It is with great pleasure and excitement that the Board of Directors and the Teacher Search Committee wish extend a generous welcome to Teshin Matt Sweger. On August 1, Teshin will officially take the position of Teacher/Abbott of the North Carolina Zen Center. He is expected to arrive in time for the Summer Retreat which runs from August 3 — 6, and to take up residence at the Center thereafter.
Teshin has trained in the lineage of Philip Kapleau Roshi and the Rochester Zen Center. He has 25 years of Zen training including residential training at Rochester and at Windhorse Zen Center in Asheville. He studied under Bodhin Roshi at Rochester, then under Lawson Satcher Roshi at Windhorse, and completed his study under Sevan Ross Roshi and was given full sanction to teach by him in 2015. Teshin has been teaching for five years through a Zen group at the University of Rochester.
Teshin and his wife, Dana, are permanently relocating to North Carolina. Dana has taken a position with the Unitarian Universalist Church in Chapel Hill. Teshin will be teaching Zen and continuing his practice as a psychotherapist. Teshin expects to immediately begin to offer an expanded schedule of teaching at the Center, including additional practice sessions on mornings and evenings during the week in addition to our traditional Thursday and Sunday services. We will post details of our new schedule shortly.
Teshin teaches in a tradition that blends a combination of Rinzai and Soto Zen practices. Those of our Sangha who have practiced in the Rinzai tradition and taken up koan practice will be happy to find that Teshin is highly trained in koan teaching and practice and will continue this type of Zen teaching at the Center.
The Board and the Center’s leadership wish to offer a profound thanks to Teshin and Dana for their willingness to make the NC Zen Center their home and place to practice and teach. We also wish to thank all who have offered their time, effort, care, and love to the Center over these last several years. We look forward with great hope for the future of the Center, the growth of the Sangha, and the continuance of our wonderful community of Zen.
