Ryushin Paul Haller, a

Soto Zen Soto may refer to: Geography *Soto (Aller), parish in Asturias, Spain * Soto (Las Regueras), parish in Asturias, Spain *Soto, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles * Soto, Russia, a rural locality (a ''selo'') in Megino-Kangalassky District of the Sakha ...

roshi, is a former abbot of the

San Francisco Zen Center San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC), is a network of affiliated Sōtō Zen practice and retreat centers in the San Francisco Bay area, comprising City Center or Beginner's Mind Temple, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, and Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. Th ...

—a position he held from 2003 until February 2012.SFZC Lineage Leaving his homeland of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

in the early 1970s, Haller spent time in Russia,

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He then went to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

for two years where he was ordained as a Buddhist monk. Coming to California in 1974, he entered

Tassajara Zen Mountain Center The Tassajara Zen Mountain Center is the oldest Buddhism in Japan, Japanese Buddhist Sōtō Zen monastery in the United States. It is on the border of the Ventana Wilderness and within the Los Padres National Forest, southeast of Carmel-by-the-S ...

and was later ordained as a priest by

Zentatsu Richard Baker Richard Dudley Baker (born March 30, 1936) is an American Soto Zen master (or roshi), the founder and guiding teacher of Dharma Sangha—which consists of Crestone Mountain Zen Center located in Crestone, Colorado and the ''Buddhistisches Studien ...

in 1980. He received shiho from

Sojun Mel Weitsman Hakuryu Sojun Mel Weitsman (July 20, 1929 – January 7, 2021), born Mel Weitsman, was an American Buddhist who was the founder, abbot and guiding teacher of Berkeley Zen Center located in Berkeley, California. Weitsman was a Soto Zen Rōshi, r ...

in 1993, giving him authority to teach.Ford, 130ClarkeSFZC Since 2000 Haller has also been the teacher of Black Mountain Zen Centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

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Black Mountain Zen CentreSan Francisco Zen Center
1947 births Living people San Francisco Zen Center Zen Buddhist abbots Religious leaders from Belfast Alumni of Queen's University Belfast British Zen Buddhists Buddhists from Northern Ireland Religious leaders from the San Francisco Bay Area Rōshi {{UK-reli-bio-stub

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