Taigen Dan Leighton is a Soto Zen priest and teacher, academic, and author. He is an authorized lineage holder and Zen teacher in the tradition of Shunryu Suzuki

Shunryu Suzuki

Shunryu Suzuki was a Sōtō Zen roshi who popularized Zen Buddhism in the United States, particularly around San Francisco. Born in the Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan, Suzuki was occasionally mistaken for the Zen scholar D.T...

, and is the founder and Guiding Teacher of Ancient Dragon Zen Gatehttp://www.ancientdragon.org in Chicago, Illinois.

Leighton began his Zen practice in 1975 at the New York Zen Center, training under Kando Nakajima roshi

Roshi

is a Japanese honorific title used in Zen Buddhism that literally means "old teacher" or "elder master" and sometimes denotes a person who gives spiritual guidance to a Zen sangha or congregation...

. He studied at Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, where he obtained a bachelors degree in East Asian studies. Leighton worked as a television and film editor in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, and then San Francisco.

In 1978, he moved to California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and eventually became a resident at San Francisco Zen Center

San Francisco Zen Center

San Francisco Zen Center , is a network of affiliated Sōtō Zen practice and retreat centers in the San Francisco Bay area, comprising the City Center or Beginner's Mind Temple, the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, and the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. The sangha was incorporated by Shunryu...

, where he worked at Tassajara Bakery and other of Zen Center's businesses. In subsequent years, Leighton practiced in residence at all of the San Francisco Zen Center facilities, including Green Gulch Farm Zen Center

Green Gulch Farm Zen Center

Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, or Soryu-ji is a Soto Zen practice center located near Muir Beach, California that practices in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. In addition to its Zen training program, the center also manages an organic farm and gardens...

 and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center

Tassajara Zen Mountain Center

-External links:*...

. In 1986, Leighton was ordained as a priest by Tenshin Reb Anderson

Reb Anderson

Tenshin Zenki Reb Anderson , is a Zen teacher and lineage holder in the Sōtō Zen tradition of Shunryu Suzuki. He is a Senior Dharma teacher at the San Francisco Zen Center and at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in Marin County, California, where he lives...

 (in the latter's first ordination ceremony.)

Leighton lived in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 from 1990-1992, translating Dogen texts with Shohaku Okumura

Shohaku Okumura

Shohaku Okumura is a Japanese Soto Zen priest and the founder and guiding teacher of the Sanshin Zen Community located in Bloomington, Indiana, where he and his family currently live...

 and training under various masters. In 1994, Leighton founded the Mountain Source Sangha in Bolinas, San Rafael

San Rafael, California

San Rafael is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area...

, and San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

 (of which Ancient Dragon Zen Gate is a sister temple).http://www.mtsource.org/bios/taigenbio.html

In 2000, Leighton received shiho

Shiho

refers to a series of ceremonies in Sōtō Zen Buddhism wherein which a priest receives full transmission, inheriting the Dharma from his/her master and becoming empowered to transmit the precepts and lineage to others. A shiho ceremony can last anywhere from one to three weeks, with the final...

, or Dharma transmission, from Tenshin Anderson.

He taught for four years at Loyola University, Chicago and currently offers online classes for the Institute of Buddhist Studies

Institute of Buddhist Studies

The is a Jodo Shinshu-affiliated seminary and graduate school, located in Berkeley, California. It is an affiliate member of the Graduate Theological Union, also located in Berkeley. Its primary mission is to train Jodo Shinshu ministers for service in temples in the United States through the...

http://www.shin-ibs.edu/faculty/leighton.php, part of the Berkeley Graduate Theological Union, from which Leighton has a Ph.D. degree.

Professorships

Over the years, Leighton has taught at various universities around the world. The following is a complete list:

• Kansai University
  Kansai University
  , or , is a private non-sectarian and coeducational university located in Suita, Osaka, Japan and in two other locations: Osaka City; and Takatsuki, Osaka.-History:Kansai University was founded as Kansai Law School in November 1886, in Osaka...
  
  
• Otani University
  Otani University
  is a private Buddhist university located in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The university was founded in 1901 as "Shinshū University" in Tokyo with Kiyozawa Manshi as the president.-Notable alumni and faculty:*Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki*Kaneko Daiei*Keido Fukushima...
  
  
• California Institute of Integral Studies
  California Institute of Integral Studies
  California Institute of Integral Studies is a private institution of higher education founded in 1968 and based in San Francisco, California. It currently operates in three locations just south of the Civic Center district...
  
  
• University of San Francisco
  University of San Francisco
  The University of San Francisco , is a private, Jesuit/Catholic university located in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1855, USF was established as the first university in San Francisco. It is the second oldest institution for higher learning in California and the tenth-oldest university of...
  
  
• Saint Mary's College of California
  Saint Mary's College of California
  Saint Mary's College of California is a private, coeducational college located in Moraga, California, United States, a small suburban community about east of Oakland and 20 miles east of San Francisco. It has a 420-acre campus in the Moraga hills. It is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church...
  
  
• Institute of Buddhist Studies
  Institute of Buddhist Studies
  The is a Jodo Shinshu-affiliated seminary and graduate school, located in Berkeley, California. It is an affiliate member of the Graduate Theological Union, also located in Berkeley. Its primary mission is to train Jodo Shinshu ministers for service in temples in the United States through the...
  
  
• Loyola University, Chicago
• Meadville Lombard Theological Seminary