Dharma talks from Clouds In Water Zen Center

Date: 2026/05/03. Speaker: Rev. MyoOn Susan Hagler. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.MyoOn began her Zen practice in 1980 at Minnesota Zen Meditation Center (MZMC). She was ordained in 2003 by Tim Burkett and received Dharma transmission from Dokai Georgesen in 2018. She has had the opportunity to practice at all the MN Zen centers as well as Green Gulch in CA, with Hokyoji Zen Practice Community being her primary place of practice from 2010-2019. MyoOn joined the teacher-ryo at Clouds in early 2019 as a transmitted teacher. For MyoOn, life’s experiences and the people she has crossed paths with have been her greatest teachers.

Date: 2026/04/26. Speaker: Guiding Teacher Sosan Theresa Flynn. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Sōsan has studied and practiced Sōtō Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sōsan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. Sōsan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion. She has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and has worked in both community mental health and staff training.

Date: 2026/04/19. Speaker: Rev. Jūken Zach Fehst. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.After first encountering the Dharma and studying meditation while living in South Korea in 2006, Jūken entered the path of formal practice in 2014 as a member of the Brooklyn Zen Center, and was ordained a priest by Sōsan Flynn at Clouds in Water in 2025. He is a chaplain on-call with M Health Fairview hospitals, and works with youth as a mindfulness teacher at the Minneapolis Juvenile Detention Center and as a public high school educator, where he teaches English to recent immigrants.

Date: 2026/04/12. Speaker: Rev. Myo-O Habermas-Scher. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Myo-O is a fully ordained Sōtō Zen priest, having received transmission in 2012 from Dokai Georgesen. She began Zen practice in 1975 with Katagiri Roshi, who was her root teacher, and studied with him until his death in 1990. She also studied and practiced in the Vipassana tradition for twelve years. She is the originator of VoiceWork™, a somatically based voice training, which she offers in private practice, and has taught at several colleges and universities. She is presently a consulting teacher at Clouds in Water Zen Center.

Date: 2026/04/05. Speaker: Rev. Shodo Spring. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Shodo Spring has belonged to the natural world for as long as she can remember. She grew up running half-wild in the fields and woods of northeastern Ohio, with early mornings on the shore of Lake Erie and long days outdoors alone in the woods and creeks. Civilized human society was more difficult. She studied physics hoping to understand the universe, then psychotherapy to understand humans, then Buddhism to free herself – all while voraciously reading in history, anthropology, archaeology, political science, philosophy, and spirituality. She joined a series of political movements, finally focused on environment and environmental justice, what would be called deep ecology.Along the way Shodo started one of the first battered women’s shelters, worked as a community organizer in inner-city Cleveland, trained to become a psychotherapist, and explored spirituality including Sufism, Dianic witchcraft, and shamanism, practiced nonviolent social change, and finally entered the practice of Zen Buddhism, which unlocked her internal cage. Shodo has two children and four young-adult grandchildren. She has practiced Zen for over forty years and taught for twelve. She still works part time as a psychotherapist.Shodo’s written work includes Take Up Your Life: Making Spirituality Work in the Real World (Tuttle 1996), editing Shohaku Okumura’s The Mountains and Waters Sutra: A Practitioner’s Guide to Dogen’s “Sansuikyo” (Wisdom 2018), numerous essays in anthologies, and an ongoing monthly blog.Shodo’s ordination name means “right way” or “true path.” That path integrates activism with spiritual practice and deeply nourishing engagement with the earth. Shodo has participated in long retreats, public sitting meditation as activism, and walking hundreds of miles, including leading the 2013 Compassionate Earth Walk along the planned northern route of the KXL pipeline. Mountains and Waters Alliance expresses her vision of humans working with the beyond-human world to heal and regenerate life on earth. She lives on a small farm which serves as a learning laboratory for growing those relationships, and as a residential community of practice.

