Guiding Teacher

Sosan@cloudsinwater.org

She 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 36 years live a short distance from Clouds in Water. For more information, see Sosan’s website.

Available to meet with students.

Priest

Myoon@cloudsinwater.org

MyoOn (she/her) began Zen practice in 1980 with Katagiri-Roshi and the MZMC sangha. She took time off from formal practice while raising her family in the 1990s, participating in family practice at MZMC and practicing at home. In 1999 she returned to MZMC more formally and was ordained by Tim Burkett in 2003. In 2010 she began practicing with Dokai Georgesen at Hokyoji Zen Practice community. MyoOn received dharma transmission from Dokai in 2018. In 2020, she joined the teacher-ryo at Clouds in Water. MyoOn works with Zen students at all levels from lay to ordained. She can also officiate at marriages and memorial services. She has lived in Minneapolis with her spouse, Duane Peterson since 1986. They have 3 adult children and 3 grandchildren who bring them great joy.

Available to meet with students.

Priest

Koji@cloudsinwater.org

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.

Available to meet with students.

Priest

kyoku.walen@cloudsinwater.org

Kyoku Tracey Walen 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. 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.

Available to meet with students.

Lay Dharma Teacher

Myoshin@cloudsinwater.org

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.

Available to meet with students.

Priest

Rev.FlyingFish@gmail.com

Currently living in Portland, Oregon, Flying Fish rejoins Clouds in Water from Dharma Rain Zen Center. She was ordained in 2005 by Diane Martin at Udumbara Zen Center in Evanston, Illinois, and transmitted by Byakuren Judith Ragir at Clouds in Water Zen Center in 2015. From 2005-2018 Flying Fish was a teacher at Clouds in Water Zen Center, where she helped advance the youth and family program. She completed her certified pastoral education in 2006 and worked as a hospital chaplain at Abbott Northwestern Hospital and as a hospice chaplain at Allina Hospice. Since 2019 she has been practicing with Dharma Rain Zen Center, where she now serves as a transmitted teacher. Her background includes a BA in art history and M.Arch in architecture. She lives with her husband and enjoys family life.

Currently not available to meet with new students.

Senior Dharma Teacher Emeritus

Byakuren studied with Dainin Katagiri roshi from 1973-1990 at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis. In 2007, She was given Dharma transmission by Joen Snyder-O’Neal of Compassion Ocean Dharma Center. Byakuren was instrumental in founding Clouds in Water Zen Center in St. Paul where she was the Guiding Teacher from November, 2006 to 2015. She has a background in dance, body-work and Oriental Medicine. Currently, she is working with senior students, writing about Buddhism and making Buddhist Temple Art. She can be found online at judithragir.org.

Priest-in-training

Fukutoku@cloudsinwater.org

Fukutoku Ann Morishita is a Soto Zen priest in training at Clouds in Water Zen Center. She has practiced Soto Zen Buddhism for the past 15 years. In May of 2021, Fukutoku took home leaving vows with Rev. Sojun, Diane Martin of Udumbara Sangha in IL. Sojun was transmitted by Rev. Sekijun Karen Sunna. In 2022, Fukutoku began Zen training with Rev. Myo-on, Susan Hagler. Fukutoku is currently serving as the head cook, Tenzo, and is an associate member of the Teacher Ryo. She has served the general community as a hospice nurse for the past 11 years. Prior to studying Buddhism, Fukutoku was a member of the Evanston, IL, Quaker Friends' Meeting for ten years.

Available to meet 1:1 for practice discussion.

Priest-in-Training

Taizan@cloudsinwater.org

Taizan was ordained as a Soto Zen priest by Sosan Flynn in 2016, and completed shuso in 2021. 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 an associate 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.

Available to meet 1:1 for practice discussion, although mostly on Zoom.

Priest-in-Training

Jinzu@cloudsinwater.org

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 is mostly 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.

Currently not available to meet 1:1.

Priest-in-Training

Kikan@cloudsinwater.org

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. 

Available to meet 1:1 for practice discussion.

Priest-in-Training / Youth & Family Facilitator

shozoku@cloudsinwater.org

Shozoku grew up in Japan, came to the US in 1996 and was studying various subjects including natural environments, waste management, and how to treat water and soils. In 2008, she started to learn mindfulness from Thich Nhat Hanh’s books, and started coming to Clouds in Water. Challenges like chronic illness, being a parent, and facing racism help her to continue practice. Shozoku received Jukai in 2020 and was ordained in 2022 by Sosan Flynn. Seeing the truth, including seeing oneself as a bodhisattva in action and accepting herself and others as they are, are practices she is currently focused on, as a way to truly love oneself and all beings.

Currently not available to meet 1:1.

Priest-in-Training

katto@cloudsinwater.org

Katto Laura Phillips 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, completing jukai in 2014. In 2022 she was ordained as a Soto Zen 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. She and her husband enjoy spending time with friends, family, and sangha.

Currently not available to meet 1:1.

Priest-in-Training

korin@cloudsinwater.org

Rin is a biology professor, a member of the Friday Night Zen facilitation team, as well as a member of the flower ryo at Clouds.

Currently not available to meet 1:1.

