Membership List

Ryuko first attended Zen Center of Los Angeles in the summer of 1973 to study with Maezumi Roshi. Born in Oxford, England, Ryuko has practiced Zen since the early 1970s in England as well as in Southern California, where is has lived since 1990. He was given transmission as a Soto priest and then later received Inka Shomei from Daiho Hilbert, Roshi, in the Matsuoka lineage. Ryuko studied with Roshi Al Rapaport for many years, completing the WPA koan curriculum and receiving transmission as a Sensei in the WPA on July 13, 2025. Previously, Ryuko had also studied the complete Korean Zen koan curriculum with a teacher in the Seung Sahn lineage. Ryuko is an author of several books, some of which are on Zen, and he is an avid aspiring blues guitarist who enjoys taking part in blues jams in the Los Angeles area. He is married with two children, lives in Pasadena, and heads up Still Center Zen also based in Pasadena but with associated groups across the States and in Europe in Belgium, France, Germany and Italy.