Department for Sustainable Living

Jerry Jian Flach is Project Director, Sustainable Building at the Paterson Habitat for Humanity and is founding Principal of Sustainable Solutions LLC, a sustainable business consulting practice for organizations committed to advancing economic, environmental and social goals.  At the Paterson Habitat for Humanity Jerry directs the building of energy efficient and healthy, affordable housing and the development of sustainable communities.  Jerry has over 20 years of project portfolio management and business analysis experience, transforming processes and systems and innovating solutions within leading financial services and nonprofit organizations.  She participates in local planning efforts and serves in an advisory capacity on several non profit boards Jerry develops and delivers financial literacy, sustainability and project management programming. She is PMP certified by the Project Management Institute and has an MBA from William Paterson University.

Spirituality for Social Justice

Frank McCann, MA, CSJP-A Frank McCann, MA, CSJP-A is an educator, advocate and activist for peace and social justice, who has has facilitated learning and advocacy nationally through his workshops and classes. He is Director of Just Neighbors, an interactive poverty awareness program created by Family Promise, a national non-profit that organizes congregations in local communities to shelter, feed, and provide services to temporarily homeless families, enabling them to achieve sustainable independence. Frank is an Associate with the Congregation of St. Joseph of Peace, and has served on the national steering committee of Let Justice Roll, a campaign for a living wage. He is a trustee for IRATE and First Friends, an organization that visits immigration detainees and lobbies for comprehensive immigration reform.

Emotional Intelligence

Jocelyn Jacks Kahn has been a student, practitioner and teacher of various energy healing methods since 1990. A desire to better understand the part the psyche plays in facilitating a return to wholeness led her to Inner Relationship Focusing (IRF), developed by Ann Weiser Cornell, in September of 2008. She entered the IRF training program toward certification as a Focusing Teacher and Guide in July of 2009 and will complete it by the end of 2010. For more on Jocelyn and her work, see her website: http://www.truly-profound-relief.com.

Buddhist Texts

Rev. Bill Jikai Greenberg, Sensei is a Zen Teacher, Buddhist Priest and Dharma Successor of Roshi Genki.
He is the leader of the Spirituality and Psychotherapy study Group, which has been meeting at High Mountain Crystal lake zen Community since 2003, a member of the American Psychiatric Association Committee on Religion, Spirituality and Psychotherapy. He is the President of the Board of Directors at High Mountain Crystal lake Zen Community since 2005.

Christian Zen

Sensei Ann Ankai Wagner is a Zen Teacher and Dharma Successor of Roshi Genki.
She is founder of the Christian Zen Ministry of Zen Garland, and directs the Christian Zen “Praying a New Story” Community and the Eckhart Tolle Living in the Now Group. She is a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace Lay Associates, Co-Founder of Oasis: A Haven for Women and Children in Paterson, NJ and a member of Waterspirit, an environmental center in Elberon, NJ.

Spiritual Development & Buddhist Studies, Ethics

Roshi Paul Genki Kahn is a Zen Buddhist Priest and Master Zen Teacher in the lineage of Taizan Maezumi Roshi. A student and practitioner of Buddhism and yoga for over 40 years, he is Founder and Spiritual Director of Zen Garland and High Mountain Crystal Lake Zen Community. As a licensed social worker, he has created and managed quality mental health programs for underserved populations in New York and New Jersey. He has served as Chair and member on state and county mental health boards and work committees, and maintains a private psychotherapy practice.

John Reizan Peterman, Ph.D. has been teaching Ancient Philosophy, Environmental Ethics and Humanities at William Paterson University for 30 years, where he has worked extensively on curricular reform and the development of new curricular initiatives. He became involved with Vipassana mediation 40 years ago and attended sittings with Dhiravamsa for many years. After teaching various Eastern Philosophies in his classroom over the years, his interest in sitting was renewed, and he joined Zen Garland in 2006. He now serves on its Board of Directors and is Chair of the Curriculum Committee. He also is one of the zendo’s hike leaders, helping to continue our meditation experience into other dimensions of our lives. He is a regular runner, cross country skier, gardener and outdoor enthusiast. He will be offering courses on ethics.

Zen Yoga

Ellen Seigyoku Peterman has been involved in education much of her adult life. She earned her Masters degree in child development at Sarah Lawrence College where she also taught in the Early Childhood Center. She has been interested in Buddhism and meditation since the age of 15 and began studying Vipassana meditation in 1974 with the Thai Buddhist, V.R. Dhiravamsa. This work included body and psychological/relational practices, helping people develop energy, awareness and presence in all aspects of their lives. The power of Dhiravamsa’s approach to spirituality laid the foundation for Ellen’s continuing focus on the body/mind continuum (Embodiment) in all experience. She continued her practice of Buddhism with a number of teachers at the Insight Meditation Society. Ellen has been studying Zen with Roshi Paul Genki Kahn since 2004.

Ellen received her yoga teacher certification from Kripalu and has been teaching yoga since 1996. Her classes draw on her experiences with many approaches to yoga and movement, including qi gong, Feldenkreis, anatomy of movement, zazen, Iyengar, Donna Farhi and Adrienne Jamiel. She serves on the Board of Directors of Zen Garland, is Chair for Embodiment Practices at Zen Garland’s Community Study Center & Seminary, and coordinates retreats.

Earth Science

Marc Daigyo Imhoff, Ph.D, is an internationally famous NASA scientist central in the development of remote sensing to study Earth sciences. Bouncing radar type signals back and forth between satellites and Earth and using computer programming to resolve images, he has studied leaf health to preserve forests, helped develop agriculture and tracked flood planes to save lives. His current project proposes to study urban sprawl to help design greener patterns of development for cities and towns that will shrink their carbon footprint. Currently he is in charge of a fleet of satellites studying Earth.
Mark and Genki began their Zen Buddhist practice together 40 years ago under Yamada Roshi and Aitken Roshi at Koko-an Zendo, Honolulu, HI. 

Tara Care: Buddhist Hospice Training

Wendy Megerman, Ngakma Yeshé Zértsal is the Director of Zen Garland’s Tara Care: Buddhist Hospice Training. She is an ordained disciple of Ngak’chang Rinpoche and Khandro Déchen and practices within Nyingma tradition of Vajrayana
Buddhism. She is a long time hospice professional who is currently in the process of co-founding
Community Hospice of Bergen County, a non-for-profit hospice located in Westwood, New Jersey.