About the project

Long ago, I (Peg) had originally conceived this project as the story of Appamada, a contemporary Zen community.  Flint and I talked about it for a long while, but we were both very busy and it had to wait. It began to actually take shape in 2022. That fall I was invited to join the first of two Tracking Wonder Inner Circle groups  led by Jeffrey Davis, which truly launched this project, energized the writing, and provided support and inspiration for its first two  years, in which I drafted  and laid out the first 10 chapters. As part of that effort, and to provide other perspectives, memories, and reflections I created a studio, where participants could read and comment on the writing as it was unfolding, and contribute their own reflections and images for possible inclusion in the whole. Meanwhile, our Depth in Practice group been read it over many weeks, with keen eyes and offering precise feedback. It’s been slow, mindful work, but very rewarding! On the Credits below you can see how many people contributed to this work.

These were the original goals for this project:

1. Provide a record of the evolution and development of Appamada, a unique contemporary Zen community, from its origins as a tiny sitting group in Austin, Texas, to an established sangha with affiliated sanghas in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arkansas, and the UK.

2. Provide an “operating manual” that supports and guides and heartens these sanghas in their ongoing evolution, making wise decisions, acting for the benefit of all beings, and fostering sangha relationships based on the principles and processes we’ve established.

3. Provide an introduction to Appamada for newcomers.

4. Offer resources, ideas, inspiration, and scaffolding for other small spiritual communities so that they can evolve and grow as healthy ecosystems for spiritual development, both individually and collectively, as a community.

Now I believe it is most important as one account—a case study— of a Zen sangha in a time of transition for Zen in the West, a history told from the inside out. I hope to encourage other sanghas to gather their own accounts, their own autobiographies of their sanghas. In that way we may  provide more “first-person” historical accounts of the evolution of Zen in the West, and also,  by sharing our experiences, practices, and challenges, we can grow in wisdom and clarity, together.

About the Authors

Peg Syverson, Ph.D.

Peg has been studying and practicing Zen since 1966. She was a student of Joko Beck from 1990 until Joko’s death in 2011; Joko originally authorized her to teach. From 2001 to 2006, she also trained with Flint Sparks at Austin Zen Center in the formal Japanese tradition of Suzuki Roshi, and was ordained as a Soto Zen priest there in 2004. She had formal priest training in residence for six months at Austin Zen Center and six months at Great Vow Zen Monastery in Clatskanie, Oregon, under the guidance of the Abbots, Jan Chozen Bays and Hogen Bays. In 2014 she received dharma transmission with Kosho McCall in the Suzuki Roshi lineage.

Peg is also an Emeritus Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing. She taught courses such as Zen Rhetoric, Non-violent Rhetoric, Information Architecture, and Knowledge Ecologies, for undergraduates and graduate students. She was the Director of the Computer Writing and Research Lab and then the Undergraduate Writing Center.

Flint Sparks, Ph.D.

Flint Sparks is a Zen teacher and former psychologist dedicated to assisting people in the unending path of growing up and waking up. He is an experienced therapist and a master teacher who assists people in the skillful removal of blocks to love, both inside and outside. He is a clear and caring resource on the path of freedom from unnecessary suffering. Flint has nearly four decades of experience in the practice and teaching of psychotherapy. He also leads Zen retreats throughout North America and Europe.