Date: 2026/03/29. Speaker: Dr. Anita MacDonald. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Anita MacDonald is a daughter of a Filipino immigrant, professor of Women's studies, and a Marxist professor of philosophy with mixed European ancestry. She was raised essentially as an atheist, though briefly converted to Catholicism in high school. She learned about Buddhism through her husband, Angus, who has been a practicing Buddhist since college when he attended a Buddhist Studies study abroad program in Bodhgaya India. She eventually took Buddhism into her heart in 2006 when she started attending Clouds in Water Zen Center after the birth of her youngest, being drawn to Clouds in Water because of their active children's program. Anita is a family medicine physician and has been engaged with political organizing with the group ISAIAH since 2020.

Date: 2026/03/22. Speaker: Rev. Sōsan Theresa Flynn. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Sōsan has studied and practiced Sōto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sōsan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. She has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and has worked in both community mental health and staff training.

Date: 2026/03/15. Speaker: Rev. Sōkyo Jido Chee Xiong. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Sōkyo Chee started practicing at Clouds in Water Zen Center in 2017. In 2021 he received jukai, lay ordination, and in 2025 he was ordained as a Priest-in-Training. He has experience working with Communities of Color towards the planning and updates of public parks, public-serving spaces, and assets. Sōkyo sits on the Board of Directors for the Hmong Museum. He lives in Boulder, CO with occasional fly-in presence in the Twin Cities.

Date: 2026/03/08. Speaker: Rev. Jinzu Minna Jain. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Jinzu is an artist, writer, and racial & systemic equity educator. They identify as BIPOC, disabled, queer and trans/nonbinary. Jinzu has been practicing Sōtō Zen Buddhism for over twenty-five years and is a novice priest, member of the teacher-ryo, and Communications and Marketing Director at Clouds. Jinzu believes that Sōtō Zen practice helps us cultivate the capacity for collective care and liberation, so that we may meet ourselves, one another, and these harrowing times with a well of stillness and courageous action.

Date: 2026/03/01. Speaker: Rev. Taizan Alford. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Taizan was ordained as a Soto Zen priest by Sosan Flynn in 2016, and completed shuso in 2021. He received Dharma transmission from Sosan in 2024 and has full authority to teach in the Soto Zen tradition. Taizan's journey with meditation began on the yogic path in the early 1980s after getting sober. Taizan’s focus in Soto Zen Buddhism is on how zazen, taking refuge and loving kindness can heal old wounds and help create less suffering for individuals and their communities. Taizan is a member of the teacher-ryo at Clouds.

Date: 2026/02/22. Speaker: Eishō Felicia Sy. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Part 1: All We Need Is Love: The Dharma According to John LennonPart 2: How My Troubled Childhood Made Me Want To Be A BuddhistPart 3: The Dharma of Kikan's KneesDr. Felicia Washington Sy is a licensed independent clinical social worker, traumatologist, and educator with over 20 years of experience providing mindfulness based, trauma-informed client care to her clients. She earned her Master of Social Work from the University of Minnesota and her doctorate from the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work. A practicing Buddhist for over 14 years, Dr. Sy is a priest in candidacy at Clouds in Water Zen Center, where she co-facilitates the BIPOC sitting group with a dedicated team and brings her contemplative practice into every dimension of her personal and professional life.

Date: 2026/02/15. Speaker: Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion.

Date: 2026/02/08. Speaker: Koji Acquaviva. At Clouds and Water Zen Center.Koji Acquaviva is a Soto Zen priest and teacher. He began practicing Zen at the age of twenty at the San Francisco Zen Center where he was a resident student for ten years. He co-founded the Mid City Zen Center of New Orleans, Louisiana and served regularly as visiting teacher at the Austin Zen Center in Texas. In addition to Soto Zen, he's studied Vedanta, Hatha Yoga, and Tibetan Buddhism in residential practice centers. Koji encourages meditators to feel empowered to develop their own syncretic practice paths, availing themselves to the most supportive methods for their temperaments and needs. Koji is a member of the teacher ryo at Clouds in Water and is a staff member of Tergar International, a community of Tibetan meditation teacher Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. As a queer and neurodivergent person, Koji makes his best effort to identify and confront spiritual teachings which re-inscribe harm for members of marginalized communities.

