TEACHERS
Rev. Dogo Nanshin Barry Graham Sensei, Abbot of The Sitting Frog Zen Sangha, is a Zen monk who has been practicing for two decades, beginning at River of Dharma Zen Sangha in Glasgow, Scotland, and continuing his training at Butsudo Zen Center in Kyoto, Japan.
Dogo Sensei is also a social activist and a novelist, poet, screenwriter and journalist. He is the author of five published books, and his work has appeared in such magazines as Harper's and Parabola. His novel The Book of Man was chosen by the American Library Association as one of the best books of 1995. Details magazine called him "one of the real literary finds," and American Book Review called him "the awesome Barry Graham... where innovative writing meets issues that matter." His book on Zen, Kill Your Self, will be published by New World Library in 2009.
He sees Zen practice and social activism as being inseparable. He has taught Zen in jails, homeless shelters and community centers, and has witnessed two executions in Florence, Arizona, each time at the invitation of the prisoner, not the state. In Arizona and Tennessee, he has worked to stop police brutality and gang violence.
Dogo Sensei also writes a blog, The Urban Monk. He is available for private meetings and discussion.
Email him or call him at (602) 586-6865
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Rev. Mui Carl Alexander Sensei has been practicing Zen since 2000, and was ordained as a teacher by Dogo Sensei in 2008. Mui has lived in the Phoenix, AZ, area all his life, has been married since 1977 and is the father of two grown sons.
Rev. Gomyo Kevin Seperic Sensei, Teacher-At-Large, is a Shingon Buddhist priest who was the first non-Japanese given Dharma transmission in the Omuro school (2004) and the first international recipient of the title Shikoku Pilgrimage Temple Association Sendatsu (Licensed Guide, 2006).
A murailist, calligrapher, writer and rapper, Gomyo is known as the original Hoodie Monk. He has been dropping bombs of wisdom and posture in the form of Sanskrit seed syllables and Buddhist figure representations in spray paint around the countryside in western Japan and occasionally the Midwestern US. Most recently he has focused on rap as a form of teaching, completing rap versions of the Precepts and the Heart Sutra, and working with a variety of artists at High Life records. The Hoodie Monks and High Life Crew are planning a teaching, painting, hip hop tour in the spring of '09, so get in touch if you think people in your area might be interested.