About
Sozan Miglioli is a Zen teacher in the Shunryu Suzuki Roshi lineage. Originally from Argentina, he worked in business and marketing before beginning formal Zen practice in 2013 at San Francisco Zen Center. He completed multiple practice periods at City Center and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, and received priest ordination in 2018. Miglioli served as President of San Francisco Zen Center until 2024 and received Dharma Transmission in 2025. He is founder and head teacher of Zen Without Borders.
Teaching focus
Sozan Miglioli'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. Sozan Miglioli 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 Sozan Miglioli 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. Sozan Miglioli'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. Sozan Miglioli'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
Sozan Miglioli teaches in the Zen and Mahayana traditions. The teaching home is San Francisco Zen Center. From the teacher's own profile: Originally from Argentina, Sozan Miglioli began his Zen practice and received the precepts in the Deshimaru lineage. He graduated in Business Administration in Buenos Aires in 1995 and worked in marketing for international corporations before founding his advertising company in 1999, with offices in Buenos Aires, Barcelona, and Mexico City. Sozan first discovered San Francisco Zen Center in 2013 while on his honeymoon and in 2014 completed his first practice period at City Center. After living in Japan in 2015, Sozan and his wife Paula Pietranera became residents at San Francisco Zen Center. He then lived at Tassajara for a year and a half, completing three practice periods. Sozan received priest ordination in the Shunryu Suzuki Roshi lineage in 2018, and served as President of San Francisco Zen Center until July 2024. He received Dharma Transmission from Rinso Ed Sattizahn in 2025 and is currently Founder and Head Teacher of Zen Without Borders. In a Zen container, what Sozan Miglioli 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. Sozan Miglioli'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. Sozan Miglioli'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. Sozan Miglioli'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. Sozan Miglioli'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. Sozan Miglioli'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. Sozan Miglioli'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
Sozan Miglioli 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 Sozan Miglioli, 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.
