Rev. Dan Taigen Leighton

Taigen began study of Buddhist art in Kyoto and Nara for three months in 1970, and began formal Soto Zen practice four years later in New York. He moved to San Francisco in 1978, and started working full-time for S.F. Zen Center in 1980. He lived at Tassajara Monastery for three years in the mid-80s. After two years living in Kyoto, he returned in 1994 to found Mountain Source Sangha in the S.F. Bay Area. He received Dharma Transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson in 2000. Taigen has written ten books of commentary and translation including Cultivating the Empty Field: a Translation of Hongzhi; Faces of Compassion; Visions of Awakening Space and Time: Dogen and the Lotus Sutra; Dogen’s Extensive Record; Zen Questions; and Just This Is It: Dongshan and the Practice of Suchness. In 2007 he relocated to Chicago where he founded Ancient Dragon Zen Gate. He retired from leading that group in 2024, but remains as Guiding Teacher Emeritus. For more detail see [taigenleighton.org].