Membership List

Reverend Jon Seichō Kenzen McCollum is a teacher in the White Plum Asanga and an ordained Senior Sōtō Zen priest. He joined the Zen Community of Baltimore - Clare Sangha in 2015 and underwent Jukai, taking the sixteen bodhisattva precepts in 2016 from Roshi Bruce Seiryū Blackman; he received the dharma name, Seichō (“pure melody”). Roshi Blackman named Seichō a Hoshi (dharma holder) in 2018 and in 2019, he received the five mindfulness trainings in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition as a renewal of his bodhisattva vows. In March 2022, Seichō received Denbō (dharma transmission) from his current teacher, Sensei Tony Hoetsu Falcone. He left lay life in May 2022 and was ordained (Shukke Tokudo) by Sensei Edward Sangetsu Sullivan of Red Rose Sangha. He received Denkai in 2024.

Roshi Blackman named Seichō a Hoshi (dharma holder) in 2018 and in 2019, he received the five mindfulness trainings in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition as a renewal of his bodhisattva vows. In March 2022, Seichō received Denbō/Shiho (dharma transmission) from Sensei Tony Hoetsu Falcone.

Seichō received an M.Div. from the Shogaku Zen Institute in spring 2022. He holds a Ph.D. (2004) in ethnomusicology from the University of Maryland, College Park and is full Professor of Music at Washington College, located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Seichō is recipient of Zen shakuhachi transmission and in 2015 was awarded a Shihan (Master's license) and the honorific name (natori) “Kenzen” from Dai Shihan (Grand Master) Chikuzan Gould. Seichō is married to Kimberly Dōka McCollum with whom they share their amazing daughter, Isla. He enjoys performing music, making art, working out at the gym, playing with his dog, Maxx, reading existential philosophy, and traveling around the world.