ZCLA Assistant Teachers

Teachers

Sensei Merle Kodo Boyd

Sensei Kodo began sitting in 1985 when she saw a 12th century Chinese painting called "The Solitary Angler" in the book, The World of Zen, and immediately recognized herself in every aspect of the painting. After a few years of practicing alone at home with the guidance of Dharma books, she ventured out and found a sitting group led by Sister Janet Richardson. She received Jukai in 1994 and Priest Ordination in 1996 from Roshi Sandra Jishu Holmes. After Roshi Jishu's death, Kodo continued her practice with Roshi Egyoku, from whom she received Preceptor Transmission in 2002 and Dharma Transmission in March 2006.

Kodo is African-American and was raised in the deep South in a Christian home and community. During the years between leaving home and beginning the practice of Zen Buddhism, she had no particular religion. She has worked most of her life as a clinical social worker practicing psychotherapy and is now retired from that profession. She is married and has one daughter who lives in Texas.

Currently, Sensei Kodo serves a small sangha, the Lincroft Zen Sangha, in suburban Monmouth County, New Jersey. She is also active in interfaith explorations in her community.

Sensei Kipp Ryodo Hawley

Sensei Ryodo joined ZCLA in 1980 and received Jukai from Maezumi Roshi in the following year. Since 1999, he has been assisting Roshi Egyoku Nakao as a lay teacher. Ryodo was empowered as a Dharma Holder in 2003 and received Dharma Transmission in June 2007. He has had a life-long interest in the spiritual path, beginning with his readings of the Tao Te Ching at age eleven, The Religions of Man by Huston Smith, and Philip Kapleau’s The Three Pillars of Zen, which sparked his interest in Zen.

After attending the composition program at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he also studied Philosophy of Religion under Dr. Peter Kreeft, Ryodo spent many years as a professional musician. Since 1988 he has made a living as a software developer, winning PC Magazine Editor’s Choice award for his groupware application “TeamTalk” along the way. Ryodo currently serves as ZCLA’s Information Technology Manager and Webmaster, while continuing his career as an IT consultant. He lives in Westchester with his wife and son.

Ryodo began offering his Three Steps to Enlightenment workshop in 2002 and has led it at ZCLA each year since then.

Dharma Holder Raul Ensho Berge

Ensho was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to a Jewish-Christian family that had fled Nazi Germany. As a young man, he immersed himself in political activities, including union activism and state government. He fled Argentina a year after the military coup of 1976, eventually finding his way to Los Angeles.

In 1986, Ensho underwent a profound spiritual crisis and, as a result, landed at ZCLA in a meditation class led by Ryodo Hawley. The next week, he attended a retreat at Zen Mountain Center in Idlywild, CA, led by Maezumi Roshi. During this time of crisis, Gesshin Prabhasa Dharma Roshi and Genpo Merzel Roshi were also instrumental in guiding him. In 1987, he became a resident trainee at Normandie Mountain and received Jukai from Maezumi Roshi in 1994. His spiritual journey has included bearing witness to the concentration camps in Europe, including Auschwitz-Berkinau.

In 1998, Ensho ordained as a Zen priest with Roshi Egyoku Nakao. In 2003, he received Preceptor Transmission and in 2006, became a Dharma Holder. Ensho works as a court interpreter in Los Angeles County. He has one daughter.

Sensei Daniel Nagacitta Buckley

Sensei Nagy adopted ZCLA as his practice home in 1997. A former Catholic and Quaker, he found a spiritual home in Buddhism in 1983, when he took a course at the International Meditation Center in Los Angeles. In 1985, he took refuge, receiving the name Nagacitta Karuna. In 1992, Sensei Nagy was ordained as a Sramanera and in 1994, was fully ordained in the Vietnamese Rinzai Lam Te Zen tradition and given the name of Thich Tam Hue. He trained intensively under the Thich An Giao Roshi, Abbot of the Desert Zen Center in Lucerne Valley CA, from whom he also received Soto Zen ordination in the lineage of Matsuoka Soyu Roshi. Upon completion of his training period, he was given the title Dai Duc and the freedom to chose his ministry.

