Josh Bartok Osho, the resident teacher at the Greater Boston Zen Center, is a Dharma Holder in Boundless Way Zen, and a transmitted Soto Zen priest, having received Denkai from James Ishmael Ford in July of 2011. (“Osho” is the title for a Zen priest who has received full transmission.)

Josh was ordained in July of 2006 by James Ishmael Ford and served as the Shuso for Boundless Way in Spring of 2010, leading a three-month practice period. In 2001, he became James Ford Roshi’s first formal student in the Boston area, and in 2005, James asked him to start the Boston sangha. Josh first encountered Zen practice in 1991 while studying Cognitive Science at Vassar College. In 1992, he became a student of Roshi John Daido Loori at Zen Mountain Monastery. After college he was a monastic practitioner at Zen Mountain Monastery for a year and a half. In 2000, he left Loori’s Mountains and Rivers Order, and spent some time studying with Jan Chozen Bays Roshi in Oregon. Together with Rod Meade Sperry he founded Spring Hill Zen in Somerville/Medford, and shortly after met James Ford, with whom he and several others help found the Zen Community of Boston, which later became Boundless Way Zen (BoWZ). Additionally, his Dharma is influenced by the Zen teaching of Ezra Bayda and Shin (Pure Land) Buddhism as taught by Shinran Shonin, and interpreted by Tai and Mark Unno.

He is the co-author, with Ezra Bayda, of Saying Yes To Life (Even the Hard Parts).  authoring editor of Daily Wisdom, More Daily Wisdom, Lama Zopa RInpoche’s How to Be Happy, and Lama Yeshe’s When the Chocolate Runs Out. As senior editor at Wisdom Publications, Josh has served as in-house staff editor for over a hundred and fifty other books in all traditions of Buddhism. Recreationally, he is an amateur photographer who shows locally and regionally, including shows at the Arylaloka Buddhist Retreat Center Contemplative Art program and the Garrison Institute. His photos can be seen HERE. An interview with Josh by Adam Tebbe of Sweeping Zen can be found HERE.  In 2011, Josh was on the planning and leadership committee for the Maha Sangha Gathering of young Dharma teachers and Dharma pioneers that took place in Garrison, New York. Josh is a member Soto Zen Buddhist Assoication (SZBA).

Kate Hartland is the Practice Leader for Tuesday evenings, and a Senior Dharma Teacher* for Boundless Way Zen. Before coming to Boundless Way she had studied with both Philip Kapleau (Rochester Zen Center) and Toni Packer (Springwater Center) and has been practicing for a total of about 12 years. During the week Kate works at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, screening hundreds of thousands of compounds to look for new therapeutic drug candidates. On weekends she hurls herself down slopes on skis, or paddles one of her four kayaks, while documenting the evidence here www.cathyhartland.com. She leads the beginner’s oreintations (which take place by appointment only.)

Mike Fieleke is the Practice Leader for Wednesday evenings, and a Dharma Teacher* for Boundless Way Zen. Mike has served as the Tanto, or practice leader, for many Zen retreats and has filled numerous leadership roles within the sangha. Mike is an educator in the Newton Public Schools where he offers meditation sessions for high school students. He has also taught meditation classes for Newton's Community Education program and interned in teaching Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction at UMass Medical School. Mike is the father of two children. He is also a jazz drummer, and when summer comes, you'll most likely find him swatting balls on the tennis courts.

Steve Wallace is the Practice Leader for Saturday mornings, and a Dharma Teacher for Boundless Way Zen.

THE GUIDING TEACHERS OF BOUNDLESS WAY ZEN

Reverend James Ishmael Ford Roshi served as the first abbot of the Boundless Way Zen school. James has been a student of Zen for nearly forty years. He was ordained unsui and received Dharma transmission from the late Houn Jiyu Kennett Roshi, completed koan study within the Harada/Yasutani tradition and received Inka shomei from John Tarrant Roshi. In 2004 he participated in the first Dharma Heritage ceremony of the forming Soto Zen Buddhist Association in North America. This event, designed to be the equivalent of the Japanese Soto Zuisse ceremony, was a public acknowledgment of James as a senior member of the North American Zen community. James is also a Unitarian Universalist minister, currently serving as senior minister of the First Unitarian Church of Providence, RI. His undergraduate degree is in Psychology. He has also earned an MDiv and an MA in the Philosophy of Religion. James is an adjunct teacher with the Pacific Zen Institute, and a member of the American Zen Teachers Association. James is the author of two books: In This Very Moment: A Simple Guide to Zen Buddhism and Zen Master WHO? A Guide to People and Stories of Zen. He is also the coeditor, with Melissa Myozen Blacker, of The Book of Mu. James the resident teacher at the Benevolent Street Sangha in Providence.

Melissa Myozen Blacker Roshi is Soto Zen priest and Dharma successor to James Ford Roshi. She formerly served as Co-Director of Professional Training at the Center for Mindfulness in the UMass Medical School, and is now one of the resident teachers at the Boundless Way Zen Temple in Worcester. She’s the coeditor, with James Ishmael Ford, of The Book of Mu.

David Dayan Rynick Roshi is a Dharma heir to George Bomun Bowman who was sanctioned as a teacher by Zen Master Seung Sahn. Zen Master Bowman has also continued his training for many years with the Rinzai priest Joshu Sasaki Roshi. David is also an Soto Zen priest, having received ordination and Dharma Tranmission in the Soto school from James Ford. David is currently a life and leadership coach, and one of the resident teachers at the Boundless Way Zen Temple in Worcester. He currently serves as the Boundless Way Zen school abbot. David is the author of This Truth Never Fails: A Zen Memoir in Four Seasons, forhcoming in Spring of 2012 from Wisdom Publications.

* In the Boundless Way Zen school, the title of Senior Dharma Teacher does not connote having yet received Dharma transmission. It is a title conferred by Boundless Way Zen’s guiding teachers and authorizes one to give private interviews (dokusan) and in some cases to work with students beginning koan introspection.