Konrad Ryushin Marchaj

Konrad Ryushin Marchaj

Konrad Ryushin Marchaj is an independent Zen teacher in the Sōtō School of Zen Buddhism. From October 2009 to January 2015 he was the abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery, the main house of the Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO) of Zen Buddhism, founded by John Daido Loori, Roshi, from whom Ryushin received shiho - dharma transmission and authorization to teach - in June 2009. Ryushin entered into full-time residence at the Monastery in 1992 and became abbot there following Daido Roshi's death in 2009. 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  

Ryushin came to the dharma through Vipassana meditation, eventually shifting to Zen practice and taking Daido Roshi as his teacher. Prior to ordination, Ryushin was a pediatrician and a psychiatrist. Ryushin guides lay students in seamlessly integrating their ordinary lives with all-encompassing, illuminating, and enlivening spiritual practice. He also explores the interface between rigorous Zen training and the ceremonial use of sacred plants, collaborating with Brazilian teachers in the United States and Brazil.  

Ryushin has been practicing Buddhism since 1983.  Drawing on his background as a physician and psychiatrist, Ryushin focuses on training “in the workings of the mind,” combined with his skill at translating complex concepts into accessible, everyday language, which characterizes his unique teaching style.  

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.   Provided by Wikipedia