Three-Day Chan Retreat: Honoring Chan Master Sheng Yen
February 8, 2026
Chinese New Year 2026 🧧 Year of the Fire Horse
March 16, 2026
Jan Chozen Bays Roshi
Co-Abbot, Zen Community of Oregon
Jan Chozen Bays Roshi has practiced Zen for 50 years, under the guidance of Taizan Maezumi Roshi and Shodo Harada Roshi, and taught Zen for 40 years. She and her husband Hogen Bays have served as Co-Abbots of Great Vow Zen Monastery in Oregon and Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple in Portland. She has written six books including Mindful Eating and Mindful Medicine and articles in Buddhadharma and Lion’s Roar.
Hogen Bays Roshi
Co-Abbot, Zen Community of Oregon
Hogen Bays Roshi began practicing Zen in 1968 with Philip Kapleau, Roshi doing residential training at Zen Center of Rochester and eventually at Zen Center of Los Angeles with Taizan Maezumi Roshi. He has been teaching since 1985 and has continued his Zen studies with Shodo Harada Roshi in Japan and on Whidbey Island from 1990 – 2015.
Fred Eppsteiner, Founder, Florida Community of Mindfulness
Fred Eppsteiner, a Dharma teacher in the lineage of Thich Nhat Hanh, has been a student of Buddhism and a practitioner of meditation for over fifty years and has devoted himself to teaching the Dharma (teachings of the Buddha) since 1996. Although Fred has practiced primarily in the Zen and Tibetan Buddhist lineages, he bases his teachings on the full breadth of Buddhist philosophical, psychological and meditative traditions.
Angie Parrish, Dharma Programs Leader, Florida Community of Mindfulness
Angie Parrish is a Dharma Instructor and the Leader for Outreach and Engagement with the Florida Community of Mindfulness. She is also a Qualified Teacher of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and the author of Attune: Creating Harmony in Your Communications and Your Life. She is particularly enthusiastic about finding creative ways to bring Engaged Buddhism to our society.
Guo Gu, Tallahassee Chan Center
GuoGu (Dr. Jimmy Yu) is the founder and teacher at the Tallahassee Chan Center. He first learned meditation as a child in 1972 with master Guangqin (1892-1986), one of the most respected Chinese meditation masters and ascetics who lived in Taiwan. In 1980, GuoGu moved to the United States and began studying with Chan Master Sheng Yen (1931-2009). In 1991, GuoGu was ordained as a monk and became Master Sheng Yen’s first personal attendant and assistant. In 1995, he was given permission by the master to teach Chan independently; his experiences were later recognized by other teachers as well. Wanting to bring Buddhism beyond monastic walls, GuoGu left monkhood and re-entered the world in 2000. In 2008 he received his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from Princeton University and is currently a professor of Buddhist studies at Florida State University.
