Be a positive force in the world.
Senseis Michelle Brandt and Gary Brandt teach in person in Santa Rosa CA and via Zoom. Deanna Hopper Sensei teaches in person in Santa Rosa and via Zoom, and Rev. Christopher Bell Sensei leads an in person group of the Episcopalian church of Portland OR. They are under the continuing guidance of Rachel Roshi and are authorized to teach koans, give individual guidance to students, and conduct Refuge in the Bodhisattva Way classes.
Walking and seated meditation, introspection, koan work, and meetings with the teachers are each held in a container which emphasizes respect for each other and all beings.
We welcome everyone into our meditation halls, be it in person or via Zoom – all faiths, genders, ethnicities, sexual preference, ages, and abilities. And we believe BLACK LIVES MATTER!
CityZen meets in person in Santa Rosa twice a month and via Zoom every Monday evening at 7:00pm for: silent seated meditation, walking meditation, dharma talk, tea, and discussion. Please contact gbrandt@sonic.net to receive the link or the notices to attend these evenings. There is also a twice monthly Wednesday evening sitting via zoom led by Deanna Hopper Sensei.
Opportunities for individual guidance with a teacher are available by appointment. (See the Teachers’ page for details about making those arrangements.)
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| Rachel Mansfield-Howlett Roshi |
Rachel Mansfield-Howlett was given the dharma name Western Dragon in the Rinzai tradition; she is a public interest environmental attorney, Zen Roshi, and professor of law, with degrees in botany, environmental horticulture, and law. She teaches primarily in Santa Rosa and via Zoom.
Born into a family of ranchers, farmers, and schoolteachers in rural Oklahoma she moved with her family to southern California in the 1960s, attended college in Chico and settled in Sonoma County in the early 70s with her husband, Brian Fuke Howlett, an artist and Zen teacher in a separate Zen tradition. Many of the images used in CityZen are original art work and photographs by Brian Fuke. Rachel traces her Chickasaw heritage through her maternal grandfather, a descendant of former Chickasaw leader Daugherty (Winchester) Colbert.
Rachel has a degree in science with Environmental Horticulture and Botany emphases. She worked in the wholesale plant biz for many years, focusing on introducing California native and mediterranean plants into the California landscape.
Rachel founded CityZen in 2011, which offers a style of Zen practice for contemporary American life. A 40-year practitioner of Zen, she was authorized to teach Zen and koans in 2003 and received full transmission, Inka Shomei, in 2009 in the Pacific Zen School lineage from John Tarrant Roshi. Complimentary to her environmental law practice, she teaches a western style of Zen that emphasizes social justice, environmental, and community values.
She was led to Zen in the 1970s through her interest in the intersection between art, Zen, environmentalism, and cooking while she lived in residence for a yearlong practice period at Coyote Zen School of the Arts led by Vikki Kath and her then husband.
Rachel is currently involved in developing practices for CityZen that help us to lay down our reactive responses and awaken to the joy underneath this life that allows us to live in more harmony with the world.
She and her husband are passionate about establishing relationships with local farmers, buying locally, and creating seasonal simple meals. Rachel is developing a menu for our 7-day sesshins that involves cooking from scratch: healthy, seasonal, exquisite meals that are fun to learn to make. She believes everyone ought to be able to simply prepare a healthy meal for themselves using everyday local ingredients.
She enjoys being close to her family and a grandma to her two beautiful grandchildren.
