorary doctorate from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley for contributions to the field of spirituality.

In the 1990’s I studied and practiced Zen with Joko Beck at Zen Center of San Diego. Since the mid-2010’s I have studied and practiced at Ancient Dragon Zen Gate in Chicago, initially in residence there, and subsequently from a distance.

In 2016 I formally received the Bodhisattva Precepts (i.e. the taking of Buddhist vows, also sometimes called lay ordination) from Taigen Dan Leighton at Ancient Dragon. Later in 2026, I will be receiving Lay Entrustment - official authorization to teach Zen practice and dharma - from Hogetsu Laurie Belzer, now the Guiding Teacher at Ancient Dragon.

Having returned to New Mexico,I facilitate and teach a weekly zazen meditation group in the Village of Corrales that is grounded in the Soto Zen tradition: http://corraleszen.org/