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Teachers and Leaders

Teachers and Leaders of Red Cedar Zen

Transmitted Dharma Teachers	Ordained priests who have completed the full round of Soto Zen training and fully authorized to teach, ordain others, and transmit the Zen path. Our transmitted teachers offer dokusan (private formal interviews), give talks, officiate at ceremonies (including weddings and funerals), and are fully empowered to serve as Zen Teachers.
	Zoketsu Norman Fischer is our Founding Teacher, having supported Tim in creating the group in 1991. Norman is the founder and Director of the Everyday Zen Foundation (see their website for a few rich collection of Zen resources including over 1000 of Norman's excellent Dharma Talks). Norman was an abbot of San Francisco Zen Center and is a published poet and author. His most recent Dharma book is Training in Compassion: Zen Teachings on the Practice of Lojong (also available in Spanish) and his collections of poetry include “Slowly But Dearly” (2004), and “I Was Blown Back” (2005). Other collections include "Like a Walk Through a Park" (1980), "On Whether or Not To Believe in Your Mind" (1986), "The Devices" (1987), "Turn Left in Order to Go Right" (1989), “The Narrow Roads of Japan” (1998) and "Success," (2000).
	Our Guiding Teacher is Nomon Tim Burnett. Tim has been a student of Zoketsu Norman Fischer since 1987 when he was a resident at San Francisco Zen Center's Green Gulch Farm. After sitting practice periods at Green Gulch and Tassajara Zen Monastery, Tim helped found the Bellingham Zen Practice Group in 1991. Tim was ordained as a Zen Priest by Norman in 2000, received Dharma Transmission in 2011, and was installed as Guiding Teacher of the sangha in April, 2017. A person of wide-ranging professional interests, Tim has been a botanist, carpenter, elementary school teacher, writer, and computer programmer. In addition to his work at the Guiding Teacher of Red Cedar Zen Community, Tim is Executive Director of Mindfulness Northwest where he offers the Dharma in the form of secular mindfulness to many in local communities and professions.
	Our Tanto (Practice Leader) Kanhō Chris Burkhart is an ordained as a priest and was shuso, head student, in 2014 and completed her priest's training with Dharma Transmission in April 2019.
Lay Entrusted Teachers	Our Lay Entrusted are long-time lay practitioners who have been empowered to teach independently and, in cooperation with a Transmitted Teacher, empower students with the precepts ceremony of jukai. Lay Entrusted teachers also offer private practice discussion, give talks, and work with students as mentors.
	Seishu John Wiley is a lay entrusted teacher of Red Cedar Zen Community. He has practiced with Red Cedar since 1995, and was shusho (head monk) during the 2006 practice period. He received lay entrustment from his teacher, Zoketsu Norman Fischer, in 2010
	Heigaku Talus Latona In 1995 Talus added sitting meditation to his decade-old martial arts practice. To study the spiritual component intrinsic to those teachings, in 2005 he joined the group now called Red Cedar Zen Community and in 2007 made the Jukai commitment to ethical living. As Shuso head student for winter practice period 2013 he lead an inquiry into Courage and Blindspots. In 2021, Talus received Lay Entrustment from Guiding Teacher Nomon Tim Burnett empowering him as a Lay Entrusted teacher. Heigaku Talus is fascinated by the irony and passions of our most urgent matter, the farcical fleeting story we call life.
Zen Priests	Our Zen Priests have taken the novice priest ordination (shukke tokudo), committing themselves to a lifetime of practice. Novice priests practice under the direction of Transmitted Teachers until they themselves receive Dharma Transmission (a process generally requiring about 10 years of study). Priests are empowered to conduct ceremonies and, after being shuso (head student in a practice period), they take on some teaching responsibilities.
	Ryushin Kate Korn McKenna was shuso, head student, in 2017 when she guided the sangha in a study of Intimacy in the Heart of Conflict. She ordained as a Novice Priest in September 2018.
Practice Leaders	Our Practice Leaders are lay practitioners who have completed the shuso (head student in a practice period) training empowering them to assuming some teaching responsibilities under the supervision of a Transmitted Teacher in the sangha. Practice Leaders give occasional Dharma talks, guide students in our mentoring program, and help to hold the ground of practice and continuity in our sangha.
	Reizan Bob Penny completed his shuso training under the direction of Zoketsu Norman Fischer and is the coordinator of our Wilderness Dharma Program.
	Joden Bob Rose was shuso, head student, during the 2021 Winter Practice Period when led the class in an investigation of Shi Tou's Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage.
	Shin-yu Scott Allen was shuso, head student, during the 2019 Winter Practice Period when he explored the topic of maturity in his shuso's class.
	Seiu Hannah Sullivan was shuso, head student, during the 2022 Winter Practice Period when she explored the Diamond Sutra in her shuso's class. Hannah is also a student of Sokaku Kathie Fischer.
	IkuShun Desiree Webster has been a practitioner for many years and previous to her practice in the Soto Zen tradition practiced in the Plum Village tradition. She was Shuso for the winter practice period 2023, and lead the sangha on a journey through The Heart of the Buddha’s Teachings, bringing with her the flavor of Thich Nhat Hanh’s understanding. Her formal teacher is Ryushin Andrea Thach from the Berkeley Zen Center.
	Myoki Raizelah Bayen My Buddhist journey began at Green Gulch Zen Farm in my early twenties, working on the farm, sitting zazen, and participating in my first practice period. I have often referred to the temple at Green Gulch as the cradle for my spiritual baby. It nourished my growth, but I needed something else at that time in my life. After 6 months on the farm, I took a hiatus from formal Zen practice, but maintained sitting practice. I returned to formal Zen practice in my early forties. In my attempt to find some quietude (I was a working mother of 2 little ones at that time), I signed up for a 1-day sitting at Spirit Rock Buddhist Center, during which I reconnected with Norman Fischer, who had served as Director at Green Gulch during my stay there in my twenties. I was lit up by his teaching that day on the Koan called “The One is not Busy.” There, I picked-up his flier about Everyday Zen, signed-up for his next 1-day sitting, and knew upon my entrance to the zendo that I had “come home.” I felt an immediate sense of connection to this sangha. I participated in their monthly 1-day sittings and their annual sesshins for the next 15 years. In 2021, I moved to Bellingham, and continued my practice with Red Cedar Zen Community. It is with Red Cedar that I am discovering what it is to take refuge in the sangha. I am grateful for the container this sangha provides to daily practice, exploring my humanness within the context of Dharma friendships, and to grow within the context of Zendo roles. Thank you for being here with me.
In Memorium
	Shūkō Edie Norton began Zen practice in 1974 in California. She received the precepts in 1977 from Kobun Chino Otogawa, and again in 2000 from Tenshin Reb Anderson. In 2011 she was shuso for the Red Cedar Zen Community, and in 2013 she received tokudo (priest ordination) from Nomon Tim Burnett, and menjuhai (priest completion) in 2023. Shūkō Edie passed away in 2024.

Red Cedar Zen Community is a 501(c) non-profit organization.