Date: 2026/02/01. Speaker: Rev. MyoOn Susan Hagler. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Myo On Susan Hagler began her Zen practice in the autumn of 1980 at MZMC. She went there to find a place to meditate and hit the jackpot when encountering Katagiri-roshi and the MZMC sangha. From then to now Myo On has lived a life filled with the joys and sorrows one encounters on life’s journey. She has been married since 1986, has 3 adult children and 3 grandkids, who bring her great delight. She was ordained in 2003 by Tim Burkett and received dharma transmission from Dokai Georgesen in 2018. She has had the opportunity to practice at all the MN Zen centers as well as Green Gulch in CA. Attending the first unit of chaplaincy training at Gunderson hospital in LaCrosse informed her both personally and as a Zen teacher. Myo On joined the teacher-ryo at Clouds in early 2019 as a transmitted teacher. For Myo On, life’s experiences and the people she has crossed paths with have been her greatest teachers. The triple treasures of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha have been her greatest resources for aspiring to live life Well.

Date: 2026/01/25. Speakers: Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn, Rev. Jūken Zach Fehst, Rev. Keika Karín San Juan, Rev. Jinzu Minna Jain. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.The panel is preceded by a guided meditation.Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion. After first encountering the Dharma and beginning to meditate while living in South Korea in 2006, Jūken Zach Fehst entered the path of formal practice in 2014 as a member of Brooklyn Zen Center, and received jukai at Clouds in Water in 2022. He has worked as an actor and writer, and is now a public high school teacher and musical hobbyist. He has an abiding interest in all forms of spirituality and religion, and holds a Master in Theological Studies from Boston University. He is currently exploring the priest path at Clouds.Keika Karín San Juan came to Clouds in Water Zen Center in 2005 and served on the Board for more than a decade before being ordained as a novice priest by Sosan Flynn in 2024. Areas of interest include Buddhist liberation theology; Buddhist pedagogy; and the Daoist roots of Chan. One favorite thing about Teen Practice is when conversations take surprising turns. She and her wife life in St. Paul with a single bonsai tree and a bevy of mismatched tropical plants.Jinzu Minna Jain (they/them) is an artist, writer, and racial & systemic equity educator. They identify as BIPOC, disabled, queer and trans/nonbinary. Jinzu has been practicing Sōtō Zen Buddhism for over twenty years and is a novice priest at Clouds in Water Zen Center. They are also the Director of Learning & Development with Real Transformation Today, a racial equity education and consulting group. Jinzu believes that Sōtō Zen teachings and practice help us cultivate the capacity for collective care and liberation. They are curious about how Zen practice can help us be human well, meet ourselves and one another complexly, and enjoy our little lives a little more. They wish to break down barriers to access caused by systems of oppression and provide gateways into Sōtō Zen for anyone who wishes to experience it.

Date: 2026-01-18. Speaker: Rev. Kikan Michael Howard. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Kikan started practicing at Clouds in Water Zen Center in the late 1990s and was ordained by Sosan in 2018. He is a member of the Teacher-Ryo at Clouds. Kikan is an independent app developer, a licensed consultant in Dynamic Emotional Integration®, and he transcribes Katagiri Roshi’s Dharma talks at the Katagiri Transcripts website, katagiritranscripts.net.

Date: 2026/01/11. Speaker: Rev. Myoshin Diane Benjamin. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Myoshin began practicing Buddhism in 1996 and received dharma transmission in 2022 from Sosan Flynn. She taught for over a decade in the children’s program at Clouds in Water, and has practiced at Hokyoji and Ryumonji monasteries and attended numerous retreats with Thich Nhat Hanh and his community. She has worked for many years in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, and is also a musician. Additionally, she is fully certified to teach the Realization Process.

Date: 2026/01/04. Speaker: Guiding Teacher Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Note: The discussion between members was edited out.Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion.

