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Leadership
Dainin Katagiri Roshi
Founder
Dainin Katagiri Roshi (1928-1990) was born in Osaka, Japan. He trained at Eiheiji, one of the two head temples of Sotoshu, for three years under the guidance of Eko Hashimoto Roshi and attended Komazawa University. In 1963 he came to the United States to the Zenshuji Soto Zen Mission in Los Angeles, later moving to Sokoji Zen Mission and San Francisco Zen Center, where he assisted the late Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. In 1972, he became the first abbot of the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis, where he oversaw the development of the center as well as Hokyoji.
Dokai Georgesen
Guiding Teacher
Dokai Georgesen began his study of Zen Buddhism at Minnesota Zen Meditation Center under the direction of Dainin Katagiri Roshi in 1974. He spent two years on pilgrimage studying Buddhism in India and Japan, and upon his return in 1982 he lived at Hokyoji until his ordination in 1984. In 1989 he received Dharma Transmission from Katagiri Roshi, and since then he has made several trips to Japan for study under the late Ikko Narasaki Roshi, Tsugen Narasaki Roshi and the late Taizan Maezumi Roshi. He has also had the opportunity to study at Plum Village in France under the direction of Thich Nhat Hanh. He has been residing at Hokyoji since June, 2003.
Associate Teachers
Hokyoji’s Associate Teachers help supplement the Guiding Teacher in offering diverse practice
offerings. Each teacher has their own unique perspective and teaching style. Different
practitioners resonate with different teachers and Hokyoji is happy to be able to support these
gifted teachers. See below for the biographies of each teacher.
Rev. Ekyo Susan Nelson was a lay student of Katagiri-roshi and received jukai in 1980. After Katagiri’s death she practiced for a time at Clouds-in-Water Zen Center before returning to MZMC during Karen Sunna’s tenure in the late 90’s. She was ordained by Tim Burkett in 2003 with four other dharma sisters. She received dharma transmission from Tim in 2011 and is one of four senior teachers there. She moved to Hokyoji with her husband Carl in 2010 and is now a part-time resident practitioner there, also residing in South Minneapolis. One of her biggest joys currently is being a grandma.
Rev. Kyoku Tracey Walen began practicing Buddhism in 1998, was ordained in 2008, and given Dharma transmission by Byakuren Judith Ragir in 2015. She trained from 2008-2010 at Great Vow Zen Monastery. Currently she resides at and supports Hokyoji and also serves as a Zen teacher at Clouds in Waters Zen Center in St. Paul, MN.
Kyoku is also residential staff at Hokyoji.
Rev. Myo-O Habermas-Scher practiced with Katagiri Roshi from 1975 until his death in 1990; she also trained for twelve years in the Vipassana tradition. She received Dharma transmission in 2012 from Dokai at Hokyoji. Myo-O is a master movement teacher and teaches somatically based vocal training. In 2021 she retired after fourteen years as an interfaith staff chaplain at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, MHealth Fairview. She is also a mom and a grandmother to two little grandson.
If you would like to get in touch with Myo-O, she can be reached at myo-o `at` hokyoji.org.
Rev. Onryu Kennedy has received transmission in both the Katagiri and Uchiyama Roshi lineages. In 2019 and 2020, she attended three month practice periods at Toshoji International Zen Center (Japan) and in 2017 at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (California). In the Spring 2020 practice period at Toshoji she was Shuso, head monk for the practice period. She completed zuise in January 2023. And in February 2024 her application for Kokusaifukuyoshi was approved by the Japanese Sotochu.
Throughout her life she has valued social justice work as an expression of her vow. She is currently an Associate teacher at Hokyoji Zen Practice Community. She experiences great joy in the opportunity to learn and teach Buddhist practices.
Onryu is available for 1:1 meetings with students on Zoom.
Residential Staff
Carl Hultman was an infantry platoon leader in Viet Nam and in the late 1980s came to the Dharma through the writings of Thich Nhat Hanh. He was a Board Member for five years at the Clouds in Water Zen Center. In 2010, after retiring from the Postal Service, he moved to Hokyoji with his wife Susan Ekyo Nelson, a senior priest at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center. After a few years he became Hokyoji’s Executive Director, and now splits his time between Hokyoji and Minneapolis.
Dozen Alex Lawrence A Southerner at heart, Dozen set off for the Midwest on the Great American Zen-venture in the summer of 2022. He traveled up Highway 61 to Iowa for Ryumonji Zen Monastery’s summer ango, and afterwards, moseyed across the state line to Hokyoji ZPC where he now calls home. As a student of Daigaku Rumme of the Confluence Zen Center in St. Louis, MO, he received shukke tokudo in May of 2023. Dozen spends his time at Hokyoji as a caretaker, cook, zazenster, and middle brother to his family of Hokyoji-ers. He appreciates physical culture and health and nutrition, and volunteers with New Albin’s Fire Rescue as a NREMT-A.
Beau Haugen encountered Buddhism in 2019 after taking an Asian philosophy course at the nearby University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. His professor encouraged him to visit Hokyoji, and Beau has been coming back ever since. He currently practices Vipassana (Insight Meditation) with Common Ground in the Twin Cities, but appreciates Zen forms and rituals. In his free time, he likes to read fiction, run, and watch T.V. with the staff sangha at Hokyoji.
