Featured Contributors

Lewis Richmond

“The fundamental job of a Buddhist,” according to Zen teacher Lewis Richmond, is “to see clearly what is real and true, and to not be fooled.” In “The Power of a Quiet Life,” Richmond shares his strategies for slowing down and keeping a clear mind. His article follows a long and varied life of Buddhist practice, beginning in the 1960s with his introduction to Shunryu Suzuki Roshi (1904–1971) and the San Francisco Zen Center. Richmond was an ordained Zen monastic, and served as head of training at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center for seven years before disrobing. Since then, he has taught widely as a lay teacher; written five books, including the award-winning Aging as a Spiritual Practice: A Contemplative Guide to Growing Older and Wiser; and survived two life-threatening illnesses.

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Sarah Kokernot

Sarah Kokernot delved into Tibetan Buddhism at age 19 but struggled with the dharma’s inaccessibility in small-town America, an experience she recounts in “The Price of Practice.” Since then, her practice has grown and solidified under the formal guidance of her teachers. Kokernot is a professional fiction writer and essayist whose work has appeared in The Best American Short Stories, the New York Times, Epoch, Michigan Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. “I consider spirituality a form of creative practice, and creative practice a form of spirituality,” she writes on her Substack, “Your Wild and Radiant Mind.” “Both can awaken us to a greater sense of clarity, wonder, interdependence, and unconditional love.” Kokernot is an artist-in-residence at Northwestern University and the program curator at StoryStudio, a nonprofit creative writing center. She lives in Chicago with her husband and children.

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An Tran

An Tran is a fiction and essay writer from Arlington, Virginia. He received his MFA from Queens University of Charlotte before relocating to San Francisco. Writing for publications such as the Carolina Quarterly, the Literary Hub, Gargoyle Magazine, and Lion’s Roar, among many others, Tran has received distinctions from Best American Short Stories and Best American Essays, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. As a Vietnamese American practitioner in the Lien Quan lineage of Vietnamese Zen, Tran often writes about Buddhism, identity, and heritage in his nonfiction essays. “Dual Cultivation” explores these themes through an elucidation of a uniquely Vietnamese practice. Beyond writing, Tran is a parkour coach, software developer, competitive powerlifter, and music lover.