About
Roger Hillyard began Zen practice in 2007 at San Francisco Zen Center as a nonresident student. He served as attendant to teacher Shosan Victoria Austin for six years and received lay initiation in 2009. In 2011 he became a full-time resident at City Center and has lived and worked at the organization's three temples: City Center, Tassajara, and Green Gulch. He served as head student (Shuso) during the fall 2020 practice period. In 2025 he received Lay Entrustment from Rinso Ed Sattizahn, authorizing him as a Practice Leader. Beyond Zen, Hillyard has been involved in recovery work for over thirty years.
Teaching focus
Roger Hillyard'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. Roger Hillyard 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 Roger Hillyard 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. Roger Hillyard'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. Roger Hillyard'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
Roger Hillyard teaches in the Zen and Mahayana traditions. The teaching home is San Francisco Zen Center. From the teacher's own profile: Roger Hillyard first came to Zen practice in 2007, and studied as a nonresident at City Center for four years. During that time he became the Jiko (attendant) for his teacher Shosan Victoria Austin and continued in that role for six years. He received Buddha’s precepts and lay initiation from Shosan in 2009. In 2011, he became a full-time resident at City Center. He has lived and worked at Tassajara, Green Gulch, and City Center. He served on the SFZC Board and has held a variety of positions in the three temples. Roger was Shuso (head student) for the fall 2020 practice period at City Center. In 2025 he was Lay Entrusted by his teacher Rinso Ed Sattizahn; Entrustment invested him as a Practice Leader charged with practicing and teaching the dharma. In addition to his Zen practice, Roger has been actively involved in recovery for over thirty years. In a Zen container, what Roger Hillyard 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. Roger Hillyard'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. Roger Hillyard'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. Roger Hillyard'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. Roger Hillyard'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. Roger Hillyard'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. Roger Hillyard'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
Roger Hillyard 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 Roger Hillyard, 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.
