This is my last Newsette, as I will be stepping down as the Branching Streams Director on December 31.
For nearly eight years I have enjoyed working with you – teachers, leaders, and members of the approximately 75 Zen Centers and sanghas in the Suzuki Roshi lineage.
I have learned from and enjoyed visiting many of your zendos, compiling Newsettes, connecting with you via Zoom calls and emails, and co-hosting the last four Branching Streams Conferences/Gatherings in retreat centers near Milwaukee, Austin, Santa Cruz, and Chicago, as well as an online conference during the pandemic.
During this time, I was supported by Steve Weintraub, who preceded me as Branching Streams Director, and my two supervisors, Ed Sattizahn when he was Central Abbot, and David Zimmerman, the current Central Abbot of SFZC. Thank you, Steve, Ed, and David!
I also appreciate the support and skills of Branching Streams webmaster Jon Voss, who volunteered his time and expertise. Many of you met him (via Zoom) during the peak of the pandemic, when he held a weekly Zoom clinic as sanghas were beginning to depend on virtual ways of connecting.
I am grateful to my Branching Streams Advisory Group, who met with me monthly to give me feedback and collaborate in creating the programs we offered. They are: Choro Antonaccio (Austin Zen Center), Douglas Floyd (Ancient Dragon Zen Gate), Inryu Ponce-Barger (All Beings Zen in Washington, D.C.), Jaune Evans (Everyday Zen and Heart of Compassion in Pt. Reyes, CA), Jon Voss (Mid City Zen in New Orleans), Michael Newton (Mountain Rain Zen Community in Vancouver, B.C.), Patrick Teverbaugh (Santa Cruz Zen Center), Reirin Gumbel (Milwaukee Zen Center), and Teresa Bouza (Kannon Do Zen Meditation Center in Mountain View, CA). This rakusu, which they collaborated on making, was their parting gift.

I am delighted that Heather Iarusso will be the next Branching Streams Director. She will begin in January, 2026. Heather will be using the branchingstreams@sfzc.org email address and my email address will change to tova.zen@gmail.com. My mailing address is now 1795 Boxheart Drive, Unit 110, Healdsburg CA 95448.
News from Sanghas and teachers in the U.S. and Europe follows.
Ancient Dragon Zen Gate Chicago IL) has a new priest! Congratulations to Reuben Kaller, who was ordained by ADZG emeritus guiding teacher, Taigen Dan Leighton, on Sunday, November 23. His priest name is Myōshin Yōzan Bright Heart Nourishing Mountain.

Photo by Wade Wheatly
Great Spirit Sangha (San Francisco) had a Jukai ceremony on November 11. Three sangha members received the precepts from founding teacher Cynthia Kear: Their new names are: Maria Makela, Ren Gatsu Fu Ei (Lotus Moon, Fabric of No Separation); Ria German Carter, Busshin Rin Sho: Busshin Rin Sho (Buddha Heart, Forest of Illumination), and Janeen Smith, Ho Kai Umi Kei (Embrace of the Precepts, Sea of Grace).

On December 7, Cynthia ordained Craig Edelblut. Craig’s new Dharma name is KoDo FuSen (Radiant Way, All-Pervading Practice).

George Bishop, a member of Mid City Zen in New Orleans, would like to hear from sanghas who have organized responses to ICE raids in their cities. He has received some suggestions from sanghas in areas where ICE is making arrests. They include stocking the temple with whistle packets, bilingual rights cards, and resource postings; collaborating with local groups that work with immigrants and refugees; and documenting raids with videos. If your sangha has any tips, please contact George at georgebishopjr@gmail.com.
Tatsudo Nicole Baden, Abbot of Crestone Zen Mountain Center (Colorado) and Zen Buddhist Center Black Forest (Germany) recently launched a YouTube channel featuring her talk “Why Stillness Can Save the World”. She reflected that this channel is “a kind of skillful means, a resource in nurturing continuity and connectivity across our widespread, interconnected, interdependent community.”
In October Dario Doshin Girolami, guiding teacher of Centro Zen l’Arco in Rome, spoke at the Italian Senate as part of the “Sowing Peace” conference to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Conciliar document on the Catholic Church’s relations with non-Christian religions.
He also participated in the event “Walking Together in Hope” to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate with Pope Leo XIV and leaders and representatives of world religions. The following day, Doshin attended the Papal audience in St. Peter’s Square dedicated to Nostra Aetate, with numerous religious leaders who still find important ideas in the conciliar document for continuing on the path of dialogue.

Becoming yourself: Teaching on the Zen Way of Life by Shunryu Suzuki was recently published in Italy. Dario wrote the preface to the Italian edition.
As we enter the season of holiday lights and sacred times in many religions, may we walk together in hope, sowing seeds of peace.
