Mission Statement

Austin Zen Center, Zenkeiji Temple, is dedicated to providing Zen Buddhist practice, training and teaching to all who wish to participate. We will make accessible and embody practices reflecting the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha. Austin Zen Center follows the Soto Zen lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and the San Francisco Zen Center.

Current Board of Directors

The work of the board is to determine the mission of AZC; select and support its' Head Teacher or Abbot; support the staff; engage in strategic planning; oversee AZC's budget and programs; protect our organization's assets; assist with fundraising; and ensure AZC’s legal and ethical integrity.

The board values your feedback about our practice community. If you would like to share a concern or a delight, please feel free to contact Pat Yingt or Rudi Miller using the "board liaison" link below, next to their names.

• Charles Ball, (bio) since February, 2008; president since October, 2008
  
• Dwight Dugan, (bio) since December, 2008
  
• Jack Hohengarten, (bio) since October, 2009
• Betty Holmes, (bio) since March, 2010
• Rudi Miller, (board liaison | (bio) since February, 2008
• Glenn Noblin, (bio) since March, 2010
• Juniper Ross, (bio) since October, 2009
• Nancy Webber, (bio) since October, 2009
• Jill Wilkinson, (bio) since October, 2009
• Pat Yingst, (board liaison | bio), since October, 2009
  
  
• Chris Lance (bio)
• Kosho McCall (bio)

Charles Ball began sitting with a small group, led by Flint Sparks, in the late 1990's, and was a founding member of the Austin Zen Center, serving as Treasurer and bookkeeper for four years. In February of 2008 Charles was appointed to the board once again, and served as chair of the succession committee and as board chair during the recent succession and transition process. He has been seeking a community that shares his basic beliefs and perspective on existence for most of his life, having attended Divinity School many years ago. This practice and community, devoted to awakening, is where he feels most at home. Professionally, Charles has been the head piano technician in the UT Butler School of Music for 30 years. Charles serves as the president of the Board of Directors and chair of the Executive Committee.

Dwight Dugan explored many of Austin's meditation communities in the late 90s before settling in with a small sitting group that would become Austin Zen Center. Dwight was a member of AZC's founding board and was appointed to the current board in 2009. Dwight sleeps better at night knowing that AZC's sangha and supporters, together with all beings, sustain a welcoming space where all are invited to wake up! Dwight is a licensed clinical social worker and currently helps manage an Aetna call center that provides counseling over the phone. He looks foward to marrying Jessica Rush this November. Dwight is a member of the Development Committee.

Jack Hohengarten became interested in finding a Buddhist community where he could learn more about the Dharma and begin to practice after reading such books as Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind and What the Buddha Taught. He has been practicing at the Austin Zen Center for three years. He joined the Board in 2009 to help ensure that AZC continues to be a resource for those who wish to explore these vital, ancient teachings. Jack attended the University of Texas as both an undergraduate and graduate student, and has lived in Austin for nearly thirty years. He is an administrative lawyer at the Texas Attorney General's office. He is married to Nancy Hohengarten. They have two sons, Will and Matthew. Jack chairs the Governance Committee.

Betty Holmes has been a devoted practitioner of Tibetan and Zen Buddhism for over 15 years. She served on the founding board of AZC and was instrumental in the founding of the Houston Zen Center. In 1997, she created Tenzo, a Buddhist retreat center in the Texas Hill Country where meditation retreats and teachings were offered. It was there in 1998 she met her Zen teacher, Reb Anderson. A psychotherapist by profession, Betty integrates the Internal Family Systems model with Buddhist wisdom and compassion practices in her work with clients. As a member of the AZC board, Betty is committed to sustaining the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi in Austin and to embodying kindness. She lives with her husband, Frederick Bryan, and her teenaged son, John. Betty chairs the Commnications Committee.

