Teachers
GERRY SHISHIN WICK, ROSHI
Co-Spiritual Director, GMZC President
Gerry Shishin Wick, Roshi is a Dharma Successor of Taizan Maezumi Roshi who studied in both major lineages of Zen. He received transmission from Maezumi Roshi in 1990 after 24 years of Zen training under Maezumi, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, and Sochu Suzuki Roshi. He administered the Zen Center of Los Angeles and the Kuroda Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Human Values for 8 years from 1978 to 1986. He founded the Great Mountain Zen Center in 1996.
In January, 2006 he received Inka from Roshi Bernie Glassman in the White Plum Asanga and the Zen Peacemaker Order. In May 2007, he was elected President of the White Plum Asanga, the organization of Zen teachers in the lineage of Maezumi Roshi. In 2014 when Shishin Roshi stepped down as President of White Plum Asanga, he was acknowledged as an Elder in the organization.
Shishin Roshi received a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1967, has worked as a University Professor, science writer, journalist, oceanographer, software developer, and technical manager. He retired as the Director of Electronic Publishing for Merriam-Webster, Inc. in May 2007. He was an adjunct Professor of Religious Studies at Naropa University, where he lead frequent classes and retreats. He is the author of three books including The Book of Equanimity, My American Zen Life, and co-author of The Great Heart Way with Ilia Shinko Perez. Shishin Roshi has written numerous articles on Buddhism, physics, and oceanography.
ROSHI ILIA SHINKO PEREZ
Co-Spiritual Director, Abbess
“I vow to be the best possible lover I can be to the Earth and to all earthlings.”
Roshi Ilia Shinko Perez was empowered to teach by Shishin Roshi in 2000 after 20 years of Zen training under Shishin Roshi, Philip Kapleau Roshi, and Pat Hawk Roshi. She completed formal Zen studies while simultaneously raising two children and running her business, Rama Imports. Roshi Shinko has an M.A. Degree in Archeology from Universidad Autonoma, Madrid and taught at Caribbean University College, Puerto Rico. She co-authored The Great Heart Way (2006) with Shishin Roshi and authored The Zen Priestess and the Snake (2020). In October 2015 she received Inka from Roshi Egyoku Nakao, Abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles.
KENT YUGEN BROWN, SENSEI
Spiritual Director, Lafayette Zen Meditation Group
Kent Yugen Brown, Sensei began practicing Zen at GMZC in 2000 and received Dharma Transmission from Roshis Shishin Wick and Shinko Perez in June, 2021. Yugen received a B.S. and M.S. in Biological Sciences from Texas Christian University. His graduate research on species diversity was conducted at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory in Aiken, SC and was funded by the Department of Energy. After graduating, his career focused on Information Technology as an IT Director for a Fortune 50 corporation. He now works as a Volunteer Coordinator for Trail Winds Hospice in Boulder. He has studied Zen with Shishin Roshi and Roshi Shinko for the last 21 years. He is happily married, has two children, three grandchildren, and three dogs. He loves spending time with his family and enjoys a wide range of outdoor activities. Yugen leads a meditation group at the Tranquility Room at the Community Holistic Health Center in Lafayette, CO from 9:30-11:30am on Sundays. For more information go to this Meetup site.
SEAN TETSUDO MURPHY, SENSEI
Spiritual Director, Sage Institute
Sean Tetsudo Murphy, Sensei, MFA, SAGE Institute President and Co-founder, Hemingway Award-winning novelist, and author of One Bird, One Stone: 108 American Zen Stories, first studied under the direction of Taizan Maezumi Roshi of the Zen Center of Los Angeles and then with John Daido Loori Roshi of Zen Mountain Monastery in upstate New York. He received Dharma Transmission from Shishin Roshi in 2019. He teaches meditation, creative writing, and literature for UNM-Taos and has taught and presented on Zen practice and meditation for many years. He is the founder of the Sage Institute for Creativity, Consciousness & Environment. Learn more about Sean at www.murphyzen.com.
