Chikudo Shuho Catherine Spaeth

I began Zen practice with Jion Susan Postal at the Empty Hand Zen Center, a small lay temple in New York. Zazen drew us together, and from here there is a continuous love for and curiosity in offering the dharma with daily steadiness and creative flexibility. This would take a stronger and more personal, inward-looking direction when Susan became ill with cancer and I was both her caregiver and the sole resident student.  I was ordained in 2013.

Upon Susan’s passing I began to practice with Ryushin Paul Haller at Tassajara Zen Mountain Zen Center, where I have lived for eight years, and at City Center for another three years. My love for zazen is deep, and the backwards step of studying the self has been profound. I was Shuso with Paul Haller at Tassajara in 2020.

I am currently a priest and teacher in the world at large, nourished by an online sangha here at Treasure the Road.