About
Bodhin Kjolhede is a Zen priest and teacher in the lineage of Philip Kapleau. He joined the Rochester Zen Center in 1970, was ordained in 1976, and completed twelve years of koan training under Kapleau. After a pilgrimage through Asia, he was installed as Kapleau's Dharma Successor in 1986 and became Abbot of the Rochester Zen Center in 1987. He has led hundreds of meditation retreats in the United States and Europe. Kjolhede has authorized nine students as Zen teachers; three currently teach at the Rochester Zen Center. Since 2022, he serves as Spiritual Director Emeritus and lives in Florida.
Teaching focus
Bodhin Kjolhede's teaching focus, drawn from the source profile, sits in the Zen tradition. Several threads come up: koan introspection;. On talks, the style is closer to thinking-along than presenting. Bodhin Kjolhede works with whatever shows up in the room rather than reading from notes, which is part of why these talks land as conversational instead of scripted. Short pauses, longer sits, and questions that come back to direct experience are usual. Listed specialties on the source profile include retreat, advanced practice. The bigger move Bodhin Kjolhede keeps making is back toward attention itself: what's happening, how it's being held, and what gets in the way. That keeps the teaching close to practice rather than drifting into commentary about practice. For talks, schedules, and longer essays, the affiliated organization's page is where the live material lives. Bodhin Kjolhede's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on. Bodhin Kjolhede's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on. Bodhin Kjolhede's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on.
Background
Bodhin Kjolhede teaches in the Zen tradition. The teaching home is Rochester Zen Center. From the teacher's own profile: Bodhin Kjolhede graduated from the University of Michigan and came to the Center in 1970. He was ordained as a Buddhist priest in 1976 and went on to spend several years traveling extensively with the Center’s founder, Roshi Philip Kapleau, and working closely with him on three of his books. After completing twelve years of koan training under Roshi Kapleau, Roshi Kjolhede spent a year on pilgrimage through Japan, China, India, Tibet, and Taiwan. In 1986 he was installed by Roshi Kapleau as his Dharma Successor and, the following year, Abbot of the Center. Since then he has conducted hundreds of meditation retreats, most of seven days, in the United States, Sweden, Germany, and Mexico. He has published numerous articles and traveled widely to participate in Buddhist teachers’ conferences. In his more than 35 years of teaching, Roshi Kjolhede has sanctioned nine of his students as Zen teachers; they now lead Zen centers in the United States, Mexico, Scandinavia, Germany, and New Zealand. Three of those teachers, Sensei John Pulleyn, Sensei Dhara Kowal, and Sensei Jissai Prince-Cherry, currently serve as teachers of the Rochester Zen Center. In semi-retirement since 2022, Roshi Kjolhede now serves as the Center’s Spiritual Director Emeritus, and lives with his wife in Florida. In a Zen container, what Bodhin Kjolhede offers is steady, mostly silent practice with short pointed teachings. The form is the teaching as much as the words are. Sitting, walking, work practice, and the relationship with a teacher all carry weight. Bodhin Kjolhede's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Bodhin Kjolhede's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Bodhin Kjolhede's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Bodhin Kjolhede's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography. Bodhin Kjolhede's page on OMP collects the publicly available bio, the listed affiliations, and any talks tracked through the source archive, and is meant as a directory entry rather than an authorized biography.
Lineage
Bodhin Kjolhede teaches as a monastic teacher in the Zen tradition. The institutional home, per the source listing, is Rochester Zen Center, and that's where most of the public teaching schedule and any retreat offerings will be posted. The Zen lineage frame here, where stated, is what authorizes a teacher to lead practice, and the source page usually names the dharma teacher or root teacher when relevant.
What to expect
On a class or retreat with Bodhin Kjolhede, the basic shape is short instruction, longer sittings, and some Q&A. Retreats are part of the offering, usually a few days to a week, mostly silent. The container is shaped by Rochester Zen Center, so format details, fees, and access policies follow that organization's norms. Expect plenty of silence, less talking-at-you than you might think, and an emphasis on letting the practice do its work rather than chasing experiences. For exact dates, registration, and any sliding-scale or scholarship information, There's usually a short Q&A window and, on retreats, optional teacher interviews where students can bring specific questions about their practice.
