About
Hiro Ikushima is a Zen practitioner based at San Francisco Zen Center. Originally from Japan, he began formal Zen practice in 2008 and spent four months at Antaiji temple in 2013. He moved to SFZC in 2014 and completed a six-year monastic residency at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, where he held several leadership roles including Ino (Head of the Meditation Hall), Tenzo (Head Cook), and Work Leader. He studies with Teah Strozer and practices as a lay practitioner. He served as Shuso (head student) during the Fall 2023 Practice Period at Tassajara and currently serves as Corporate Secretary at SFZC.
Teaching focus
Hiro Ikushima'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. Hiro Ikushima 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 Hiro Ikushima 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. Hiro Ikushima'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. Hiro Ikushima'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
Hiro Ikushima teaches in the Zen and Mahayana traditions. The teaching home is San Francisco Zen Center. From the teacher's own profile: Hiro Ikushima is originally from Japan and began formally practicing Zen in 2008. In 2013, he practiced for four months at Antaiji, a Zen temple in Japan, an experience that deeply shaped the foundation of his practice. Hiro came to San Francisco Zen Center in the spring of 2014 with a background in technology. He began his residency at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, where he lived and practiced for six years in a monastic environment. During his time at Tassajara and later at City Center, he held several leadership positions, including Ino (Head of the Meditation Hall), Tenzo (Head Cook), and Work Leader. At SFZC, Hiro studied with Linda Ruth Cutts and Teah Strozer, who is his current teacher. Under Teah’s guidance, he has continued to deepen his practice as a lay practitioner. He served as head student (Shuso) for the Fall 2023 Practice Period at Tassajara and is currently serving as Corporate Secretary. In a Zen container, what Hiro Ikushima 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. Hiro Ikushima'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. Hiro Ikushima'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. Hiro Ikushima'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. Hiro Ikushima'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. Hiro Ikushima'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. Hiro Ikushima'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
Hiro Ikushima teaches as a lay 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 Hiro Ikushima, 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 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.
