It is with great pleasure that the North Carolina Zen Center announces the arrival of Teshin Matt Sweger.  Teshin officially assumed the role of Abbot and Teacher for the Center on August 1.  He is jumping right into things, leading the Center’s Summer Sesshin beginning on August 3 and ending on August 6.

Teshin’s wife Dana will arrive by the end of the second week of August, to take up a position with the Unitarian Universalist Church in Chapel Hill.  Teshin and Dana will be living at the Center initially.

Teshin will be taking on all of the teaching duties at the Center, and has expressed a wish to immediately expand the Center’s offerings of scheduled services.  Look for a new list of those services and times to be published on the website shortly. 

Teshin has also enumerated a number of short-term and long-term goals for the Center that he would like to work toward.  Some of these include developing better structures for newcomers at the Center, including introductory workshops, beginner’s nights, weekly or monthly discussion groups, and other structures to allow beginners and newcomers to feel welcome at the Center.

Outreach and community involvement are also high on Teshin’s list of priorities, as are developing and elaborating the Center’s presence on social media.  He has also indicated that he hopes to closely engage the sangha in an ongoing “visioning process” whereby the sangha has close input into the Center’s offerings and its future development.  Meantime, Teshin has emphasized that first and foremost the goal of the Center will be to foster a strong community of dedicated Zen practitioners.  Teshin sees solid Zen teaching and practice as the core from which everything else will grow.

Certainly Teshin will clarify his goals for the Center and the sangha as he gets better acquainted with us.  At this point we we would simply like to offer him a sincere welcome, and three deep bows of gratitude for his willingness to make a hard choice, to leave friends and associates behind, and to come here to the North Carolina Zen Center. 

This is the beginning of a new chapter in the story of the Center.  Come and be a part of it, meet Teshin, and either connect or reconnect with our Zen community! 

Gassho!

The North Carolina Zen Center is happy to announce that it will hold its Summer Sesshin from August 3 through August 6.  The retreat will begin with informal dinner at 6PM on Thursday, August 3, and will end at noon on Sunday, August 6.

This retreat will be guided by Teshin Matt Sweger.  Teshin has recently accepted the Center’s offer to become the Center’s Abbott, and he will take that position officially on August 1. This will be his first retreat with the NCZC, and it will be a great opportunity to practice with Teshin and to get to know him as a Zen teacher.

Teshin was 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. He has been teaching for five years through a Zen group at the University of Rochester.

The retreat will be conducted in a format similar to past retreats at the Center, although there will be some changes to form and schedule based on Teshin’s wishes.  The retreat will include periods of sitting and walking meditation, interview with the teacher, Dharma talks, and periods of work around the Center.  Some of the work will be out-of-doors, possibly involving grounds maintenance, so come prepared to work outside in the summer, with appropriate light clothing.

Cost of the retreat is $60 per night.  Part-time attendance is permitted, however lodging preference will be given to full-time participants.  For more information about retreats at the NC Zen Center, or to pay in advance for the retreat, please visit the Retreats Page on the Center’s website.  If you have not already made your deposit of half the cost, based on the number of nights you plan to attend, please do so as quickly as possible so we can properly plan for the number of attendees.

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.

The North Carolina Zen Center is happy to announce that it will hold its Summer Sesshin from August 3 through August 6.  The retreat will begin with informal dinner at 6PM on Thursday, August 3, and will end at noon on Sunday, August 6.

This retreat will be guided by Teshin Matt Sweger.  Teshin was 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. He has been teaching for five years through a Zen group at the University of Rochester.

This will be Teshin’s first retreat with the NCZC.  Teshin has been a candidate for the Center’s teacher position, and is currently in discussions with the Center with the intent of Teshin joining the Center and becoming the Center’s teacher and abbot.  This will be a great opportunity to practice with Teshin and to get to know him as a Zen teacher.

The retreat will be conducted in a format similar to past retreats at the Center, although there will be some modest changes to form and schedule based on Teshin’s wishes.  The retreat will include periods of sitting and walking meditation, interview with the teacher, Dharma talks, and periods of work around the Center.  Some of the work will be out-of-doors, possibly involving grounds maintenance, so come prepared to work outside in the summer, with appropriate light clothing.

