About
About | Leadership | Lineage | Board
ZFB membership has appointed a board of directors for the purposes of conducting organizational business. The board holds periodic meetings throughout the year, and any member of the ZFB is welcome to attend.
The Zen Fellowship of Bakersfield is dedicated to the practice of zazen (Zen meditation) in the Soto tradition of Taisen Deshimaru and Kodo Sawaki. We are an American Zen Association member organization affiliated with the New Orleans Zen Temple, the Zen Fellowship of Alexandria, Louisiana, and the Mississippi Dojos in Starkville, Jackson, and Hattiesburg.
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| Photo by Robin Ramirez |
The ZFB offered its first Introduction to Zen on
22 January 2011. Since that time, the organization has continued to cultivate a robust sangha and explore avenues for the sharing of Zen practice with its community.
Sangha activies include:
- Weekly zazen and ceremony
- Zen retreats throughout the year
- Sitting groups at college campuses in our region
- Dharma talks
- Introductions to Zen practice
- Dharma outreach for local prison populations
- Support for the St. Paul's Food Co-Op
Leadership
The Fellowship, founded by Richard Collins Roshi in 2011, is led by Gary Enns who received bodhisattva ordination from Robert Livingston in 2012, monastic ordination from Collins in 2016, and shusso (authorization to teach) from Collins in 2022 at the New Orleans Zen Temple. For biographies, visit the Leadership page.A Non-Profit Organization
A 501(c)(3) non-profit religious organization, the ZFB is eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable donations. The organization's California "Articles of Incorporation of a Non-profit Religious Corporation" were approved 11 July 2013, and its IRS 501(c)(3) status was approved 11 August 2014.ZFB membership has appointed a board of directors for the purposes of conducting organizational business. The board holds periodic meetings throughout the year, and any member of the ZFB is welcome to attend.
