Guiding Teacher Tim Zentetsu Burkett

MZMC's Guiding Teacher, Tim Burkett, began practicing in spring 1964 with Shunryu Suzuki Roshi while attending Stanford. At Suzuki's urging, Tim began a weekly sitting group on the San Francisco peninsula later that year, which Suzuki regularly attended. As this group grew in size, it was moved to the converted garage of a sangha member. Suzuki's talks to that group were later edited and published as "Zen Mind Beginner's Mind", which has become a classic text and the gateway for many to enter Zen practice. After completing his BA at Stanford, Tim attended the maiden practice period at San Francisco Zen Center's Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in 1967 with his wife Linda, whom he met at San Francisco Zen Center. In 1970, Tim and Linda moved to Minnesota, where Tim continued his sitting practice. He was an early member of MZMC and was ordained by Dainin Katagiri Roshi in 1978. Tim was president of MZMC from 1978 to 1983, became a dharma heir of Karen Sunna in the Katagiri lineage in 2000, and succeeded Karen as abbot in 2002. He is also a licensed Ph.D. psychologist and director of an agency that supports people with mental illness. He and Linda have two grown children and two grandchildren.

Teachers (Priests)

Priests at Minnesota Zen Meditation Center make a lifelong commitment to teaching and exemplifying the Dharma. The responsibilities of priests are many and varied, and include much service to the community. They may teach classes, lead practice groups, lead meditation retreats, and give dharma talks. They may conduct rituals, conduct practice meetings, and offer pastoral care. They are expected to hold an office at MZMC, such as ino (practice leader), tenzo (cook), or work leader, and to have a consistent presence within the community. Some of them lead or help to facilitate practice groups in other locations as well. Priests maintain a regular and disciplined zazen practice, which includes both daily practice and retreats. Priests tend to be very busy people, and, though they often find it challenging to balance family, work, and training activities, they know that this balancing is the very heart of their practice. They are committed to the Bodhisattva ideal, and feel profound gratitude for the opportunity to serve at MZMC and to be a part of this practice community.

Senior Teacher Lee Lewis

In May 2010, Tim gave dharma transmission (permission to teach independently) to Lee Lewis. Lee has been practicing Zen meditation for 16 years, mostly at MZMC, where he has volunteered in many capacities. He was ordained in 2003, and became shuso (a senior student) in 2007. He is the former board president of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and has been active in a number of social justice, environmental, and social change movements and campaigns over the years. He has an abiding interest in exploring the place where the inconceivable "vow to save all beings" and pragmatic daily life/suffering come together, as well as helping to make wholehearted Zen practice accessible to 21st century Americans. Lee is the executive director of Clare Housing, a provider of housing and services to people living with HIV/AIDS, and lives in St. Paul with his life partner of 25 years. His avocational interests include natural history and bird watching, canoeing, poetry, theater, and spending time at his "shack" on the Upper Tamarack River in Pine County.

Priests-in-Training

Priest training at MZMC follows the model Guidelines for Training Soto Zen Priests in the West, which was developed by Tim Burkett and others under the auspices of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association (SZBA). They are expected to become knowledgeable as to the history and teachings of Buddhism through study, classes, and, most importantly, working directly with their teacher. Training focuses on developing priestcraft, exemplary personal conduct, self-understanding, and academic study, with an eye toward receiving certification to teach independently (dharma transmission).

Senior Priests-in-Training

These individuals have been ordained by and in training with Tim Burkett for four to six years. They have demonstrated a readiness to counsel others in developing and maintaining a meditation practice. To schedule a practice meeting with one of them, contact info@mnzencenter.org

Guy Gibbon

Guy Gibbon has a special interest in the interplay between Buddhism and Western science, and in the incorporation of Buddhist practices like mindfulness meditation in education, health care, business, and other avenues of contemporary life. Guy, who has been a somewhat irregular member of MZMC since 1976, became a Buddhist in a ceremony with Dainin Katakiri Roshi in the late 1980s and entered priest training at MZMC with Abbott Tim Burkett in September, 2006. He has taught courses at MZMC in meditation, introductory Buddhism, the Four Immeasurables, and intermediate-level concepts (the How to Practice: The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching course). He has also been a participant in Ken McLeod’s teacher training program at Unfettered Mind in Los Angeles since 2006. Guy was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and lives at present at MZMC with his wife Ann. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he taught at the University of Illinois, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the University of Minnesota, where he has been a professor in the Department of Anthropology since 1973. He is the author of many books and articles on his specialty in anthropology.

Susan Nelson

Susan started practice with Katagiri-roshi and the MZMC community in 1978 and received the precepts (lay ordination) in 1980. She was ordained as a priest by Tim Burkett in 2003 and has served since then as Chiden, Jikido, and Ino. She was Shuso for the Spring Practice Period in 2009. She was a founding board member of the Hokyoji Zen Practice Community, and currently serves on its Practice Committee. She has enjoyed practicing and coordinating retreates for women and families at Hokyoji over the years.Susan completed a Residency in Health Care Chaplaincy in LaCrosse, Wisconsin in 2008. She has worked in various non-profit settings, coordinating volunteer programs benefiting families with young children and with inmates of state correctional facilities. She and her husband enjoy their five adult children and six grandchildren immensely.

Rosemary Taylor

Rosemary Taylor started practicing Zen meditation in 1994, was ordained by Tim Burkett in 2003, and became shuso (a senior student) in 2007. She also studies Nyoho-e, the Way of Sewing, with Tomoe Katagiri. Among the positions she’s held at Zen Center are tenzo (head cook), ino (center coordinator), attendant, and chiden (caretaker of altars and rituals), as well as various administrative roles. Prior to her ordination, Rosemary worked for 15 years as a freelance technical writer. She was the second person in her family to ordain: her older brother is a Roman Catholic priest. She and her husband live in south Minneapolis and are empty-nester parents of two adult children.

