Teacher
Sensei José Shinzan Palma
Sensei Shinzan was born in Veracruz, Mexico. He is an ordained Zen priest and Dharma successor of Joan Jiko Halifax, roshi. In 1996, he met Korean Zen teacher, Ven. Samu Sunim, in Mexico City and trained in the Buddhist Maitreya Seminar while living at Toronto Zen Buddhist Temple until 2005. He was ordained as a Zen Buddhist priest by Sunim in 2004.
Shinzan arrived at Upaya Zen Center in 2006 where he lived and trained for over eight years as a resident and student of Halifax. He received Dharma transmission from Halifax in January 2015 before relocating to San Diego, California.
He is the founder of the Open Gate Zen Collective in San Diego, CA. co-teaches teen retreats in the US for IBME, and is a guest teacher at Upaya Zen Center in New Mexico, New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, Zen Groups in México City, and Bogotá, Colombia.
His vision is to continue to mentor and teach young men and women and to create a Zen Hispanic community in the USA and Mexico.