About
Kikū Christina Lehnherr is a Zen teacher in the lineage of Tenshin Reb Anderson at San Francisco Zen Center. She was ordained as a priest in 1993 and received Dharma Transmission in 2005. She served as Tanto (Head of Practice) at City Center from 2003 to 2006 and as Abiding Abbess from 2012 to 2014. She holds degrees in physical therapy and clinical psychology, both practiced professionally in Switzerland. Since 2006 she has been based in Marin and teaches as a non-residential teacher.
Teaching focus
Kiku Christina Lehnherr'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. Kiku Christina Lehnherr 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 Kiku Christina Lehnherr 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. Kiku Christina Lehnherr'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. Kiku Christina Lehnherr'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
Kiku Christina Lehnherr teaches in the Zen and Mahayana traditions. The teaching home is San Francisco Zen Center. From the teacher's own profile: Kikū Christina Lehnherr served as Abiding Abbess at City Center from 2012 to 2014. She has degrees in physical therapy and clinical psychology, and practiced both in Switzerland. A student of Tenshin Reb Anderson, she was ordained as a priest in 1993 and received Dharma Transmission in 2005. From 2003 to 2006 she served as Tanto (Head of Practice) at City Center. Since 2006 Christina has lived in Marin, and continues to support students as a non-residential teacher. In a Zen container, what Kiku Christina Lehnherr 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. Kiku Christina Lehnherr'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. Kiku Christina Lehnherr'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. Kiku Christina Lehnherr'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. Kiku Christina Lehnherr'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. Kiku Christina Lehnherr'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. Kiku Christina Lehnherr'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. Kiku Christina Lehnherr'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. Kiku Christina Lehnherr'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
Kiku Christina Lehnherr 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 Kiku Christina Lehnherr, the basic shape is short instruction, longer sittings, and some Q&A. 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.
