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Ryodo began practicing Zen in 1978 and entered formal studies at the Zen Center of Los Angeles in 1980, working directly with Charlotte Joko Beck and Genpo Merzel Roshi as well as Taizan Maezumi Roshi, the founding Abbot of ZCLA. He received Dharma Transmission from Roshi Egyoku Nakao, ZCLA’s abbot at the time, in 2007. Roshi Nakao empowered Ryodo as lay preceptor in 2015, and gave him inka shomei in 2019.

After studying composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Ryodo spent many years as a professional musician. From 1988 until his retirement in 2018 Ryodo made his living as a software developer. He lives in Westchester, CA, with his wife and son.

Ryodo is the author of the Zen Mindfulness Cloudbook, an online manual for the Zen-rooted method of mindfulness he has been teaching since 2002. Along with teaching at Zen Center of Los Angeles, he has led the Westchester Zen Circle since 2009. He is the current president of the board of the White Plum Asanga, the peer group of teachers in the lineage of Taizan Maezumi Roshi, as well being a member of the American Zen Teachers Association and the Lay Zen Teachers Association.