Philip Kapleau (Founding Teacher)

Roshi Philip Kapleau, founder of the Rochester Zen Center, New York, was the author of numerous books on Zen, including the classic The Three Pillars of Zen, in print since 1966, To Cherish All Life, The Zen of Living and Dying: A Practical Guide, Awakening to Zen, and many others. Philip Kapleau was born in 1912 and grew up in Connecticut, studying law in his youth and serving for many years as a court reporter in the state and federal courts of Connecticut. At the end of World War II he was appointed chief reporter for the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, then was sent to cover the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo. In 1953 he gave up his business in America and left for Japan to seek the Dharma. He remained in Japan for thirteen years and trained under three masters, briefly with Nakagawa Soen-roshi (1907-1984), then extensively with Harada Daiun-roshi (1870-1961) and his Dharma heir Yasutani Hakuun-roshi (1885-1973). He was ordained by Yasutani-roshi and returned to the United States in 1966 after being given permission to teach there by Yasutani-roshi. Philip Kapleau retired in 1986 after 20 years as Abbot of the Rochester Zen Center. He died after a long illness on May 6th, 2004.

Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede

Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede was born in 1948 in Michigan and received a B.A. in Psychology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor prior to coming to the Rochester Zen Center in 1970. He was ordained in 1976, and completed twelve years of koan training under Roshi Philip Kapleau before beginning to teach in 1983. In 1986 Roshi Kjolhede was appointed by Roshi Kapleau as his Dharma-successor and Abbot of the Rochester Zen Center. This appointment marked the culmination of a sixteen-year teacher-student relationship, the last decade working intimately together. Since then Roshi Kjolhede has worked with students from all over the United States, and from Canada, Mexico, Europe and New Zealand, and has sanctioned several Dharma heirs.

Sensei John Pulleyn

Sensei John Pulleyn is a Co-Director of the Rochester Zen Center. Together with Sensei Donna Kowal, he provides Zen training and spiritual guidance to the Center’s members worldwide.

Born in St. Paul, Sensei Pulleyn was raised in Minnesota and Ohio, and graduated from Oberlin College with a BA in history. In 1968 he came to Rochester to join the Center’s staff and train under Roshi Philip Kapleau, at a time when the Arnold Park buildings were under reconstruction. Later, he worked as a painting contractor and a software developer while raising two children with his wife Chris. A DWI arrest in 1990 inspired him to evaluate his life and resulted in an increased commitment to Zen practice. He also returned to school for a BS in nursing and worked as a pediatric nurse for 10 years.

In 2003, Sensei Pulleyn rejoined the Center’s staff as Head of Zendo, a position that he held for 15 subsequent years. During that time he gave numerous Dharma talks, provided private instruction, and regularly led meditation retreats (sesshins). On August 20, 2021, he was sanctioned as a Zen teacher by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede.

Sensei Dhara Kowal

Sensei Dhara Kowal was authorized as a Zen teacher by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede in 2022 and serves as Co-Director of the Rochester Zen Center, in partnership with Sensei John Pulleyn.

She was born and raised in Staten Island, New York, and first learned about Zen practice when she was training in martial arts. She became a member of the Center in 1998 after attending an introductory Zen meditation workshop, and was a local Sangha member for some 20 years before joining the Center’s staff in 2019.

Prior to joining staff, Dhara-sensei committed herself to attending as many sesshins as possible and serving as an active volunteer, including Editor of Zen Bow for 14 years. During that time, she had a successful career in academia as an award-winning professor and author (Ph.D. in Rhetoric & Communication, University of Pittsburgh, 1996). She also traveled extensively as part of her leadership in study abroad programs.

Most recently, as a Zen Center staff member, she served as Head of Zendo at Chapin Mill, the Center’s country retreat facility, and Manager of the Sangha Programs Office, which offers educational and social programs tailored to Center members and the wider community.

Dhara-sensei is currently a novitiate priest and splits her time between Chapin Mill and Arnold Park. During time off from the training program schedule, she enjoys hiking and birding.

Sensei Rick Smith

Sensei Rick Smith is the resident teacher of the Madison Zen Center and was authorized as a Zen teacher by Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede in 2024. He served as group leader from 2010-2013 and again from 2016 to 2024. In between those times he spent a year and half on staff at the Rochester Zen Center.

He was born in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, and became a member of the center in 2004. Prior to that, he explored various types of meditation and spiritual practices until finding his home in Zen practice.

He currently works at University of Wisconsin-Madison as a Research Specialist in the department of Psychiatry for the Center for Sleep and Consciousness. His primary interest and work involve investigating long-term meditators to explore how meditation induces neural plasticity and to test hypotheses related to integrated information theory of consciousness.

When he is not on the mat or working, he enjoys trail running, snowboarding, and travel.