Board of Directors
Rev. Dr. Jushin Stephyn Butcher (President) started visiting Hokyoji in 2008 during the Great Sky Sesshin and has been coming back ever since. He is a student of Guiding Teacher Dokai Georgesen’s (precepts, 2013; priest ordination, 2017; shuso, 2023). Jushin has a BA in Economics (Cal State Sacramento), MA in Economics (The American University), MS in Computer Science (Johns Hopkins University) and Ph. D. in Computer Science (Johns Hopkins University). He teaches data science & artificial intelligence at Johns Hopkins University. He has served on the boards of Cambridge Main Street (Economic Committee Chair) and Dorchester Center for the Arts (Treasurer, Secretary, and Program Chair). He lives in Cambridge, Maryland with his husband.
Rev. Jeromy Keidō Thotland (Secretary) has been practicing at MZMC since 2014 and was ordained by Ted O’Toole in 2019 and received dharma transmission in 2024. His focus is on experiential practice ‘Living Zen off the cushion’ and living a service-oriented life. He finds Zen practice fulfilling and difficult–and totally worth it. He’s happy to share his experience with others. He grew up and currently lives in Minneapolis with his partner Andrea, dog Juniper, and cat Turk.
Shinko Marilyn Kaman (Treasurer) began practicing Buddhism in the 1990’s at Minnesota Zen Meditation Center, Minneapolis, and received the precepts of jukai in 2017 at Clouds In Water Zen Center (Rev. Sosan Teresa Flynn). Marilyn has been an active member of Hokyoji for many years and was Chair of the 2016 Capital Campaign Committee to raise funds for the now-constructed Mauss Hall and Guest Hall. In January 2023 Marilyn completed a 2-year training program as a mindfulness meditation instructor under guidance of Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach, and Marilyn has received her certification in this field from the Awareness Training Institute and the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Marilyn’s working career was in the legal profession, and she has served on numerous boards of director for non-profit organizations.
Unkyō Ginny Gelms began an at-home meditation practice in 2017. She started Zen practice with Minnesota Zen Medication Center in 2021 and received jukai from Ben Connelly in 2023. She grew up in eastern Iowa and has a Bachelor’s degree in English and Linguistics from Northwestern University and a post-graduate certificate in Elections Administration from the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs. She serves as the Director of Elections for Hennepin County. She enjoys reading and making music and lives in Minneapolis with her cherished cat, Marceline.
Kim Lapakko first came to Hokyoji in the mid-1990s for a summer practice period and annually attended a June sesshin in the more rustic incarnation of the site until about 2000. He returned in about 2016 and have participated in practice periods, sesshins and work weekends yearly since then. He has also practiced intermittently at the Minnesota Zen Center, Clouds in Water and Common Ground in the Twin Cities. As is to be expected, he has developed a strong attraction to the community, its campus, the surrounding environment and the human and spiritual inertia that constitute Hokyoji.
Paul Wartman encountered Buddhism at MZMC with Katagiri Roshi in the early 80s. After the seed Katagiri planted lay dormant for decades, it suddenly (miraculously!) sprouted around 2013. Since then, Paul has been active at MZMC and Hokyoji with retreats, working on the land, and practice periods. He is a retired professor of Nursing and lives in Duluth. He is married, and has 2 grandchildren, who instruct him strenuously in beginner’s mind.
Paul is particularly interested in the landscape of Hokyoji, a landscape which consists of old growth woods and invasive thickets, and thus mirrors the contents of his mind. He hopes for fewer thorns!
Rev. Onryu Kennedy has received transmission in both the Katagiri and Uchiyama Roshi lineages. In 2019 and 2020, she attended three month practice periods at Toshoji International Zen Center (Japan) and in 2017 at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (California). In the Spring 2020 practice period at Toshoji she was Shuso, head monk for the practice period. She completed zuise in January 2023. And in February 2024 her application for Kokusaifukuyoshi was approved by the Japanese Soto-shu.
Throughout her life she has valued social justice work as an expression of her vow. She is currently an Associate teacher at Hokyoji Zen Practice Community. She experiences great joy in the opportunity to learn and teach Buddhist practices
Hokyoji Zen Practice Community
Hokyoji Zen Practice Community is governed by its board of directors, as described in its articles of incorporation. Its bylaws further define the role and scope of the directors. In general, it is the responsibility of the board to define the organization’s mission and to provide overall leadership and strategic direction. It actively sets policy and ensures that adequate resources are available to carry out the mission; annually it evaluates its own effectiveness as a governing body and the effectiveness of the organization as a whole in meeting its goals
In addition, a series of committees aid and support the board and the guiding teacher in carrying out their mission and achieving their objectives; the Retired Leaders Fund and Facilities Development efforts have their own committees. These groups bring additional skills and expertise to the organization and allow for the participation of interested people from outside the board.
As guiding teacher, Dokai Georgesen oversees the general spiritual condition and direction of the Hokyoji community. As an ex officio member of the board, he works with the directors and committees, including the Retired Leaders Fund Committee, to make Hokyoji’s vision statements a reality and achieve its goals. He also aims to provide effective and vibrant teaching, in the form of dharma talks, retreats and sesshins and individual counsel, that inspires confidence and also challenges the community to deepening its spiritual growth.
Dokai oversees a variety of practice programs that meet the needs of those who come from diverse circumstances, and provides training to disciples, both lay and ordained, through personal modeling, mentoring and programming.
Resident lay or clerical practitioners provide support to the guiding teacher to maintain the buildings and grounds, complete domestic and administrative work, deepen the spirit of community practice, and provide for continuity of practice when the guiding teacher is away.