Date: 2025/12/28. Speaker: Senior Dharma Teacher Rev. Kyoku Tracey Walen. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Kyoku resides at Hokyoji Zen Practice Community in Eitzen, MN, and spends one week a month in the Twin Cities teaching at Clouds in Water Zen Center and seeing students. Kyoku was ordained as a Soto Zen priest by Byakuren Judith Ragir in 2008 and received Dharma transmission from Byakuren in 2015. She trained for three years at Great Vow Zen Monastery and also with Thich Nhat Hanh in France.

Date: 2025/12/21. Speaker: Rev. Shozoku Yoko Nomura. At Clouds in Water Zen Center. Note: The discussion between members was edited out.Shozoku came to the US to study at a college and is now a proud Minnesotan. In 2008, she started learning mindfulness from Thich Nhat Hanh’s books, and coming to Clouds in Water. Challenges like chronic illness, being a parent, working as a civil engineer, and facing racism help her to continue to practice. Shozoku received Jukai in 2020 and was ordained as a priest in 2022 by Teacher Sosan Flynn. Seeing the truth, including seeing oneself as a bodhisattva in action, is a practice she is currently focused on, as a way to truly be kind and love oneself and all beings.

Date: 2025/12/14. Speaker: Guiding Teacher Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion.

Date: 2025/12/07. Speaker: Lay Teacher Myoshin Diane Benjamin. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Myoshin is a lay dharma teacher, a path that reflects her deep interest and engagement in the ways that Buddhist practice both permeates everyday work and family life, and supports engagement in social change. Myoshin began practicing Buddhism in 1996 and received Dharma transmission in 2022 from Sosan Flynn. She is fully certified to teach the Realization Process.

Date: 2025/11/30. Speaker: Rev. Keika Karín San Juan. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Keika came to Clouds in Water Zen Center in 2005 and served on the Board for more than a decade before being ordained as a novice priest by Sosan Flynn in 2024. Areas of interest include Buddhist liberation theology; Buddhist pedagogy; and the Daoist roots of Chan. One favorite thing about Teen Practice–which they co-facilitate–is when conversations take surprising turns. They and their wife live in St. Paul with a single bonsai tree and a bevy of mismatched tropical plants.

Date: 2025/11/23. Speaker: Guiding Teacher Sosan Theresa Flynn. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion.

Date: 2025/11/16. Speaker: Rev. Koji Acquaviva. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Koji Acquaviva began practicing Zen at the age of twenty at the San Francisco Zen Center where they were a resident student for ten years. Before moving to the Twin Cities, they served as resident priest of Mid City Zen Center in New Orleans and at the Austin Zen Center in Texas. They are the current Tanto (director of practice) at Clouds in Water. 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.

Date: 2025/11/09. Speaker: Rev. Myo-O Habermas-Scher. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Myo-O is a fully ordained Sōtō Zen priest, having received transmission in 2012 from Dokai Georgesen. She began Zen practice in 1975 with Katagiri Roshi, who was her root teacher, and studied with him until his death in 1990. She also studied and practiced in the Vipassana tradition for twelve years. In 2021 Myo-O retired after fourteen years as a staff chaplain at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, and is a mom and a grandma to two little boys. She was a professional dancer in her youth and is trained in a number of body-mind practices, including Yoga, Qi Gong and Body Mind Centering™. She is the originator of VoiceWork™, a somatically based voice training.

Date: 2025/11/02. Speaker: Rev. Jinzu Minna Jain. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Jinzu is an artist, writer, and racial & systemic equity educator. They identify as BIPOC, disabled, queer and trans/nonbinary. Jinzu has been practicing Sōtō Zen Buddhism for over twenty-five years and is a novice priest, teacher, and Communications and Marketing Director at Clouds. Jinzu believes that Sōtō Zen practice can help us cultivate the capacity for collective care and liberation, so that we may meet ourselves, one another, and these harrowing times with stillness and courageous action. They wish to break down barriers to access caused by systems of oppression and provide gateways into Sōtō Zen for anyone who wishes to experience it.