Ted O'Toole

Ted O’Toole became interested in Buddhism in 1973, and began his formal practice in 1992 at the Zen Buddhist Temple in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The following year he moved to Minnesota and became a member of MZMC, where he undertook a jukai (precepts) ceremony with Shohaku Okamura. Ted’s continuing meditation practice, as well as his volunteer work at the Key, a youth center in Northfield, Minnesota, led to what he describes as an “opening of the heart” and an aspiration to become a priest. He was ordained by Tim Burkett in October of 2005. Among his activities at MZMC have been teaching Basics of Buddhism and Creative Writing as Buddhist Practice, and assisting Tim Burkett in leading a practice period focused on Zen and work. He is currently the facilitator of MZMC’s Beginner’s Mind group. Ted especially enjoys teaching meditation to beginners and working with Buddhist youth groups of all ages. He also teaches regularly in Northfield, and leads meditation retreats in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He and his wife Kathy Guthrie enjoy gardening, house projects, biking, cross-country skiing, and looking after their extended family, which includes several grown-up kids.

Bonnie Versboncoeur

Bonnie came to MZMC in late 1979, was quickly made Tenzo for the city center and Hokyoji. She was lay ordained by Katagiri Roshi in early 1982 and began the discussion of Priest Ordination. As Tenzo, Bonnie designed the kitchen at Hokyoji and was part of the building crew, resident caretaker, and on the Board of Directors of MZMC. While traveling to Nova Scotia in 1986, Bonnie discovered the small village in Maine where she now lives, but she returns regularly to MZMC to study and practice. Work for Bonnie has centered around women’s issues, alternative education, and mental health. At present, Bonnie is focusing on Clinical Pastoral Education, training as a chaplain. When in Maine Bonnie immerses herself in the ocean: swimming, kayaking and doing zazen and kinhin along her shore. Bonnie is part of a few small meditation groups in the area and looks forward to teaching classes soon.

Priests-in-Training

These individuals were ordained by Tim Burkett in November 2009 and are currently in training.

Ben Connelly

Ben Connelly began Zen practice at MZMC in 2002, took the precepts in 2005 and was ordained by Tim Burkett in 2009. He has loved his years as introduction to meditation instructor and has a particular interest and experience in working with people dealing with addiction recovery. Ben is a musician by profession, a singer and songwriter, educator, film composer and multi-instrumentalist, and his love for the arts arrives in his Zen practice in the form of occasional spontaneous poetry and a particular affection for the vast and beautiful literary expressions of Chinese Zen. He is blessed with one teenage son.

Chris Hafner

Chris began his study and practice of Buddhism in the mid 1970s. He has been a member of MZMC since 2005. He received lay ordination in 2007, was tenzo (head cook) from 2007 – 2009, and received priest ordination from Tm Burkett in 2009. Chris has been a student of East Asian culture for many years and studied both Chinese and Japanese languages at the University of Minnesota. In 1978 he began studying Tai Ji Chuan and shortly thereafter, he began the study of Chinese medicine. His first teachers in Chinese medicine were also his first Buddhist teachers. Chris is a doctor of Chinese medicine and has been in practice for many years. He currently maintains a private practice on Grand Avenue in St. Paul where he specializes in the use of Chinese medicine in the treatment of stress disorders. Chris also works as a teacher. He is recently retired from the Minnesota College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine atNorthwestern Health Sciences University where he was a clinic supervisor for many years and is currently an adjunct faculty member of the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota where he teaches a survey course on Traditional Chinese medicine. Chris also continues to be involved in a number of projects dedicated to fostering integrative medicine. Chris is particularly interested in the use of meditation and the teachings of Buddhism in helping people deal with the stress and suffering of chronic pain, illness, and the process of dying. Chris and his wife Nancy, who is also a Buddhist practitioner and active member of MZMC, have three children and live in Minneapolis.

Wanda Isle

Wanda's interest in Eastern thought and practices began in the early 80s. She started a regular morning meditation practice at MZMC in 2005 and was lay ordained in the fall of 2007. Priest ordination came two years later. Wanda was drawn to the quiet, inward-looking nature of Zen. The focus of her practice is the moment to moment acceptance for all beings of liberation and empowerment. At MZMC she has served as assistant tenzo, newsletter editor, and under the tutorage of internationally respected sewing teacher, Tomoe Katagiri, she sews traditional Japanese priest robes worn during formal practice and ceremonies. Wanda was raised in rural South Carolina, spent most her adult life in California, and currently resides with her husband in the Brainerd Lakes Area. She enjoys long road trips and exploring new cities, writing screenplays and short stories, kayaking, hiking, and racquetball.

Martin Bussho Lahn

Martin Bussho Lahn first came to Zen Buddhism and MZMC in 1993 and was ordained by Zentetsu Tim Burkett in 2009. Martin is also a certified spiritual director and is active in the recovery and Christian contemplative communities. He is affiliated with the Episcopal House of Prayer in the City in Minneapolis and the Aslan Institute in Eagan, MN. The works of Hongzhi, Jelalludin Rumi, Suzuki-roshi, and Katagiri-roshi are especially intimate to Martin, and he prioritizes the teaching of Practice/Enlightenment espoused by Dogen-zenji. His special interests include Zen ritual and ceremony, poetry, interfaith dialogue, the works of the great mystics, and Mystery Science Theater 3000. He lives in Eden Prairie with his wonderful wife Karen and their two cats, Lisa and Hobbes.Contact Martin at: mbussho@mnzencenter.org