About
Rinso Ed Sattizahn is a Zen priest in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi. He lived at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center from 1973 to 1977 and later served as Vice President and President of San Francisco Zen Center. After working in the microcomputer software industry from 1983 to 2000, Sattizahn returned to formal practice. He was ordained as a Zen priest in 2010 and received Dharma Transmission in 2012 from Lew Richmond. In 2003, he co-founded Vimala Sangha in Mill Valley, dedicated to householder Zen practice. Sattizahn served as Abiding Abbot at City Center beginning in 2014 and as Central Abbot from 2019 to 2023. He is the guiding teacher at Vimala Sangha Mill Valley.
Teaching focus
Rinso Ed Sattizahn'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. Rinso Ed Sattizahn 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 Rinso Ed Sattizahn 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. Rinso Ed Sattizahn'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. Rinso Ed Sattizahn'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
Rinso Ed Sattizahn teaches in the Zen and Mahayana traditions. The teaching home is San Francisco Zen Center. From the teacher's own profile: After meeting Suzuki Roshi in 1970, Rinso Ed Sattizahn lived at Tassajara from 1973 to 1977. He spent the next five years at City Center, serving as Zen Center's Vice President and President. From 1983 to 2000 Ed held various executive positions in the microcomputer software industry and developed familiarity with how the world works. In 2003, he served as Shuso (Head Student) at Green Gulch Farm, and in the same year co-founded Vimala Sangha in Mill Valley with Lew Richmond. Vimala Sangha is named after Vimalakirti, the famous householder disciple of the Buddha, and is dedicated to the practice of householder Zen in the tradition of Suzuki Roshi. Ed received Lay Entrustment in 2005, was ordained as a Zen priest in 2010, and received Dharma Transmission in 2012, all from Lew Richmond. Ed previously served on the Zen Center Board for six years (2006-2011) and as board chair for three years (2009-2011). In March 2014, Ed became Abiding Abbot at City Center, and in March 2019 stepped into the role of Central Abbot, from which he stepped down in March 2023. He remains the guiding teacher at Vimala Sangha Mill Valley. In a Zen container, what Rinso Ed Sattizahn 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. Rinso Ed Sattizahn'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. Rinso Ed Sattizahn'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. Rinso Ed Sattizahn'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. Rinso Ed Sattizahn'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. Rinso Ed Sattizahn'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
Rinso Ed Sattizahn 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 Rinso Ed Sattizahn, 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.