Priest-in-training / Teen Program Facilitator

keika@cloudsinwater.org

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.

Currently not available to meet 1:1.

12-Step Buddhism / BIPOC Sangha

raul.ramos@cloudsinwater.org

Raul Ramos (he/him), Chair Emeritus, has been with Clouds in Water since 2017. He joined the board in 2018 and served as board chair from 2021-2023. Raul continues to represent the Clouds board on the Ethics and Reconciliation (EAR) Committee, co-created the Race, Love and Liberation LAB at Clouds, and is still involved in myriad ways.

Raul worked as an anti-racist activist within higher education. At Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, he guided HEART, higher education anti-racism team, a collaboration of five universities working on dismantling systemic and institutional racism at their particular universities (Moorhead State, St. Cloud State, Winona State, North Dakota State, Bethel Universities). He’s the proud father of 5 children that have gifted him 12 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

BIPOC Sangha

carol.iwata@cloudsinwater.org

Carol Busshin Iwata (she/they) first walked into Clouds in Water in 1998, heard a dharma talk by Byakuren Judith Ragir, and decided to stick around. At Clouds, Busshin is the coordinator of the BIPOC Sitting Group, and a founding member of the Race, Love and Liberation Laboratory for growing spiritual things. She was the Chair of the Clouds Board from 2014 – 2017, and is the current Chair of the Ethics and Reconciliation (EAR) Committee. She is part of the core management team of Deep Listening for Social Change, and also co-founded several Asian-American community-building organizations.

Friday Night Zen / Bridge Action Group / Lovingkindness Group

juken@cloudsinwater.org

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.

BIPOC Sitting Group

Zenzele Isoke is Associate Professor of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Maryland in College Park. A faithful practitioner of meditation in the Insight Tradition and Zen Traditions, Zenzele has been a member of Clouds and Water Zen Center and Common Ground Meditation Center. She has also facilitated and/or co-facilitated weekly and monthly sitting groups at Clouds in Water Zen Center and the Yoga Room. She is author of Urban Black Women and the Politics of Resistance (2013) and several peer-reviewed articles in black feminist and black queer politics, culture and geographies. She has also published several recent articles advocating for gun abolition in Lion’s Roar Magazine and Tricycle Magazine as part of the Buddhist Justice Reporter project founded by Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde. Zenzele resides in Bowie, MD with her partner, na’im madyun.

Teen Program

I am currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of American Studies at Macalester College. I teach courses in the fields of Asian American studies and religious studies. I have a PhD in Buddhist Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

I use he/him/his pronouns. I am a member of Clouds in Water’s Ethics and Reconciliation (EAR) committee, and I co-facilitate the Teen Practice Group with Keika Karin Aguilar-San Juan.

Friday Night Zen / Bridge Action Group / Lovingkindness Group

ed@cloudsinwater.org

Renkyo is the Executive Director of Clouds in Water. She is an author, writing coach, and teacher of many things. Ren works with writers on integrating mindfulness into their writing practice, process, and life. In addition to her work as Executive Director at Clouds in Water, she is a Trained Mindfulness Facilitator through UCLA Mindfulness Awareness Research Center and holds a certificate in Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness. She is also the program director of Rebecca Dykes Writers in collaboration with the Highlights Foundation, where she works with writers who tell stories about trauma for young readers. In her Zen practice, creative work, and service, Ren believes in being a lighthouse for those who are awakening to the gift and challenges of being human on this particular planet, at this particular time. Find out more about Ren and her work at heatherdemetrios.com

BIPOC Sitting Group

felicia@cloudsinwater.org

Dr. Felicia Washington Sy (she/her) is honored to be of service as a board member at Clouds. She is a licensed independent clinical social worker and a practicing Buddhist for 15 years. As a licensed psychotherapist, she combines mindfulness-based social work practice and intercultural theory to train practitioners to work with diverse populations across the Twin Cities Metropolitan area. At Clouds, as part of a team, she also helps co-facilitates the BIPOC sitting group.

BIPOC Sitting Group

Hi, I’m Michael D. A Black kid from the South Side of Chicago. Divorced. I use he/him pronouns. I’m a retired counselor and educator, a student and teacher of Tai Chi Chuan, a sailor. Until last year I was the owner and skipper of the sailing vessel SpiritHawk.

BIPOC Sitting Group

Gyokujun@cloudsinwater.org

GyokuJun Didi Koka came to Clouds in Water Zen center in 2008 and became active in the children's practice program with her two sons, enjoying it so much that she became a teacher. She has served in many roles in the Clouds community, most recently serving on the Ethics and Reconciliation (EAR) committee and in the role of Ino (organizer of Sesshin/retreats). She is a practicing family physician who teaches resident physicians, and has served as medical director of her clinic for the past 13+ years. She loves poetry, music and arts and being physically active. She currently is a BiPOC Sangha sitting group facilitator and a member of Race, Love, and Liberation Laboratory for growing spiritual things. She received Jukai in 2017 from Flying Fish Barbara Murphy. This receiving of the Buddhist precepts and the learnings from the Deep Listening for Social Change (DLSC) program have been life giving and has put her on a path of deeper Zen Buddhist study.