Bruce Seiryu Blackman, Sensei, is Spiritual Director and Guiding Zen Teacher for the ZCB/Clare Sangha. He began his Zen studies in the early 1980s while working and living in Southeast Asia where he trained with Sr. Elaine MacInnes, Roshi, of the Sanbo Kyodan; and later with the Diamond Sangha of Robert Aitken, Roshi. Bruce has been active in the Clare Sangha since 1996, when he became a student of founder Roshi Janet Jinne Richardson. He was named a Dharma Holder in 2001 and Sensei in the White Plum Sangha and Zen Peacemakers in 2004. As a householder with life experiences in the foreign service, adoptions, prison ministry and storytelling, Sensei’s spiritual guidance follows the tradition of Clare Sangha — to cultivate wisdom and compassion.
Dharma Teacher: Roshi Janet Jinne Richardson
Description of Group Bruce Leads
The Zen Community of Baltimore/Clare Sangha consists of people from all walks of life and various religious backgrounds who come together regularly to support and strengthen one another in their Zen practice. Our common purpose is to cultivate wisdom and compassion. ZCB is affiliated with the White Plum Asanga and a member of the Zen Peacemakers Sangha.
Sensei Rose Mary Myoan Dougherty is a member of an international community of vowed religious women whose call today is to hear the cries of the earth and its people and respond compassionately. She has offered workshops, retreats, and spiritual guidance in the contemplative tradition in interfaith settings for over thirty years. She began her Zen studies with Charlotte Joko Beck and is dharma heir of Janet Jinne Richardson, Roshi. She completed the End of Life Counseling Program at Meta Institute in California. She volunteers at a hospice for the homeless in Washington, D.C., and offers retreats and workshops for hospice caregivers, especially through the program Companioning the Dying: Opening Fully to Living, which she co-directs. As a sensei in the White Plum Asanga, she teaches Zen meditation at Silver Spring Zendo/One Heart Sangha in Silver Spring, Maryland, and in other settings.