Guiding Priest/Teacher

Myoho Joshin John Busch is Guiding Priest/Teacher of Mt. Diablo Zen Group. John has practiced meditation for a half century. As a Peace Corps volunteer he was stationed near the Thai Theravada teacher Ajahn Chah and practiced at his forest monasteries (Wat Ba Nanachat/Wat Ba Pong). Subsequently he practiced Vipassana with various Insight Meditation teachers in the U.S. His first Zen teacher was the renowned Tassajara and Greens chef Kainei Edward Espe Brown. John trained for a decade at the Berkeley Zen Center under Sojun Mel Weitsman and Hozan Alan Senauke. He has practiced at all the San Francisco Zen Center temples including a three-month residential practice period (Ango) at Tassajara. He received Soto Zen priest ordination in 2015 and Dharma Transmission in 2019 from Myosho Baika Heaton and served as Head Student/Shuso in 2018. John has served as a chaplain and hospice caregiver and has training in grief counseling and end-of-life rituals.

To contact Mt. Diablo Zen: email John

Founder (Retired)

Myosho Baika Andrea Heaton née Pratt is the founder and former Abbess and teacher of Mt. Diablo Zen Group. Baika is a Dharma heir in the lineage of Shogaku Shunryu Suzuki—founder of the San Francisco Zen Center. She has practiced Zen meditation since 1987 and received Dharma transmission in 2011 from Myoan Grace Schireson, Abbess of Central Valley Zen, California. Baika also has undergone Soto Zen training with Sojun Mel Weitsman of Berkeley Zen Center where she was a resident for many years. She is a graduate of the SPOT Leadership Program of the Shogaku Institute and has been certified by Mindfulness Schools to teach Mindfulness to children in public schools. Baika is a recipient of the Peace and Justice Award in Contra Costa County.

Teacher (Retired)

Shinko Seiwa Leslie Bartholic co-facilitated Mt. Diablo Zen Group’s Wednesday evening program for many years. She began Zen practice in the early 90s with a Thich Nhat Hanh sitting group and with monthly sittings at Green Gulch Zen Center. In 1999, Leslie began practicing at Berkeley Zen Center, where she held many traditional Zen temple positions, including serving on the Board of Directors and Practice Committee. She received lay ordination from Sojun Mel Weitsman Roshi in 2002, served as Shuso in 2011, and received lay Entrustment July 10, 2017.