Sessei Meg Levie, Head Priest, lived and trained at the San Francisco Zen Center and also has had a career teaching mindfulness and emotional intelligence in Silicon Valley and beyond. She received ordination as a Zen priest in 2003 from Tenshin Reb Anderson and held the position of shuso (head student) in 2007. She has studied Buddhism in Thailand and Japan, and for several years served as the teacher for the Bolinas branch of the Mountain Source Sangha. Since 2008 Meg has taught mindfulness and emotional intelligence in business, primarily through the Search Inside Yourself program created at Google. She holds an AB in English Literature  from Stanford University and an MA from the University of Texas at Austin.

Jisho Warner Roshi, Founding Teacher, established Stone Creek in Sebastopol in 1996 and has taught at Stone Creek continuously since then. As Abiding Teacher, Jisho Roshi makes her warm presence and deep teachings available to us in groups and individually. Jisho trained in the U.S. under Dainin Katagiri Roshi in Minnesota, Tozen Akiyama Roshi in Wisconsin, and Koshi Ichida Sensei in Massachusetts. She trained in Nagoya, Japan, as well, under Shundo Aoyama Roshi. She has long been active in the Soto Zen Buddhist Association, the principal Soto priest organization in the U.S., and was its first LGBTQ president. Jisho has edited numerous books on the Dharma, including Opening the Hand of Thought, by Kosho Uchiyama, and Nothing is Hidden: Zen Master Dogen’s Instructions to the Cook.

JoE’ Annette Lille came to Zen practice in 1972.  She was originally ordained in 1983 following ten years practice at San Francisco Zen Center and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center.  Annette moved with her husband and two young daughters to Sonoma County in 1986 where she completed her BA in Psychology and continued her practice and study with an emphasis on hospital, end-of-life and hospice chaplaincy.  She received certification from the Association of Pastoral Counselors in 2009 which supported her work as interdenominational chaplain at Memorial Hospital and Memorial Hospice of Santa Rosa for ten years. 

Annette re-ordained with Jisho Warner Roshi in 1999 and received dharma transmission in 2013. She has served the Stone Creek Sangha in multiple practice and administrative roles taking on a teaching roll following her transmission. She finds her joy in zazen, her family and tending her flower garden.  

Myozen Barton Stone discovered Buddhism and poetry during his college years, which led him to the vibrant cultural scene of San Francisco. In 1960, he participated in the first sesshin at Sokoji temple under the guidance of Suzuki Roshi. His commitment to peace and social justice prompted a remarkable journey in 1962, walking from San Francisco to Moscow to protest nuclear weapons and war. Settling in south Chicago, Barton worked in a steel mill and car assembly line, mobilizing workers against war and racism. Later, he lived with his family at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center for four years, deepening his Zen practice. His passion for craftsmanship led him to collaborate with architect Paul Discoe on Japanese wood joinery. Throughout his life, Barton has embraced goddess religion and cultivated a deep awareness of interspecies life, enriching his spiritual journey and activism. He received Dharma transmission from Jisho Warner Roshi.