A Special Pride Month Dharma Talk

Date: 2026/06/28. Speakers: Rev. Koji Acquaviva, Rev. Korin LaJoy, Rev. Jinzū Minna Jain, and Yūgen Haley Webb. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Koji is the current Tanto (director of practice) and on the teaching team at Clouds in Water, as well as the guiding teacher of Cedar Rapids Zen Center and co-guiding teacher of Nebraska Zen Center. As a queer, and neurodivergent person, Koji makes their best effort to identify and confront the ways Buddhism is taught which re-inscribe harm for members of marginalized communities. Rin LaJoy, PhD is a plant evolutionary biologist by training. His dissertation research focused on how long-lived trees respond to changes in their environment to predict how they will respond in the short-term and evolutionarily to climate change. Rin is a priest-in-training at Clouds in Water and is most interested in how Buddhist teachings can be used to unravel systems of harm and oppression. Jinzū is a novice priest, a member of the teaching team, and the Communications and Marketing Director at Clouds. As a queer, trans, BIPOC disabled priest and teacher, Jinzū is committed to supporting a Sōtō Zen practice that helps us to meet ourselves, one another, and these harrowing times with a teeming ecology of community, and a deep well of stillness and courageous action. Yūgen is a priest candidate, living in Denver, Colorado. They are a white, queer, trans educator who strives to create equitable access to mental and physical health services, specializing in gender affirming care. Yūgen has a particular love for emptiness teachings, and the ways that "not knowing" can help build pathways to intimacy and curiosity within ourselves, alongside respect and honor for others.