Rudi Miller has been practicing at the Austin Zen Center since February, 2005. As the youngest member of the Board, he's still trying to figure out what to do with his life. He lives in South Austin with some friends and enjoys Go, the tea ceremony, and postmodern literature. If you see him, say hi. He'd appreciate it. Rudi serves as the AZC board secretary and is on the Membership and Practice Committees.

Glenn Noblin has had a lively interest in Zen since 1967 when he was first introduced to it in a college course. He started practicing at the Austin Zen Center in 2006. Before this he had practiced at the Maria Kannon Zen Center in Dallas, Texas for 10 years and had maintained a daily meditation practice for 20 years. Glenn lives in Kerrville, Texas where he is introducing Zen to the community through public speaking and offering the opportunity for weekly practice with a Zen group. Since retiring as a social worker and United Methodist minister in 2006, he has been auditing courses in political science and also attending an adult education class in conversational Spanish. Glen and his wife, Barbara, enjoy hiking together and camping in their camper. They are the parents of two adult children with whom they are well pleased. Glenn is a member of the Governance Committee.

Juniper Lauren Ross began sitting zazen with the Austin Zen Center Buddhist community in 2005 and she is a member of Buddhist Peace Fellowship. She is a politically active engineer, and trainer on environmental and social justice issues. Her primary commitment as a Zen Center board member is to ensure a stable and secure foundation for Zen practice in our Austin sangha. She is also committed to a feminist perspective on Buddhist practice, to a practice based on sustainable relationships with all beings, and to on-going explorations of our community's relationship to larger questions of social justice. She has two grown children and lives with her partner, Lisa Fithian. Juniper heads the Development Committee.

Nancy Webber began investigating Buddhism in 2001 and first came to beginner's instruction at AZC that year. In January 2002 she started sitting regularly at the Center and soon found herself deeply involved in a practical way, working on the building and grounds. She designed and implemented improvements to the grounds, based on her experience as a landscape designer and interest in a Texas regional interpretation of the zen garden. She became a resident in September 2004 for one year, serving as tenzo and jisha to head teacher Barbara Kohn. Nancy volunteers with central Texas environmental causes and works joyfully on the restoration of a 60 acre tract of tall grass prairie in southern Milam County where she hopes to live some day in community with other zen practicioners. She has four grown children and three grandchildren. Nancy is a member of the Executive and Practice Committees.

Jill Wilkinson (bio coming soon) Jill serves on the Development Committee.

Pat Yingst began doing Zen meditation in 1988 and has been a member of Austin Zen Center since its inception. She has 7 years experience teaching meditation in prisons and is active in the Austin intra-Buddhist prison volunteer organization, Inside Meditation. Her 2-year stint as office manager/bookkeeper for the center in 2005–2006 led to her current position on the board as Treasurer. She was co-editor for the first 5 years of Just This — AZC's journal. She is partially retired from BMC Software Company where she still works 3 days a week as a software developer. She lives with her partner, Tony Parchman. Pat is the board treasurer for AZC. She also serves as chair of the Membership Committee and is a member of the Practice Committee.

Chris Lance is the Director of Austin Zen Center and has been involved with Zen practice since 2001. He lived as a resident at AZC from August 2005 until April 2007 before returning to serve as Ino in January 2009. Chris spent the summer of 2007 practicing at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and lived at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center from 2008-2009. Prior to entering full-time residential practice, he worked in the non-profit world in the areas of program development and fundraising. Chris is an ex-officio member of the board and of all AZC committees.

Kosho McCall is Teacher and Head Priest of Austin Zen Center. Originally from Maine, Kosho practiced at San Francisco Zen Center for 20 years. He trained for 12 of those years at Tassajara Zen Mountain monastery where he became Head of Monastic Practice. Kosho received Dharma Transmission (authorization to teach) from Zenkei Hartman Roshi in 2003 and became Teacher at Austin Zen Center in May of 2009. Kosho is an ex-officio member of the board and of all AZC committees.