Guiding Teacher
The Nebraska Zen Center is conducting a search for a new Guiding Teacher, a full-time resident priest who will facilitate our practice and help set a future course for the Zen Center. In the meantime, we are grateful to have Rev. Daishin McCabe of the Zen Fields sangha in Ames, IA, providing priest services.
Interim Priest Daishin McCabe
Rev. Daishin McCabe is Nebraska Zen Center’s interim priest. Daishin is a dharma heir of Dai-en Bennage Roshi, with whom he studied in monastic residence for 15 years; he has also practiced in Japan at several training temples and with Thich Nhat Hanh in France. He has degrees in Religion and Biology from Bucknell University, has trained as a behavioral health chaplain and as a Trauma Sensitive Yoga instructor, and teaches World Religions at the Des Moines Area Community College and at the Shogaku Zen Institute. He and his wife Jisho Sara Seibert are the guiding teachers at Zen Fields in Ames and Clive, Iowa.
Since June 2022, Daishin has dedicated one weekend a month to providing in-person services at NZC. He leads sesshins, retreats, and ceremonies like Ryaku Fusatsu (the Full Moon precepts ceremony); gives dharma talks and meets with students one on one; and teaches yoga and calligraphy classes. Daishin also shares a dharma talk with us via Zoom one Sunday a month and provides other behind-the-scenes support. NZC sangha members are able to participate in online activities that Daishin offers in his role as Guiding Teacher at Zen Fields, including morning meditation, two weekday evening dharma studies, and twice-weekly Integral Yoga sessions. Members of the Zen Fields sangha frequently join NZC retreats and other activities as well.
NZC’s Teacher Residency
Nebraska Zen Center (NZC) offers an opportunity for ordained Soto Zen priests and priests-in-training to reside at our Zen center and experience living and working closely with an established sangha. In collaboration with NZC’s Interim Priest, Rev. Daishin McCabe, the Resident Teacher assumes responsibility for maintaining the Zen Center schedule and supporting the spiritual practice of sangha members.
Current Resident Priest-in-Training
Rev. Shinkyu Brian Coté
Rev. Shinkyu Brian Coté met his teacher, Rev. Shuji Valdene Mintzmyer, of Just Sit Zendo in Grand Rapids, MI, in 2019. In 2020 he received jukai from her, followed by lay entrustment in 2022. He began giving dharma talks to the Just Sit sangha, the Grand Rapids Buddhist Temple, and the Nebraska Zen Center. In 2023 Shinkyu officially joined the Grand Rapids Buddhist Temple as a dharma teacher and a member of the Dharma Council, where he was responsible for giving talks, shaping the education calendar, and teaching classes. In 2024 Shinkyu received shukke tokudo, or home leaving ordination, from Rev. Shuji. Afterward he completed a short stay at the San Francisco Zen Center as a guest student.
Shinkyu is particularly interested in investigating karma, finding ways to alleviate suffering, weaving Soto Zen practice into everyday life, and opening dialogue between the various schools of Buddhism. In addition to being a Zen priest, Shinkyu is a father, a musician, an artist, and an avid reader. He formerly lived in West Michigan and worked in the automotive industry.
Former Resident Priest-in-Training
Rev. Taizan Alford
Rev. Taizan Alford is the first priest-in-training to assume the position of Resident Teacher under our new priest residency program. He is with us from January to June 2024. Taizan received jukai from his teacher, Rev. Sosan Flynn of Clouds in Water Zen Center in St. Paul, MN, in 2014, and received shukke tokudo, or home-leaving ordination, from her in the fall of 2016. In early 2020 he completed a six-week ango, or intensive practice period, at Hokyoji Zen Practice Community in Eitzen, MN. He spent four months at Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, NY, later that year. In 2021, Taizan was shuso, or head student, at Clouds in Water.
Taizan’s meditation journey began in the early 1980s. His focus as a Zen practitioner and priest-in-training is on how zazen, taking refuge, and loving-kindness can heal old wounds and help individuals and communities experience more joy and less suffering. Sober since 1982, Taizan is also a singer-songwriter, deeply grateful for his loving and supportive husband, Tom. He has taught therapeutic and restorative yoga since 1998.
Teacher Residency Applications for 2025 Open Now
Nebraska Zen Center Teacher Residency Position
Nebraska Zen Center is currently accepting applications for its teacher residency program for Soto Zen priests and priests-in-training. With guidance from NZC’s Interim Head Priest, Rev. Daishin McCabe, Resident Teachers will gain experience leading an established and supportive sangha for a four- to six-month period.
Applicants must have a referral from their teacher. NZC provides reasonable compensation and housing.
You can find the full Resident Teacher description here. To learn more or apply, email teacher@nebraskazencenter.org.
Visiting Teachers
Nebraska Zen Center is grateful to the many teachers from across the country who have shared their presence with us in person and via Zoom. Thanks to their wisdom and compassion, we have experienced many wonderful dharma talks, workshops, and retreats.
Rev. Koji Acquaviva: Clouds in Water Zen Center, St. Paul, Minnesota
Rev. Choro Antonaccio: Austin Zen Center, Austin, Texas
Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi: Great Vow Monastery, Clatskanie, Oregon
Shoryu Bradley: Gyobutsuji, Kingston, Arkansas
Rev. Jodo Cliff Clusin: Prairie Mountain Zen Center, Longmont and Fort Collins, Colorado
Amy Kisei Costenbader: Earth Dreams, Columbus, Ohio
Brian Shinkyu Cote
Doug Kanho Dittman: Lay Entrustee from Raymond, Nebraska, and the Lincoln Zen Group
Rev. Sōsan Flynn: Clouds in Water Zen Center, St. Paul, Minnesota
Rev. Myo-O Marilyn Habermas-Scher: Marilyn Myo-O
Rev. Busshō Lahn: Flying Cloud Zen, Eagan, Minnesota
Debra Seido Martin: Zen West – Empty Field, Eugene, Oregon
Rev. Shuji Valdene Mintzmyer: Just Sit Soto Zen, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Rev. Teijo Munnich: Great Tree Temple, Alexander, North Carolina
Bill Woywod, Priest in training: Minnesota Zen Meditation Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
To have a friend come
from afar; isn’t it a joy?
Calligraphy by Nonin Chowaney
Dharma Talks
See here for recordings of dharma talks by friends of the Nebraska Zen Center.