Path of the Practitioner

Rev. Konrad Ryushin Marchaj, is a Zen priest in the tradition of Zen Buddhism, and a Dharma heir of the late John Daido Loori, Roshi. Ryushin Sensei was the abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Born in Warsaw, Poland, he immigrated to the United States in 1967.

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from Yale University in 1976, and his medical degree from Albany Medical College in 1980. He worked first as a pediatrician in Portland, Maine, later serving in the US Navy as a physician for three years. He then returned to Albany for postgraduate training in psychiatry. After completing his residency, he served as medical director for a community psychiatric outreach program, the Mobile Crisis Team, which served Albany County’s disenfranchised and homeless population.

He entered full-time residential training at the Monastery in 1992. In addition to his roles as the Monastery’s abbot and director of operations, he explored contemplative practices in higher education, collaborating with several liberal arts educators and administrators in the Northeast to look at ways for college students to engage religious practice as part of their education. He has been practicing Buddhism since 1983.

Since 2014, he has been rigorously exploring and training in ayahuasca ceremonies in various traditions, guided by several teachers. Drawing on his background as a physician and psychiatrist, Ryushin’s infectious interest and thorough training in the workings of the mind and compassionate expression of unconditional love, combined with his skill at translating complex concepts into the accessible, everyday language, characterize his unique teaching style.
 

Elizabeth Monson, Ph.D., is the Spiritual Co-Director of Natural Dharma Fellowship and the Managing Teacher at Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, NH. Liz was authorized as a dharma teacher and lineage holder in the Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism after over 30 years of studying, practicing, and teaching Tibetan Buddhism in the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages.

In 2015, Liz completed a doctorate at Harvard University and was a Visiting Lecturer in the Study of Religion in 2015-16. Liz is the author of two books: More Than a Madman: The Divine Words of Drukpa Kunley (2014), and Tales of a Mad Yogi: The Life and Wild Wisdom of Drukpa Kunley (2021). Liz is currently working on a book on Buddhist Tantra for publication with Shambhala Publications (forthcoming 2023). Her articles have appeared in Tricycle, Lion’s Roar, Buddhadharma, Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, and other periodicals.

At present, Liz writes, guides meditation retreats, and develops curricula for people interested in reconnecting with the natural world and in responding to contemporary social and spiritual issues as a path for liberation. She teaches around New England and online, helping people to access their innate awakened energies and open awareness and to discover tools for how to become free in everyday life.

Liz also focuses her teaching on developing practical methods for incorporating Buddhist teachings into this human life through the practices of kindness and compassion and on recognizing the natural state in every moment of our lives. These days, she derives inspiration from the teachings of Anam Thupten, Mingyur Rinpoche, and Tsoknyi Rinpoche.