Cost of the retreat will be $55 per night.  Part-time attendance is permitted, however lodging preference will be given to full-time participants.  Deposits are due by Friday, July 20, which will help with planning for meals and lodging.  After that date the cost of the retreat will be $60 per night.  For more information about retreats at the NC Zen Center please visit the Retreats Page on the Center’s website.

The following letter has gone out to the NCZC membership and sangha, making the official announcement:

Dear Sangha and Friends,

On behalf of the Teacher Search Committee and the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Zen Center I wish to let you know that the Center has entered into discussions with a candidate for the teacher position with the Center.  Here is an update of recent activities of the Teacher Search Committee.

Summary

Two years ago we began a process whereby we hoped to bring a new Zen teacher to the Center.  This process has unfolded through several stages. 

1. First and foremost was consulting closely with the sangha to determine the hopes and wishes of the membership. 
2. We then took those expressed wishes and used them to create guidelines for a teacher search process.
3. We created a Teacher Search Committee tasked with designing and implementing a national search based on those guidelines.
4. The Search Committee formally began that search by receiving applications starting on December 1, 2016.
5. We received three applications over the next four months.
6. On reviewing those applications we found that one fully met the criteria.
7. We closely reviewed all of this applicant’s materials, interviewed his references, and interviewed him several times.
8. We brought him to the Center for nearly a week in April to meet him and experience his teaching.
9. We conducted further interviews and discussions over the next month.
10. Based on what we learned, the Search Committee recommended to the Board that they offer the position to this candidate.
11. The Board, on May 11, offered this candidate a letter of intent to enter into discussions with the intended outcome being this applicant accepting the position of teacher with the Center.
12. This candidate accepted the letter and agreed to enter into discussions with the Center.  Those discussions are underway.

Discussion

As many of you know, during 2015 and 2016 several sangha-wide meetings were held in order to gather a sense of the direction forward the community wanted to pursue.  Through those meetings it was determined that the sangha as a whole wanted to pursue the possibility of bringing in a new Zen teacher for the Center.  Furthermore the overwhelming preference expressed by the community at these meetings was for this teacher to be either a Rinzai Zen teacher, or a teacher from a tradition which embodied the core parts of Rinzai Zen practice, in particular koan practice.

Taking these expressed wishes as directives, in late 2015 the Center put in place a Teacher Search Committee.  Over the course of that year this committee developed materials to be used for the search, and began a process of researching how other Zen centers have gone about conducting successful teacher searches.  We held additional sangha meetings to refine our understanding of the wishes of the community.  We reached out to friends in other communities across the country for advice and guidance.

Late in 2016 I left my position as President of the Board in order to take over leadership of the Teacher Search Committee.  Working with Matt Young and Ken Simon we prepared a structured process for conducting a national search.  We set the search in motion on December 1, 2016, by opening the four-month application period.  We made every effort to disseminate our position announcement as widely as possible, including posting it through very prominent national Zen groups including Zen Teachers of America and the Soto Zen Teachers Association.

Over the next four months we received three applications.  We also received inquiries from two other teachers after the application period was closed.  We began to review application materials in January of 2017.  During this review process it became clear that while all of the applicants had a high degree of Zen training and great references and credentials, only one of them fit the specific requirements as outlined by the Teacher Search Committee based on the preferences stated by the sangha.  We began to focus our efforts closely on this one candidate.

This candidate is Teshin Matt Sweger, Osho.  Teshin comes from the Rochester Zen Center lineage, which was founded by Philip Kapleau Roshi, one of the early pioneers in bringing Zen to America after World War II.  Kapleau studied under Harada Roshi and Yasutani Roshi in Japan.  These two Zen teachers taught a blend of Rinzai and Soto Zen which they felt brought the best of both forms together in one practice.  This is the tradition that Kapleau brought to America and which continues at the Rochester Zen Center under Bodhin Roshi, Dharma heir of Philip Kapleau Roshi.

Teshin began formal Zen practice at Rochester in 1993, when he was in his early twenties.  He pursued formal residential training there from 1996 to 2000. He later left the Rochester Zen Center to study under Lawson Satcher Roshi and Sunya Kjolhede Roshi at the Windhorse Zen Center in Asheville, doing residential training there from 2003 to 2007.  Lawson and his wife Sunya are both Dharma heirs of Philip Kapleau Roshi.  Teshin was ordained by Lawson Satcher Roshi in 2004.

