James Sullivan

If you've been to our Zen Eats on Tuesday nights, chances are you've enjoyed eating food cooked by James Sullivan. James started reading about Zen and the beat poets when he was at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. He graduated there with a bachelors in Mathematics and went on to do further studies in computer sciences. He went to work as a software engineer and database admin for IFS, a Swedish company that develops and maintains a suite of Enterprise Resource Planning software. He worked there for six years, but was laid off in 2005. 

He then decided to go to culinary school at the Institute of Chicago where after 18 months of attending night classes, he received a degree in culinary arts in 2007. He then proceeded to work for hotels in Chicago such as the Peninsula Hotel and the Four Seasons.

At the present time James is in between jobs. He is married to Sharada who works in Finance Accounting for a firm in downtown Chicago. He and his wife moved to Oak Park two and a half years ago.

James spent many years looking at the Zen Life & Meditation Center (ZLMC) web site before venturing to visit. At first he was afraid it might be too "new age". He had some experiences with other groups that were disappointing. So he was pleasantly surprised to find that ZLMC had a reasonable balance between something that was approachable and still like traditional Zen training. He says, "It took courage for me to come to ZLMC and I'm glad I did."

James is now an Advanced Member doing traditional Zen training at ZLMC. James sits meditation most mornings during the week at ZLMC. He says, "sitting every morning makes my day easier. I'm not sure how it does that, but I'm confident it does. The practice helps me keep things in perspective. I feel more grounded and mindful about my habits and things that pull me away from what I want to be." He also increasingly enjoys doing retreats such as the Day of Mindfulness and the Two Day Residential Retreats that ZLMC offers regularly. 

James' parents, Thomas and Margaret, live in Batavia. James is the oldest of three siblings. His younger sister, Karen is a third grade teacher and his younger brother, Rob works for John Deere in Iowa as an IT systems person. 

Each Tuesday night, James volunteers his time to cook our community a delicious meal. He says "I love to see people smile and talk and to see the community grow. I think food facilitates that." Most of us who have eaten his food on Tuesday night would gratefully agree. It's wonderful to have James in our community. His youthful enthusiasm and generous spirit bring richness and joy to those around him.