Greetings and blessings to the sangha at the Nebraska Zen Center. I am honored to serve you as an interim priest as we navigate together this transition of leadership. Beginner’s mind, gratitude to the present moment, and social engagement form the foundation of Zen practice as I understand it.
Keeping our beginner’s mind, especially in a time of change, leads to great fruits including unlocking energy that we didn’t realize we had. Gratitude even amid loss, is the hallmark of spiritual practice. It requires a certain degree of internal strength, respect for oneself, and of letting go of the grudges of the past. Social engagement is about holding each other accountable to our own practice, to the precepts, as well as working together for common goals. These three – beginner’s mind, gratitude, and social engagement – are how I understand the three treasures of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
At present I reside in Ames, Iowa, but I originally come from the East coast, a product of the Potomac and Susquehanna Rivers on whose waters my life depended. While it’s not enough of a tribute, I recognize the indigenous tribes of that land including the Piscataway and Lenape to name just two of several. My early years were formed in Maryland just outside of Washington D.C. and my adult years began in central Pennsylvania where I attended Bucknell University as an undergraduate studying both biology and religion. In those early years I studied inter-religious dialogue and the philosophy of many religions. This study as well as the teachers I worked with, greatly influenced my decision to later become a Soto Zen priest.
My root teacher is Rev. Dai-En Bennage with whom I practiced in residence full time for 15 years at Mount Equity Zendo (no longer existent), also in central Pennsylvania, from 1998 to 2013. Residential training included the regular practice of zazen, ceremony, monthly sesshin and Days of Mindfulness, Tenzo (head cook), Jisha (teacher’s attendant), Ino (service leader), and many other jobs to assist with the running of a temple. Training also took me to several Soto Zen temples in Japan, to Tassajara, and to Nebraska Zen Center where I trained with Rev. Nonin Chowaney. I am deeply grateful to Nonin and the Nebraska Zen Center for that formational experience, one that prepared me well for later training as a priest.
I was given Transmission from my teacher in 2009 and was authorized to teach by Soto Shu in Japan shortly after. However, training never ends, and I have always been encouraged by my teachers to “never cease cultivating.” In 2013 I left Mount Equity Zendo to study as a chaplain at Wellspan Hospital (just north of Baltimore) in their Behavioral Health ward for one year. Concluding this experience, I relocated to where I now reside in Ames with my wife – also a Soto Zen priest but from another lineage – and our son. We helped to start Zen Fields, a very small Zen temple (recently incorporated and a 501©3 religious organization) that serves the Ames vicinity.
The Buddha taught in the Diamond Sutra to be aware of the nature of signs (words and letters). Zen, while using words and letters, teaches something beyond words and letters. I look forward to meeting you in person in the same physical space, to getting to know your stories and aspirations, to practicing zazen together, to studying the Dharma and the precepts together, and to working together as a sangha.
Joined Palms,
Daishin