Affiliate Teachers
PAUL GYODO AGOSTINELLI, SENSEI
Spiritual Director, Eon Zen Center
Gyodo Sensei is Founder and Spiritual Leader of Eon Zen Center. He received Dharma Transmission in 2015, after 25 years of Zen practice, from his teachers Shishin Wick Roshi and Roshi Shinko Perez, founders of the Great Mountain Zen Center. Gyodo Sensei has long and intimate experience with the main Zen practice styles of koan (Rinzai) and shikantaza (Soto), as well as the Great Heart Way path developed by his teachers. In addition to leading the Eon Zen Center, Gyodo Sensei has taught Zen as adjunct faculty at Naropa University and serves on the faculty for Cause to Pause Contemplative Caregiving Intensive offered bi-annually by the Willow Farm Contemplative Center.
Gyodo Sensei received a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics from Dartmouth College and a Master’s Degree in English Literature from the University of Chicago, and has had a long career as an Internet Technology entrepreneur, co-founding and running multiple companies. He has held executive positions with three tech startups, including CEO. Through Zen@Work, he also offers mindfulness programs and Executive Zen Coaching to the business community
KARIN RYUKU KEMPE, ROSHI
Co-Spiritual Director, Zen Center of Denver
Karin Ryuku Kempe started practicing Zen in 1971, at the Rochester Zen Center with Philip Kapleau Roshi and then with Toni Packer. Ryuku worked as a family physician for 20 years while raising her family. Moving back to Colorado, she practiced with Shishin Wick Roshi at the Great Mountain Zen Center, receiving jukai from him in 1997. Karin completed her koan training in 2005 with Danan Henry Roshi at the Zen Center of Denver, receiving dharma transmission in 2010. Karin then continued and completed her training with Shishin Roshi and received inka from him in January 2019. She continues to teach as one of two Spiritual Directors at the Zen Center of Denver and partricipates in the White Plum Asangha serving on the Board of Directors. She also enjoys her grandchildren and painting.
Dharma Holders
Dharma Holders (Assistant Zen Teachers) are Senior Students who are in training to be Zen Teachers.
Andrew Hakuju Smith
Dharma Holder, Senior Student
Hakuju is a bonsai nurseryman and forester living in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota. He has been sitting with the Great Mountain Zen Center for the past 20 years and is one of the founding members of the Laughing Teabowl Sangha, a Zen group in Rapid City, South Dakota that has been sitting together since 1997.
Anahi Myozan Russo Garrido
Dharma Holder, Senior Student
Anahi Myozan Russo Garrido, began practicing meditation in 2001 in Mexico City. A few years later, they began practicing Zen at Cold Mountain Zen, NJ and are now a student at the Great Mountain Zen Center, since 2015. Myozan is a professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and the author of Tortilleras Negotiating Intimacy: Love, Friendship and Sex in Queer Mexico City. Myozan created a course titled Meditation and Activism and teaches and writes on gender and sexualities in Latin America, queer and feminist theory, and is developing a new research project to understand the discourses and practices on self care activists of color use to sustain their life and work.
Lisa Eko Leahigh
Dharma Holder, Senior Student
Lisa Eko Leahigh started formal Zen training in the early 90’s and was a resident at Hidden Mountain Zen Center between 1995 and 2002. She began her studies with Shishin Roshi and Roshi Shinko in 2015 and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with her partner and fellow GMZC member, Chris Keido Vigil. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and nursing and has a dual master’s degree in Public Health and Community Health Nursing. She is a Nyingma Institute Certified Kum Nye Instructor, Tai Chi Chih teacher, and a grief group and eco care group facilitator. She is also a graduate of the Upaya Buddhist Chaplaincy program.
Priest
Zen Priests are ordained students who have made a commitment to serve the teachers and the community (sangha).
Jennifer Koren Grahn
Temple Priest, Senior Student
Koren was born in Maryland and grew up in the forests of Northwestern Washington State. She was home-schooled and began learning meditation from her mother, her first spiritual teacher, when she was 12. After growing up, Koren followed a self-guided spiritual path until 2009 when she began Zen practice with Sean Tetsudo Murphy, Sensei in Taos, New Mexico. She became a formal student of Shishin Roshi and Roshi Shinko in 2012 and ordained as a novice priest in 2018. She was ordained as Temple Priest in June, 2023. Koren is an Associate Member of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association (SZBA). Koren works as a tax accountant in Boulder, Colorado.