I received my Zen training under the guidance of Genpo Merzel Roshi whom I met in 1983. I finished formal studies with him in 2006, after receiving Shiho. Genpo Roshi is a successor to Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi Roshi in the Japanese Soto Zen Lineage. I am currently a member of the White Plum Asanga, an affinity organization of peers in the lineage of Maezumi Roshi.