Ben Connelly, Senior Teacher
Ben began Zen practice at MZMC in 2001, was ordained in 2009, and received dharma transmission in 2015. He is currently serving as Program Administrator. He started teaching Introduction to Meditation in 2005, and since then has taught regularly at MZMC and more recently, at Zen centers across the US. He teaches secular mindfulness in a variety of contexts such as police training, addiction recovery groups, and wellness groups. Ben is also a musician by profession: a singer and songwriter, guitar teacher, film composer and multi-instrumentalist. His first book, Inside the Grass Hut, Living Shitou's Classic Zen Poem (Wisdom Publications) was published in 2014, and his second Inside Vasubandhu's Yogacara: A Practitioner's Guide, was published by Wisdom in 2016. His latest book, Mindfulness and Intimacy, came out in February 2019 (Wisdom Publications). |
Busshō Lahn first came to Zen Buddhism and MZMC in 1993, was ordained by Tim Burkett in 2009, and received dharma transmission in 2015. Busshō is a certified spiritual director, connecting with and mentoring those who wish to deepen an intentional and contemplative spiritual life. He explores the connection between spirituality and psychology with them as well as encouraging and supporting their continued contemplative practice.
He is active in both the recovery and Christian contemplative communities, teaching and leading retreats and overseas pilgrimages through the Episcopal House of Prayer and the Aslan Institute. His special interests include Zen ritual and ceremony, poetry, interfaith dialogue, and the works of the great mystics. He lives in Eden Prairie with his wonderful wife Karen. |
Ekyo Susan Nelson is a senior teacher at Ganshoji (MN Zen Meditation Center), where she serves on the Leadership Group and in various other teaching and organizational positions within the community. She started practice in 1978 with Katagiri-roshi as a lay student and was ordained and later received dharma transmission from Guiding Teacher Tim Burkett.
She and her husband divide their time between Minneapolis and southeastern Minnesota where they have a residence and serve, along with a committed crew of practitioners, staff and volunteers, the Hokyoji Zen Practice Community. |
Rosemary was ordained by Tim Burkett in 2003 and received dharma transmission in September 2010. Meanwhile, after studying Nyoho-e (the Way of Sewing) with Tomoe Katagiri for 16 years, Rosemary became one of three people authorized to teach by Tomoe-san upon her retirement in 2013. Rosemary now helps people sew their rakusu in preparation for Zen Initiation, and okesa for ordination and dharma transmission. She describes teaching sewing as "helping people see what zazen has to do with your everyday life." She lives in Minneapolis with her husband Dave; they have an adult daughter and son, along with one grandpuppy. To schedule dokusan (a one-to-one meeting) with her contact info@mnzencenter.org
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Contemplation and mysticism attracted Ann as a child, when her mother told stories of the French idealist philosopher, Teilhard de Chardin. She began to meditate on her own in graduate school, where she majored in educational psychology. She taught deaf children for two decades, and became a writer. Covering major league baseball led her to the literary form in which she continues to write, the personal essay. She had developed an on-off meditation practice, always starting but always stopping for lack of "results."
Ann first came to MZMC in 2005 and returned in 2012, seeking community and support. Today she sees more than a little Zen in Teilhard de Chardin: "We are one, after all, you and I," he wrote, "together we suffer, together exist, and forever will recreate each other." In October 2016, Tim Burkett ordained Ann. She currently serves MZMC as tenzo, in gratitude for the steadfast encouragement and guidance she receives. |
Matt Cisler has been an active presence at MZMC since 2011. He learned meditation in the 1970s and has been a meditation practitioner ever since. His spiritual journey has been long and complex including studies and practices as varied as lucid dreaming, Magick, and Chinese internal style martial arts all in search of answers to an early, deep yearning for the truth behind the experience of being human. This path lead him finally to Zen Buddhism and MZMC where he was ordained as a priest in training in November of 2017 by his teacher Ted O’Toole. His sincere wish is to share the teachings and practice-experience of the Dharma to help ease the suffering of others as it has helped to ease his own suffering.
Matt has been among other things, an artist, a punk noise guitarist, a circuit bender, and a d.i.y. synthesizer enthusiast. He lives and works in Minneapolis with his wife Julie, two New Caledonian geckos, a carpet python, and a hilarious singing kitty cat named Melody. |
Mark began exploring Zen Buddhist practice while a college student at the University of Minnesota. He came to MZMC in 2011 and received the precepts in 2013. Mark was ordained by Ted O'Toole in 2015. Mark is drawn towards the practicality of everyday Zen. Mark is particularly interested in exploring engaged mindfulness, non-violent communication, and the interplay between the 12-steps and Zen practice. He draws great inspiration from people who give their entire hearts to the most simple of activities, be it sitting zazen, eating oryoki, or ringing a meditation bell. Mark began his career in the nonprofit sector in 2002 with the American Red Cross. Since then, he has worked in a variety of capacities including emergency response, environmental education, and grassroots advocacy. Mark currently works as a fundraising officer for a national health organization. In his free time, Mark enjoys creating music, writing creative fiction, and exploring the outdoors.
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Bill's interest in Zen Buddhism began when he was a teenager, drawn by the promise of experience deeper than the mundane, and the idea that one could influence his or her own mind. He started reading books on Buddhism, including Zen Mind Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, and visited a variety of practice communities in the Minneapolis and Madison, WI areas. Bill found his way to MZMC in 2011 and began a daily meditation practice shortly thereafter. In 2013 he took the lay precepts, and in 2016 he was ordained as a priest-in-training by Tim Burkett. Bill has become a wholehearted meditation enthusiast, and in particular appreciates intensive meditation retreats, or sesshin. Other interests of Bill's include Japanese language and culture, contemplative Christianity, and workplace mindfulness. Bill works as a management consultant in the healthcare and life science sectors.
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Andrea came to MZMC in 1978 after practicing transcendental meditation for several years. She became a student of Katagiri Roshi and received the lay Buddhist precepts from him in 1980. She heads the Dainin Katagiri Archives and is author of the biographical essay "Ceaseless Effort: The Life of Dainin Katagiri." Andrea has edited two books of Katagiri Roshi’s teachings: Each Moment Is the Universe (2007), and The Light That Shines through Infinity (2017). In 2020 she was recognized as a lay teacher by Ted O’Toole. Andrea embraces Zen as a dance between our universal Buddha Nature and our individual human nature, guiding us through the twists and turns of life as it draws us toward truth and love. She also appreciates the way her affinity with Daoism and Shin Buddhism supports her Zen practice. Andrea is a retired research librarian, blessed with a large family of children, stepchildren, and grandchildren.
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Wayne began his Zen study and practice at MZMC in 1993. His understanding and practice of Buddhism have been informed by the many teachers he encountered at MZMC, including Shohaku Okumura, Steve Hagen, Norm Randolph, and Tim Burkett. Wayne lives in Minneapolis with his wife, is a retired lawyer, and is the parent of two adult daughters. He is grateful for the Minnesota Zen he gets to practice with his dharma brothers and sisters.
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