About
Christopher Key Chapple is Doshi Distinguished Clinical Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology at Loyola Marymount University and founding director of the Master of Arts in Yoga Studies program there. He began Zen practice at age 13 under Phillip Kapleau at the Zen Center of Rochester. He studied Buddhist texts in Tibetan and Sanskrit with Christopher George, a student of Geshe Wangyal. Chapple has published nearly thirty books on Buddhist faith and practice. He helped establish the Insight LA sitting group at LMU in 2004 and serves as land steward for the ILA Benedict Canyon Retreat.
Teaching focus
Christopher Key Chapple's teaching focus, drawn from the source profile, sits in the Zen and Tibetan traditions. Several threads come up: silent zazen as the central practice;. On talks, the style is closer to thinking-along than presenting. Christopher Key Chapple 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. The bigger move Christopher Key Chapple 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. Christopher Key Chapple'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. Christopher Key Chapple'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. Christopher Key Chapple'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
Christopher Key Chapple teaches in the Zen and Tibetan traditions. The teaching home is InsightLA. From the teacher's own profile: Christopher Key Chapple is Doshi Distinguished Clinical Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology and founding director of the Master of Arts in Yoga Studies at Loyola Marymount University. He has published nearly thirty books, many on various aspects of Buddhist faith and practice. Chris began Zazen at age 13 under the guidance of the Zen Center of Rochester, founded by Phillip Kapleau. He studied and read Buddhist texts in Tibetan and Sanskrit with Christopher George, a primary student of Geshe Wangyal. Chris helped arrange the hosting of the originary Insight LA sitting group at LMU in 2004, and continues to serve as a land steward for the ILA Benedict Canyon Retreat. In the Insight stream Christopher Key Chapple works inside, the emphasis is on direct attention to body, feeling tone, and mind, alongside the brahmaviharas and an ongoing investigation of how clinging and aversion arise. Talks tend to be conversational rather than scripted, and there's room for sila and ethics to be talked about as part of practice rather than as a separate topic. Christopher Key Chapple'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. Christopher Key Chapple'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. Christopher Key Chapple'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. Christopher Key Chapple'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. Christopher Key Chapple'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. Christopher Key Chapple'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. Christopher Key Chapple'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
Christopher Key Chapple teaches as a lay teacher in the Zen and Tibetan traditions. The institutional home, per the source listing, is InsightLA, and that's where most of the public teaching schedule and any retreat offerings will be posted. The Insight lineage in the West runs through teachers like Mahasi Sayadaw, U Ba Khin, Anagarika Munindra, and Dipa Ma into the founders of IMS, Spirit Rock, and the regional centers, and most contemporary Insight teachers position themselves somewhere in that broad family.
What to expect
On a class or retreat with Christopher Key Chapple, 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 InsightLA, 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.
