Rev. Daigan Gaither began Buddhist practice in 1995 in the Vipassana (Insight) tradition, and then began to study Zen in 2003 with Ryushin Paul Haller Roshi. He received Lay Ordination in 2006 where he was given the name Daigan or “Great Vow”, and received Priest Ordination in July 2011. Daigan speaks internationally on a variety of topics particularly around gender, sexuality, social justice and their intersections with the Dharma.
He has a BA in Philosophy and Religion from San Francisco State University, and an MA in Buddhist Studies from the Graduate Theological Union and the Institute of Buddhist Studies.
We also will conduct our monthly brief annual memorial for our founder Issan – Rev. Issan Dorsey, whose life story is told in the book Street Zen by David Schneider (winner of the Tricycle Prize for Best Book on Buddhism in America), brought the center from its early beginnings as The Gay Buddhist Club of 1980 to the modern-day Hartford Street Zen Center, becoming Abbot there in 1989.
Join us for zazen (seated meditation), with the talk to follow, we offer in-person distanced attendance; We also will continue to offer a Zoom web conferencing for video and/or audio presence for the scheduled events. there’s an early session at 6:30am and then the more popular 9:30 zazen (you can log into the conference starting at 9am to socialize) for 40 minutes and a Dharma talk at 10:30am, followed by Q&A as well as an opportunity to check in and see how you are doing, followed by a ceremony if applicable, then tea and cookies in person after that. Please click here to be routed to our Zoom gathering after the Dharma talk, this week we’ll have a short ceremony thanking Issan for his life and work to bring us our small and deeply loved temple.
And as always you can contact us to arrange an introductory session ~8:30am if you are a beginner.