About
Kōgen Dai-Hō Kim Hart is a Zen priest and teacher at San Francisco Zen Center. She began practicing Zen in South Africa in the early 1990s, then trained with the Deshimaru lineage in London and with Fausto Taiten Guareschi at Fudenji in Italy for nearly six years. She became a resident at San Francisco Zen Center in 2011 and was ordained as a priest in 2016 by Ryushin Zendo Paul Haller. She served as shuso (head student) at SFZC's City Center during the Winter 2022 Practice Period. Kim works as an artist and cleaner in San Francisco.
Teaching focus
Kogen Kim Hart'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. Kogen Kim Hart 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 Kogen Kim Hart 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. Kogen Kim Hart'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. Kogen Kim Hart'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
Kogen Kim Hart teaches in the Zen and Mahayana traditions. The teaching home is San Francisco Zen Center. From the teacher's own profile: Kōgen Dai-Hō Kim Hart’s Zen journey began in South Africa in the early 1990s. She subsequently moved to London where she sat with the Deshimaru lineage, followed by a move to Italy where she practised with Maestro Fausto Taiten Guareschi at Fudenji for close to six years. She began training as a resident at the San Francisco Zen Center in 2011 and was ordained as a priest in 2016 by her teacher, Ryushin Zendo Paul Haller. She was invited to be shuso at SFZC's City Center for the Winter 2022 Practice Period. Kim lives in San Francisco with her husband and three incredibly talented cats; she works as an artist and cleaner. In a Zen container, what Kogen Kim Hart 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. Kogen Kim Hart'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. Kogen Kim Hart'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. Kogen Kim Hart'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. Kogen Kim Hart'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. Kogen Kim Hart'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. Kogen Kim Hart'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. Kogen Kim Hart'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
Kogen Kim Hart 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 Kogen Kim Hart, 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.
