On Saturday, October 3rd, the Bozeman Zen Group will host guest teacher Heather Iarusso for a hybrid, half-day zen retreat. This event offers sitting and walking meditation and a dharma talk on the question of “who am I.” Receive a discount when registering before September 20. Register here.
Who am I? These three little words have been contemplated for millennia by prominent philosophers and psychologists, spiritual teachers, as well as us ordinary folk. It’s a perennial question with innumerable responses. Siddartha’s quest to investigate and end suffering resulted in his awakening to the profoundly liberating experience of “not-self.” Or as Suzuki Roshi poetically said: “What we call ‘I’ is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and exhale. It just moves, that is all.”
Heather Shōren Iarusso lives San Francisco and is the Branching Streams director, providing guidance and support for San Francisco Zen Center affiliate sanghas. Before this role, Heather spent nine years living at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. She completed 17 cloistered, 90-day practice periods and 10 summers of work practice. Heather has held numerous roles at Tassajara, including being the supervisor of the meditation hall (ino), the head cook (tenzo), the director, and the tanto (head of Zen practice).
Heather first received the precepts in January 2003 and was ordained as a Zen priest in October 2014. She received Dharma transmission in 2022. Heather holds master’s degrees in communications, creative writing, and English literature. She writes and podcasts on her Spark Zen Substack.