Date: 2025/10/26. Speaker: Myoshin Diane Benjamin. Location: Clouds in Water Zen Center.Myoshin is a lay Dharma teacher, a path that reflects her deep interest and engagement in the ways that Buddhist practice both permeates everyday work and family life, and supports engagement in social change. Myoshin began practicing Buddhism in 1996 and received Dharma transmission in 2022 from Sosan Flynn. She taught for over a decade in the children’s program at Clouds in Water, and has practiced at Hokyoji and Ryumonji monasteries and attended numerous retreats with Thich Nhat Hanh and his community.

Date: 2025/10/19. Speaker: Rev. Fukutoku Ann Morishita. Location: Clouds in Water Zen Center.Fukutoku is a Soto Zen priest in training with Rev. MyoOn as her teacher. She has practiced Soto Zen Buddhism for the past 18 years. In May of 2021, Fukutoku took home leaving vows, priest ordination, with Rev. Sojun Diane Martin of Udumbara Sangha in IL. She retired from hospice nursing in Dec., 2024. She is married to Ray and has a son, Kyle. Prior to becoming a Buddhist, Fukutoku was a member of the Evanston, IL, Quaker Friends' Meeting for ten years.

Date: 2025-10-12. Speaker: Rev. Kikan Michael Howard. At Clouds in Water Zen Center.Kikan Michael Howard started practicing at Clouds in Water Zen Center in the late 1990s and was ordained by Sosan in 2018. He is an associate member of the Teacher Ryo at Clouds. Kikan is an independent app developer, a licensed consultant in Dynamic Emotional Integration®, and he transcribes Katagiri Roshi’s dharma talks at the Katagiri Transcripts website, katagiritranscripts.net. He lives in Northfield, MN with his wife and cats.

Date: 2025-10-05. Speaker: Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn. Location: Clouds in Water Zen Center, Saint Paul, MNSosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion. She has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and has worked in both community mental health and staff training.

Date: 2025-09-28. Speaker: Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn. Location: Clouds in Water Zen Center.Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving Dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion. She has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and has worked in both community mental health and staff training.

This talk was given on September 21, 2025 by Rev. Taizan Alford at Clouds in Water Zen Center.Taizan was ordained as a Soto Zen priest by Sosan Flynn in 2016, and completed shuso in 2021. He received dharma transmission from Sosan in 2024 and has full authority to teach in the Soto Zen tradition. Taizan's journey with meditation began on the yogic path in the early 1980s after getting sober. He has been to India, studied Ayurveda, and taught yoga since 1998. Taizan spent three months as a resident at Zen Mountain Monastery in 2020 Taizan’s focus in Soto Zen Buddhism is on how zazen, taking refuge and loving kindness can heal old wounds and help create less suffering for individuals and their communities. He is a full member of the Teacher Ryo at Clouds. Taizan is committed to long-term recovery from addiction, healing from trauma, and not creating more suffering. Taizan is deeply grateful for his loving and supportive husband Tom.

This talk was given on September 14, 2025 by Rev. Myo On Susan Hagler at Clouds in Water Zen Center.Myo On Susan Hagler began her Zen practice in the autumn of 1980 at MZMC. She went there to find a place to meditate and hit the jackpot when encountering Katagiri-roshi and the MZMC sangha. From then to now Myo On has lived a life filled with the joys and sorrows one encounters on life’s journey. She has been married since 1986, has 3 adult children and 3 grandkids, who bring her great delight. She was ordained in 2003 by Tim Burkett and received dharma transmission from Dokai Georgesen in 2018. She has had the opportunity to practice at all the MN Zen centers as well as Green Gulch in CA. Attending the first unit of chaplaincy training at Gunderson hospital in LaCrosse informed her both personally and as a Zen teacher. Myo On joined the teacher-ryo at Clouds in early 2019 as a transmitted teacher. For Myo On, life’s experiences and the people she has crossed paths with have been her greatest teachers. The triple treasures of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha have been her greatest resources for aspiring to live life Well.

