About
Chikudo Catherine Spaeth is a Zen practitioner ordained in 2013 by Susan Tokudo Jion Postal, a student of Darlene Cohen. Based at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center since 2014, she studies with Ryushin Paul Haller. Spaeth has served in various leadership roles at Tassajara, including Work Leader, Tenzo, Ino, Shuso, and Shika. She leads courses and workshops both online and in person. She is affiliated with San Francisco Zen Center.
Teaching focus
Chikudo Catherine Spaeth's teaching focus, drawn from the source profile, sits in the Zen and Mahayana traditions. Several threads come up: steady attention to body and breath; the relationship between ethics and meditation; and short, direct teachings rather than long talks. On talks, the style is closer to thinking-along than presenting. Chikudo Catherine Spaeth 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 Chikudo Catherine Spaeth 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. Chikudo Catherine Spaeth'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. Chikudo Catherine Spaeth'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
Chikudo Catherine Spaeth teaches in the Zen and Mahayana traditions. The teaching home is San Francisco Zen Center. From the teacher's own profile: Chikudo Catherine Spaeth was ordained in 2013 by Susan Tokudo Jion Postal, a student of Darlene Cohen. A resident attendant for Susan Postal, upon her passing Catherine returned to Tassajara to become a student of Ryushin Paul Haller. Since arriving there in 2014, her main practice has been the Tassajara Practice Period. She has since been Work Leader, Tenzo, Ino, Shuso, and Shika, and has led courses and workshops online and in person. She is a grateful and loving mother to her son and his wife, and a grandmother of three. In a Zen container, what Chikudo Catherine Spaeth 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. Chikudo Catherine Spaeth'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. Chikudo Catherine Spaeth'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. Chikudo Catherine Spaeth'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. Chikudo Catherine Spaeth'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. Chikudo Catherine Spaeth'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. Chikudo Catherine Spaeth'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. Chikudo Catherine Spaeth'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. Chikudo Catherine Spaeth'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
Chikudo Catherine Spaeth teaches as a monastic teacher in the Zen and Mahayana traditions. The institutional home, per the source listing, is San Francisco 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 Chikudo Catherine Spaeth, the basic shape is short instruction, longer sittings, and some Q&A. Online sittings and talks, mostly in real time with optional recordings, are part of the offering. The container is shaped by San Francisco 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.
