Teachers

StoneWater Northampton is convened by Alasdair Taisen Gordon-Finlayson, who ordained as a monk in the Soto Zen tradition in April 2011.  Note that this does not make him a Zen teacher!  The StoneWater teacher and founder is Keizan Scott Sensei, who is based in Liverpool and the Lake District, and the group's patron is Tenshin Fletcher Roshi of Yokoji Zen Mountain Centre in the US.

Keizan Scott Sensei

Keizan Sensei is the leader and founder of the StoneWater Zen Sangha.  He is an ordained Buddhist priest and lineage holder in the Soto Zen school, having received shiho (dharma transmission) from Tenshin Fletcher Roshi in October 2009.  He is also a widely published writer on Japan, Zen Buddhism, comparative religion and cookery, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.  Sensei is based in Liverpool where he teaches and gives daisan (formal interviews) each week, and leads many sesshin (retreats) around the country.

Tenshin Fletcher Roshi

Born in Manchester, England, Charles Tenshin Fletcher Roshi went to the United States in 1979 to study at the Zen Center of Los Angeles with founder Taizan Maezumi Roshi. In 1994, Tenshin Roshi received Dharma Transmission (authorization to teach) in the White Plum lineage from Maezumi Roshi, and Inka from Genpo Roshi in 2006 (Zen Master, final seal of approval). He is now the primary teacher and abbot at Yokoji Zen Mountain Center near San Diego in the US.

Keizan Sensei (left) and Tenshin Roshi