Who We Are
The Santa Cruz Zen Center was founded in 1971 by Kobun Chino-Roshi and his students. He left the area in the early 1980's.
Our current Abbot, Katherine Thanas, has been teaching here since 1989. She trained for more than 20 years at the San Francisco Zen Center with Shunryu Suzuki-Roshi, Dainin Katagiri-Roshi, Richard Baker-Roshi, and Tenshin Anderson-Roshi.
She was ordained as a priest in 1975, and took Dharma Transmission in 1988. In November, 1988, she founded the Monterey Bay Zen Center and has taught in Santa Cruz and Monterey since then.
In July 2002, she was installed as the first Abbot of the S.C. Zen Center. The Center is staffed, maintained, and financially supported by the volunteer efforts of its members and friends.