Teshin returned to Rochester to continue residential training from 2007 to 2010.  In 2010 he took up study under Sevan Ross Roshi.  Ross had been a student of John Ford Roshi, Philip Kapleau Roshi, and Bodhin Roshi.  Teshin studied intensively with Ross for five years, completing what is known as the Harada-Yasutani Koan Curriculum, a study of hundreds of koans from the Zen traditions of China and Japan.  Ross gave Teshin full sanction to teach Zen in 2015. 

Currently Teshin lives in Rochester where he has taught Zen for the last five years through a Zen group on the campus of the University of Rochester.  He is also a chaplain working with the University.  In addition Teshin works as a licensed psychotherapist, and also as a carpenter and woodworker.  

Through the spring of this year the members of the Teacher Search Committee interviewed Teshin’s references in great detail about his personal character, his Zen training, his personal history, and his ability to teach Zen.  Very important to us was his ability to teach Zen on several levels, both to newcomers and to longer-term practitioners.  Also critically important to us were Teshin’s personal integrity and his interpersonal skills.  Teshin received very high marks on all of these.

We conducted lengthy interviews with Teshin by phone and Skype several times, and in March we invited Teshin to come to the NC Zen Center so we could meet him and he could meet our community.  Teshin stayed for six days, guiding practice on Thursday evening and on Sunday morning, which included giving interviews and Dharma talks.  Over the following two months we had further discussions with Teshin.

All of this is to say that according to the best efforts and judgement of the Teacher Search Committee, based on the guidelines established at the start of the search process, the Teacher Search Committee came to believe that Teshin looked like a good fit for our Center and our Sangha.  On May 9 we recommended to the Board that they enter into discussions with Teshin to see if arrangements could be worked out to bring him to the Center.  

Shortly thereafter the Board sent a letter of intent to Teshin.  The purpose of this letter was to let Teshin know that the Board would like to begin discussions with Teshin about becoming the Center’s teacher.  Teshin responded favorably, and discussions are underway to work out an agreement between the Center and Teshin.

We are all aware that this is a big transition for the Center.  It has come at the end of more than two years of intense effort involving deep study by the Teacher Search Committee, and many long hours of discussion, consideration, and communication back and forth between the Committee, the Board members, members of the sangha, and other friends of the Center around the country.  Many people have participated in this process to get it to this point, and we would like to offer our appreciation to all of them.

There is still a lot to work out.  This is a huge step for both parties.  If we reach an agrement, Teshin and his wife Dana will have to end their relationships in Rochester and pick up their lives and bring them to North Carolina.  They will have to work out jobs and lodging, and then begin the process of building new lives in this community, in addition to Teshin taking over teaching duties with the Center.  

For us, we will have to face the fact that the Center will be going in a new direction under new guidance.  All change is fraught with difficulty.  However, we, the Board and the Teacher Search Committee, are very excited about the prospects going forward.  We believe Teshin is a great fit for our Center and our community.  He is personable, dynamic, easy-going, and yet very focused.  He brings a very high degree of Zen training and experience to his teaching.  We fully expect Teshin to help to revitalize the Center, bring a whole new energy to practice and to the community, to help the Center expand, grow, and develop new programs and capacities, and rise to its full potential as a Zen teaching and practice center.  We feel extraordinarily lucky that at just the point we were looking for someone like Teshin, Teshin was available and we found each other.  

We will keep you informed as the process moves forward.  Teshin will return to the Center for a visit this coming weekend, and will guide service on Sunday morning, May 28.  If you have not met Teshin this will be a good opportunity.  He will return again to lead the summer retreat in July or August.  The dates for that retreat are not yet set but we will post them as soon as they are available.

In closing, we would like to offer our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has participated in this process, to all of the sangha members who have stuck with the Center for the last three years, and to everyone along the way who has given us input, feedback, guidance and resources to assist us in this difficult, complex process.  This has been a group, a community, effort, and it has been our honor and privilege to serve the sangha in this capacity.

Yours,

Jason Dowdle

Chair, Teacher Teacher Search Committee

The North Carolina Zen Center