Sensei Nagy chose the path of social action. Inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh and Roshi Glassman, he founded the Strawberry Dragon Zendo. Its primary focus is the Prison Project, now serving eight prisons in Southern California. Sensei Nagy is involved in interfaith work, and his many service offerings have included hospital chaplaincy and the Futures for Children Native American project. Nagy trained as a Rehabilitation Therapist, received a degree in Psychological Counseling, and worked for the California State Department of Mental Health until his retirement in 1995. He is married with two sons and two grandchildren and is a world traveler.

Dharma Holder John Daishin Buksbazen

Daishin was born in London, England, to a Jewish-Christian family of Eastern European backgrounds. He began Zen practice in Philadelphia in 1967, receiving both lay and Priest ordination in the Korean Chogye Order of Zen from the Venerable Seo Kyung-bo. He later practiced with (then) Maezumi Sensei at ZCLA, where he was in residence until 1979. He served as pastoral counselor, and was publishing editor of the ZCLA Journal and the Zen Writings Series. In 1999, Daishin renewed his Priest vows with Sensei Yoshin Jordan, and returned to ZCLA to study with Roshi Egyoku. In 2003 he received Preceptor Transmission and was empowered as Dharma Holder.

Daishin has a Psy.D. in Psychology from the Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute. He is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a private clinical practice. He leads an affiliated sitting group, the Hill Street Zendo, in Santa Monica and teaches Buddhist psychology and zazen to mental health professionals. Daishin is the author of To Forget the Self: An Illustrated Introduction to Zen Meditation (Center Publications, 1977) and Zen Meditation in Plain English (Wisdom, 2002) and is co-editor with Roshi Egyoku of the On Zen Practice collection (Wisdom, 2002 and 2006). He is married to Concetta Getsuren Alfano, a Zen practitioner, psychoanalyst and co-founder of the Center for Mindfulness and Psychotherapy. Daishin has one son.

Dharma Holder Maggie Jifu Gower

Jifu grew up in Texas, was raised Methodist, and initially became involved with Zen practice as an extension and deepening of her understanding and practice as a Christian. She joined ZCLA in 1972 and lived at the Center with her husband and son from 1980 to 1989. She was ordained as a Zen priest by Maezumi Roshi in May, 1981.

From 1990 to 1998, Jifu led a sitting group in West Los Angeles. In recent years she has taken on leadership duties at Yokoji Zen Mountain Center, but is now concentrating her practice at ZCLA to complete her dharma training with Roshi Egyoku. Jifu received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, and a J.D. degree from the University of Southern California law school. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, who also practices at ZCLA and Yokoji Zen Mountain Center.

Dharma Holder Patricia Shingetsu Guzy

Shingetsu was born in Bournemouth, England, into a musical performing family. She took to the stage when just 3 years old and continued professional singing throughout her school years. Shortly after graduation from high school, Shingetsu traveled to the United States where a temporary adventure turned into a lifetime stay. Employed as an Occupational Therapist for over 20 years, she is now retired.

Deeply spiritual from childhood, Shingetsu separated from the Catholic Church after her divorce. Her abiding passion for a spiritual path led her to Zen in 1989 at the interfaith conference, Harmonia Mundi, where she had an opportunity to sit with Maezumi Roshi. She joined ZCLA shortly thereafter. In 1993, she received jukai from Maezumi Roshi. In 1999, she ordained as a Zen Priest with Roshi Egyoku. In 2006, Shingetsu received Precept Transmission and was empowered as a Dharma Holder in 2006.

Shingetsu has hosted the Valley Sangha sitting group since 1992 and often works with the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Group. She has one adult son.

Dharma Holder Gary Koan Janka

Koan has been a practicing member at the Center since 1973. He received Jukai in 1982 from Maezumi Roshi and Tokudo in 1998 from Roshi Egyoku Nakao. In 2003, he received Precept Transmission, and in 2006, he was named a Dharma Holder. Since 2003, he has lived full-time at the Center, serving as the Steward of the Zendo and Buddha Hall, on the Board of Directors, and in various other capacities. Koan also serves as a Chaplain for the Los Angeles County Jail system as part of the Strawberry Dragon Zendo program, and, in his “spare time,” he serves as an Urban Forestry Volunteer, planting and caring for street trees in the neighborhood around the Center.

Prior to living at the Center, Koan spent forty years in management and organizational work, both as a hands-on manager and as an organizational consultant. Thirty of those years, he lived in Santa Barbara, raising a family. He has four grown sons and two grandchildren. Educationally, Koan originally trained as a research sociologist and later received a Ph.D. in Human & Organizational Behavior.