This talk was given on September 7, 2025 by Rev. Chiemi Renshin Onikura Bly and Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn at Clouds in Water Zen Center.Raised in a Jodo Shinshu temple family in Fukuoka Japan, Chiemi graduated from a Jodo Shinshu high school and college. She moved to the United States in 2000. Chiemi has lived in Minnesota for 20 years. She is ordained in the Jodo Shinshu Nishi Hongwanji tradition in 2016. She is an Assistant Minister of the Buddhist Church of America, and serves at the Twin Cities Buddhist Association.Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion. At Twin Cities Buddhist Association all are welcome. We’ve been part of the Minnesota community since 1946 when Japanese Americans, having been released from the WWII incarceration camps, settled in Minneapolis. Through their wisdom and guidance we are able to continue sharing and living the teachings of the Buddha.We live in chaotic times. Everything going on can leave us feeling at odds with the world around us. Jodo Shinshu Buddhism offers a path and community that embraces all and forsakes none. Together our members enrich their lives and find happiness through sharing the Dharma in community. We strive to live a life full of gratitude, inter-connectedness and awakening.

This talk was given on August 31, 2025 by rev. seigen johnson at Clouds in Water Zen Center.rev. seigen is a budding public theologian, Sōto Zen Buddhist priest, dialogue facilitator, and spiritual leadership consultant. She is most passionate about the growing interest in interfaith formation in higher education and finding opportunities to share insight from liberation and womanist theology with Buddhist practitioners. seigen has been practicing Sōto Zen Buddhism for more than 20 years. She lived in residential practice at San Francisco Zen Center for 7 years after working as a budget and public policy analyst for Santa Clara County in California where she led meditation workshops for families living in emergency housing and emancipated foster youth. seigen remains deeply connected to the spiritual lineage of the A.M.E Church in which she was raised. She's also an outdoor enthusiastic, lifelong learner, and aunt to 6 mesmerizing nieces and nephews.

This talk was given on August 24, 2025 by Rev. Jinzu Minna Jain and Rev. Keika Karin San Juan at Clouds in Water Zen Center.Rev. Jinzu Minna Jain (they/them) is an artist, writer, and racial & systemic equity educator. They identify as BIPOC, disabled, queer and trans/nonbinary. Jinzu has been practicing Sōtō Zen Buddhism for over twenty years and is a novice priest at Clouds in Water Zen Center. They are also the Director of Learning & Development with Real Transformation Today, a racial equity education and consulting group. Jinzu believes that Sōtō Zen teachings and practice help us cultivate the capacity for collective care and liberation. They are curious about how Zen practice can help us be human well, meet ourselves and one another complexly, and enjoy our little lives a little more. They wish to break down barriers to access caused by systems of oppression and provide gateways into Sōtō Zen for anyone who wishes to experience it.Rev. Keika Karín San Juan came to Clouds in Water Zen Center in 2005 and served on the Board for more than a decade before being ordained as a novice priest by Sosan Flynn in 2024. Areas of interest include Buddhist liberation theology; Buddhist pedagogy; and the Daoist roots of Chan. One favorite thing about Teen Practice is when conversations take surprising turns. She and her wife life in St. Paul with a single bonsai tree and a bevy of mismatched tropical plants.

This talk was given on August 10, 2025 by guest teacher Marcus Young at Clouds in Water Zen Center.Marcus Young 楊墨 makes art in the unexpected, to show that art can be everything and anywhere. His work expands the range of everyday human awareness and expressive behavior. He is a behavioral artist making work within mindfulness and learning communities, as well as for the stage, museums, government agencies, and the public realm. His teaching focuses on individual and collective well-being, learning through participatory artistic experiences, and awakening to an artful life through questioning basic assumptions that no longer serve our society. He is currently a Cultural Policy Fellow at Stanford University studying artists working in government.Marcus makes art from slow walking, exuberant public dance, living in museums, meditation retreats, fortune cookies, flying kites on Earth Day, and a department of transportation conference room, to name a few. He is the founding artist for Don’t You Feel It Too?—a participatory street dance practice of social and inner-life liberation. Born in Hong Kong, Marcus graduated from Carleton College in Music and the University of Minnesota in Theater. He is a recipient of awards from the McKnight, Bush, and Jerome Foundations, and he received the Forecast Public Art Mid-Career Grant, given to one artist a year.

