James Genjo Gallagher
Brevard Zen Center / Ryugen-Ji
Palm Bay, FL
Genjo began zen practice in 1995 after reading Suzuki Roshi’s classic book, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. He attended several sesshins at different centers around the country to deepen his practice as there were no centers near his home in Melbourne Florida. He received Jukai at the Upaya center in Santa Fe New Mexico. At one retreat there he met Mitch Doshin Cantor of the Southern Palm Zen Group of Boca Raton Florida. At the next sesshin in Boca Raton he met Lou Mitsunen Nordstrom Sensei and became his student. He received Tokudo, novice priest ordination in 1999. Shortly thereafter, Genjo established a group in Melbourne Florida which evolved into the Brevard Zen Center, Kuge-In temple of Cocoa, Florida. In 1996 he became Mitsunen’s Dharma Holder and on March 29, 2014 received Dharma Transmission from Mitsunen at a sesshin at Kuge-In.