Spiritual Directors
Karin Ryuku Kempe has been practicing Zen since 1971, beginning at the Rochester Zen Center with Philip Kapleau Roshi and then with Toni Packer. Ryuku worked as a family physician for 20 years while raising her family. She practiced with Shishin Wick Roshi, dharma heir of Taizan Maezumi Roshi, at the Great Mountain Zen Center, receiving jukai from him in 1997. Karin completed her koan training in 2005 with Danan Henry Roshi at the Zen Center of Denver, and served as an assistant teacher until receiving dharma transmission in 2010. Karin also completed her training with Shishin Roshi and received inka from him in January 2019. She currently serves as co-spiritual director of the ZCD, along with Peggy Metta Sheehan.
Teisho (Dharma talks) by Karin Ryuku Kempe
Peggy Metta Sheehan practiced and studied with Danan Henry Roshi at the Zen Center of Denver beginning in 1991. She received lay ordination from him in 1999 and served as Head of Zendo from 2001 to 2005. She completed her koan study in 2005 and was an assistant teacher at the Zen Center from 2005-2010, receiving dharma transmission in September, 2010. Metta is a practicing pediatrician who is interested in mind-body medicine and teaches mindfulness-based stress reduction as part of her medical practice. She serves alongside Karin Roshi as co-spiritual director of the ZCD.
Assistant Teachers
Bill Kyoshin Hamaker has practiced at the Zen Center of Denver studying with Danan Henry Roshi and Karin Ryuku Roshi for over thirty years. He has served as Head of Zendo and as a member of the Board of Directors. A retired public school music teacher, Bill is married with two grown children and a cat. He became an assistant teacher in 2020.
Geoff Keeton began practice at the ZCD in 1991, studying with Danan Henry Roshi. He was ordained In 1996 and completed his formal training in 2015 with Ken Morgareidge Roshi, and received dharma transmission in 2024. In addition to being a teacher, Geoff is also the current leader of our Mountain Staff training program. He is a father, nurse and musician.
Dharma talks and teisho by Geoff Baoku Keeton
Dennis Sienko has been studying Zen for more than 25 years. He studied initially under Danan Henry Roshi and completed his koan training under Peggy Metta Roshi. Since 2016, Dennis has served as Head of Zendo for the ZCD, and in that capacity regularly helps new students learn about Zen. He was raised Catholic but found his true home in Zen. Dennis desires that all people find a fulfilling spiritual path that best resonates with them. He is married and has one daughter in college. Dennis became an assistant teacher in 2020.
Cathy Wright lives and works in Ft. Collins and the mountains of Leadville, CO. She began zazen in 1990 at the Zen Center of Denver under Danan Henry Roshi until his retirement, and received dharma transmission from Peggy Metta Roshi in 2023. She is currently runs a zazen group in Ft. Collins on Mondays and Tuesdays. She teaches yoga and enjoys pottery, hiking, and swimming.
Spiritual Director, Retired
Ken Tetsuzan Morgareidge joined the Zen Center of Denver and became a student of Philip Kapleau Roshi in 1984. He received lay ordination in 1986, and continued to study with Kapleau Roshi until he became a student of Danan Henry Roshi in 1988. He completed formal koan training in 2001 and was an assistant teacher until receiving dharma transmission in 2010. Ken earned a Ph.D in Physiology at UCLA and is now retired after 30 years teaching human biology courses at the Boulder College of Massage Therapy, Naropa University and the Rolf Institute. He is also the author of Dogs, Trees, Beards and Other Wonders: Meditations on the Forty-eight Cases of the Wumenguan. Ken Tetsuzan Roshi retired in 2021.