This talk was given by Kikan Mike Howard on August 3, 2025 at Clouds in Water Zen Center.Kikan Michael Howard started practicing at Clouds in Water Zen Center in the late 1990s and was ordained by Sosan in 2018. He is an associate member of the Teacher Ryo at Clouds. Kikan is an independent app developer, a licensed consultant in Dynamic Emotional Integration®, and he transcribes Katagiri Roshi’s dharma talks at the Katagiri Transcripts website, katagiritranscripts.net. He lives in Northfield, MN with his wife and cats.

This talk was given on July 27, 2025 by Guiding Teacher Sosan Teresa Flynn.Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. She has officiated at many ceremonies (daily & special liturgies, weddings, baby namings, and memorial services), and offers premarital and couples counseling. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion. She has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and has worked in both community mental health and staff training. Sosan and her husband of 37 years live a short distance from Clouds in Water.

This is a talk by Guiding Teacher Sosan Teresa Flynn given on July 20, 2025 at Clouds in Water Zen Center.Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. She has officiated at many ceremonies (daily & special liturgies, weddings, baby namings, and memorial services), and offers premarital and couples counseling. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion. She has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and has worked in both community mental health and staff training. Sosan and her husband of 37 years live a short distance from Clouds in Water.

This talk was given on July 6, 2025 by Taizan Alford at Clouds in Water Zen Center.Taizan (he/him) was ordained as a Soto Zen priest by Sosan Flynn in 2016, and completed shuso in 2021. He received dharma transmission from Sosan in 2024 and has full authority to teach in the Soto Zen tradition. Taizan's journey with meditation began on the yogic path in the early 1980s after getting sober. In 1995, he spent two months meditating in an ashram in India, studied Ayurveda in 2005 and has taught yoga since 1998. Taizan spent four months as a resident at Zen Mountain Monastery in 2020, Taizan’s focus in Soto Zen Buddhism is on how zazen, taking refuge and loving kindness can heal old wounds and help create less suffering for individuals and their communities. He is a full member of the Teacher Ryo at Clouds. Taizan is committed to long-term recovery from addiction, healing from trauma, and not creating more suffering. Taizan is deeply grateful for his loving and supportive husband Tom with whom his lives in Mexico.

This talk was given on July 20, 2025 at Clouds in Water Zen Center by guiding teacher, Sosan Teresa Flynn.Sosan (she/her) has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. She has officiated at many ceremonies (daily & special liturgies, weddings, baby namings, and memorial services), and offers premarital and couples counseling. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion. She has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and has worked in both community mental health and staff training. Sosan and her husband of 37 years live a short distance from Clouds in Water.

This dharma talk was given on July 7, 2025 at Clouds in Water Zen Center by Myoshin Diane Benjamin.Myoshin Diane Benjamin (she/her) is a lay dharma teacher, a path that reflects her deep interest and engagement in the ways that Buddhist practice both permeates everyday work and family life, and supports engagement in social change. Myoshin began practicing Buddhism in 1996 and received dharma transmission in 2022 from Sosan Flynn. She taught for over a decade in the children’s program at Clouds in Water, and has practiced at Hokyoji and Ryumonji monasteries and attended numerous retreats with Thich Nhat Hanh and his community. She has worked for many years in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, and is also a musician. Additionally, she is fully certified to teach the Realization Process. She lives in Minneapolis with her wife and they are parents of a young adult.

