Ava Stanton (Guiding Teacher)

Ava Louise Stanton is an authorized teacher in the Soto Zen tradition. She received dharma transmission from Teah Strozer in the Suzuki Roshi lineage of the San Francisco Zen Center in 2022.

in 1973, Ava began her Zen practice in the Korean Zen tradition as a student of  Zen Master Seung Sahn.  She was a founding member and resident of the Providence Zen Center, where she studied and practiced for 10 years in the kong-an (koan) tradition. Ava began her Soto Zen Practice in 2006 when she became a student of Darlene Cohen.  Ava studied with Darlene and her husband Tony Patchell at Russian River Zendo (Guerneville, CA). Tony recognized Ava as a Lay Entrusted teacher in the Suzuki Roshi lineage in 2015.

Ava has taught mindfulness and Mindful Self-Compassion at InsightLA. She was certified as a Mindful Self-Compassion teacher by the University of California San Diego Center for Mindfulness in 2018.

Ava started the Just Show Up Zen Sangha at InsightLA in 2009, to serve lay people with a focus on practicing Zen in everyday life. Just Show Up continues as a steady, student-focused online sangha.

Ava is a licensed clinical social worker with an online private psychotherapy practice, working with meditators and other adults using the Internal Family Systems model of therapy, an embodied, mindful practice-based approach that aligns with her Zen practice. She is a mother and a life partner. You can reach her at Ava@InsightLA.org.

Bob Zeglovitch (Practice Leader)

Bob Zeglovitch began his meditation practice in 1994 and engaged in ten years of formal training in the Soto Zen lineage of Dainin Katagiri Roshi, under the guidance of Dosho Port, at Clouds in Water Zen Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.  Following this training, Bob broadened his practice to include regular retreats in the Insight Meditation tradition, principally with Steve Armstrong and Kamala Masters.  He has done several lengthy and intensive retreats in the Mahasi Sayadaw tradition, under the guidance of Sayadaw U Vivekananda, in Lumbini, Nepal and the United States.  In addition to his study of the dharma, Bob has pursued a lengthy Jungian analysis and has a deep interest in the intersection between Buddhism and western depth psychology.  He has been practicing with Just Show Up Zen Sangha since 2019 and gives frequent dharma talks and otherwise assists Ava Stanton in teaching.

Bob has completed training in the teaching of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) from the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness.  He has taught mindfulness to lawyers, judges, law students, corporate groups, and general audiences.  His work in teaching mindfulness to lawyers received recognition in the American Bar Association Journal.  Bob practiced as an employment lawyer for more than thirty years and now serves as a workplace investigator, trainer, and coach.

Lineage

We are a Branching Streams affiliate of the San Francisco Zen Center, which was founded by Shunryu Suzuki (Suzuki Roshi) (1904-1971). Suzuki Roshi founded the San Francisco Zen Center and also established Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the first Zen Buddhist monastery outside of Asia.

Teah Strozer

Teah Strozer is a Zen Buddhist priest, dharma teacher, and lineage-holder in the Soto Zen tradition of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. Teah studies primarily now with Adyashanti. She received dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman. Teah has practiced meditation since 1968, lived at Tassajara Monastery for 11 years, and studied directly under Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and Dainin Katagiri Roshi. Teah has taught for many years at San Francisco Zen Center and also at the Bay School of San Francisco, where she served as the chaplain. She is Brooklyn Zen Center’s (BZC) root teacher and served as BZC’s guiding teacher until December 2017.

Tony Patchell

Tony Patchell is legendary for the twelve years he spent on the street, ministering to the homeless, mentally ill, and to those with HIV in San Francisco.  In 2003, for his response to the “cries of the world,” Tony was the first recipient of the Bodhisattva award from the San Francisco Zen Center, honoring members of the community who have made significant efforts to ease the suffering of other people. He received Dharma Transmission from Zenkei Blanche Hartmann, in the Suzuki Roshi lineage. Tony is Darlene Cohen's husband.  He is the Guiding Teacher at Russian River Zendo.

Darlene Cohen

Darlene Cohen began sitting at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1970. She was ordained as a Zen priest in 1999. While living at Green Gulch Farm, Zen Center's temple in Marin County, she developed rheumatoid arthritis. This painful and crippling disease led her to explore the potential of her meditation training to address chronic pain and catastrophic situations. She received Dharma Transmission from Michael Wenger in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi.

Zen Master Seung Sahn

Zen Master Seung Sahn Haeng Won Sunim (Dae Soen Sa Nim) was the first Korean Zen master to teach in the West. He received Dharma transmission from the late Zen Master Ko Bong, the most famous Korean Zen master of his time. Zen Master Seung Sahn was 22 years old at the time. He subsequently became the abbot of five temples in Seoul and founded temples in Tokyo and Hong Kong. In 1972 he traveled to America with no money and no English, and supported himself for a few months by repairing washing machines in a laundromat in Providence, Rhode Island. Zen Master Seung Sahn soon founded the Providence Zen Center. In time he established the international Kwan Um School of Zen, with over 100 Zen centers, temples and groups now worldwide.