Founding TeacherZuiko Redding grew up in Texas where she encountered Zen as a university student. She studied in Milwaukee with Tozen Akiyama and in Minneapolis with Dainin Katagiri. In 1992 she was ordained in Japan by Tsugen Narasaki. She remained to practice under his direction at Zuioji Monastery and its mountain training center, Shogoji. She received certification as a teacher in the Soto tradition from Rev. Narasaki in 1996 and returned to the US in 1997. She did monastic practice at Hokyoji in southern Minnesota. She was also a member of the American Zen Teachers’ Association and of the Association of Soto Zen Buddhists. After serving nearly 25 years as the resident teacher Zuiko passed away April 5th, 2024. |
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Guiding Teacher
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Koji Acquaviva is a Sōtō Zen priest and teacher who began practicing at the San Francisco Zen Center at age twenty. For ten years he was a student and staff member at each of SFZC’s residential practice centers (City Center, Green Gulch Farm, and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center).
He received dharma transmission in both the Katagiri and Suzuki lineages of Sōtō Zen, and has served as resident teacher at the Austin Zen Center and the Mid City Zen Center in New Orleans. Alongside his residential Zen training, he’s also been a resident student at Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist centers. He is the guiding teacher at Cedar Rapids Zen Center, and is currently a teacher at Nebraska Zen Center and Clouds in Water Zen Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. |
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Practice Leaders
| Alan Murdock | Doan |