This dharma talk was given on June 29, 2025 at Clouds in Water Zen Center by Kyoku Tracy Walen.Kyoku Tracey Walen resides at Hokyoji Zen Practice Community in Eitzen, MN. Kyoku was ordained as a Soto Zen priest by Byakuren Judith Ragir in 2008 and received Dharma transmission from Byakuren in 2015. She trained for three years at Great Vow Zen Monastery and also with Thich Nhat Hanh in France. She worked as a business consultant and financial executive in corporate America until she discovered the Buddha Way in 1997 and retired to take it up full-time. Kyoku is a member of the teacher ryo at Clouds.

This talk was given on June 15, 2025 by Flying Fish Barbara Murphy at Clouds in Water Zen Center.Flying Fish studied Zen at MZMC and was ordained by Diane Martin at Udumbara Zen Center in Evanston, IL in 2004 and received dharma transmission from Byakuren Judith Ragir.. She currently practices at Dharma Rain in Portland, but continues to be a beloved part of the Clouds in Water community. She was trained at Abbott Northwestern Hospital as a medical chaplain and has worked as a hospice chaplain with Allina Healthcare system. Her background includes college degrees in both Architecture and Art History and she has worked both as a designer and art consultant in these fields. Her family with two adult children continues to be an important part of her life.

This talk was given on June 8, 2025 by Katto Laura Phillips at Clouds in Water Zen Center. Katto (she/her) started practicing Zen at Clouds in Water in 1997. After a few years, she stepped away to focus on her new family and explore other spiritual traditions. She eventually returned to Zen with renewed enthusiasm and became a member of Zen Bridge, a meditation community in Stillwater. She later re-engaged with Clouds, receiving jukai in 2014. In 2022 she was ordained as a priest by Sosan Theresa Flynn. In 2023, she entered the role of sensei at Zen Bridge after having been a member there for 17 years. She is a psychotherapist emeritus and draws on her 20 years of trauma-related work as she explores ways for people to build nurturing, respectful ways of connecting with vulnerability, authenticity, and curiosity.

This talk was given by Kikan Mike Howard on May 25, 2025 at Clouds in Water.Kikan Michael Howard (he/him) started practicing at Clouds in Water Zen Center in the late 1990s and was ordained by Sosan in 2018. He is an associate member of the Teacher Ryo at Clouds. Kikan is an independent app developer, a licensed consultant in Dynamic Emotional Integration®, and he transcribes Katagiri Roshi’s dharma talks at the Katagiri Transcripts website, katagiritranscripts.net. He lives in Northfield, MN with his wife and cats.

This talk on letting go of the fixed sense of self was given on May 5, 2025 by Clouds in Water's guiding teacher, Sosan Teresa Flynn.Sosan has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving dharma transmission (full teaching authority) from Joen Snyder O’Neal in 2012. Sosan's areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. She has officiated at many ceremonies (daily & special liturgies, weddings, baby namings, and memorial services), and offers premarital and couples counseling. Sosan was raised Catholic and practiced Catholicism for many years before embracing Buddhism as her primary religion. She has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology and has worked in both community mental health and staff training. Sosan and her husband of 37 years live a short distance from Clouds in Water.

This talk on the koan "Gutei Raises a Finger" was given on May 11, 2025 by MyoOn Susan Hagler.Myo On Susan Hagler began her Zen practice in the autumn of 1980 at MZMC. She went there to find a place to meditate and hit the jackpot when encountering Katagiri-roshi and the MZMC sangha. From then to now Myo On has lived a life filled with the joys and sorrows one encounters on life’s journey. She has been married to Duane Peterson since 1986, has 3 adult children and 3 grandkids, who bring her great delight. She was ordained in 2003 by Tim Burkett and received dharma transmission from Dokai Georgesen in 2018. She has had the opportunity to practice at all the MN Zen centers as well as Green Gulch in CA, with Hokyoji Zen Practice Community being her primary place of practice from 2010-2019 . Attending the first unit of chaplaincy training at Gunderson Hospital in LaCrosse informed her life both personally and as a Zen teacher. Myo On joined the teacher-ryo at Clouds in early 2019 as a transmitted teacher. For Myo On, life’s experiences and the people she has crossed paths with have been her greatest teachers. The triple treasures of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha have been her greatest resources for aspiring to live life