About
Doshin Dan Gudgel practices in the Soto Zen lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. He began practice with Mountain Source Sangha in Marin County, California in 2006 and entered residential training at San Francisco Zen Center in 2019, first at Green Gulch Farm and then Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. He was ordained as a priest in December 2019 by Shinko Rick Slone. During three years at Tassajara, he worked in the kitchen, serving as tenzo (kitchen manager) in 2022. He currently serves as Director of Online Content for San Francisco Zen Center.
Teaching focus
Doshin Dan Gudgel'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. Doshin Dan Gudgel 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 online. The bigger move Doshin Dan Gudgel 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. Doshin Dan Gudgel'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. Doshin Dan Gudgel'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
Doshin Dan Gudgel teaches in the Zen and Mahayana traditions. The teaching home is San Francisco Zen Center. From the teacher's own profile: Dōshin Dan Gudgel has been practicing in the Soto Zen lineage of Shunryu Suzuki since 2006, when he was introduced to the Mountain Source Sangha in Marin County, CA. After many years of neighborhood, householder practice with the teachers and members of Mountain Source, Dan entered residential practice with San Francisco Zen Center in 2019, first at Green Gulch Farm and then Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. In December, 2019, Dan was ordained as a priest by Shinko Rick Slone. During three years at Tassajara, Dan practised primarily in the kitchen, first as a crew member and fukuten, and then tenzo (kitchen manager) during 2022. Informed by both residential, monastic Zen and parish church Zen, Dan's current practice is focused around activating the teachings in everyday life and imbuing everyday life with the spirit of ceremony. Dan currently serves as Director of Online Content for San Francisco Zen Center. Photo of Dan by Kika Hellein. In a Zen container, what Doshin Dan Gudgel 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. Doshin Dan Gudgel'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. Doshin Dan Gudgel'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. Doshin Dan Gudgel'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. Doshin Dan Gudgel'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. Doshin Dan Gudgel'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. Doshin Dan Gudgel'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
Doshin Dan Gudgel 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 Doshin Dan Gudgel, 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.
