The Sangha Harmony Advisory Council

SHAC listens to the sangha through reflection, dialogue, and care. If you have reflections, concerns, or experiences you’d like to share, you’re welcome to reach us here.

The Sangha Harmony Advisory Council (SHAC) is a representative, lay-led body within the Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO) dedicated to cultivating harmony, equity, inclusion, and trust across the sangha.

SHAC exists to help ensure that the voices, experiences, and wisdom of the wider sangha—particularly those historically underrepresented or excluded—are meaningfully reflected in the life, culture, and governance of the MRO.

SHAC serves through time-limited cohorts and shared leadership. SHAC is sanctioned to act to catalyze the well-being of the sangha by MRO Leadership and is empowered by the trust of the sangha.

When we listen deeply to one another, the path of practice opens beneath our feet.

A Practice of Shared Leadership

SHAC functions as an advisory and listening body. It does not hold final decision-making authority over governance matters. Instead, it offers reflections, proposals, and recommendations grounded in what it hears from the sangha in response to the needs of the living moment.

In the spirit of collaborative leadership, SHAC recommendations are given serious consideration by MRO leadership, which includes our teachers, governance committees and councils (as appropriate). When recommendations are not acted upon, the reasons are communicated transparently to SHAC and, when appropriate, to the wider sangha.

Through this practice, SHAC seeks to support a culture of openness, accountability, and shared responsibility—so that decisions are informed by lived experience and collective wisdom.

A Reflection from Hojin Sensei

“There are strong aspirations to realize one’s true self in the midst of lay practice, monastic life and in all intersections of humanity. I want our sangha to see this, feel this, and be able to say: “Oh! There is a body that looks like mine, there is a heart I resonate with that is immersed deeply in this human project. Maybe I can speak, trust and be trusted. Maybe I can truly enter here.” 

This. aspiration continues to guide SHAC’s work.

Mission & Intention

The Sangha Harmony Advisory Council exists to:

• Promote harmony, inclusion, and belonging within the sangha, with particular attention to those historically underrepresented or excluded
• Support a sangha culture in which people of all identities, backgrounds, and abilities feel welcome and supported
• Practice and model horizontal, shared leadership as part of a collaborative relationship between the lay sangha, teachers, and organizational leadership.
• Represent lay sangha perspectives related to practice, training, and community life
• Support transparent and trustworthy governance through timely, accountable communication
• Model deep respect for one another’s humanity in service to the beloved community we co-create, grounded in the Dharma

SHAC understands its mission as a living intention—one that continues to evolve through practice, listening, and relationship.

How SHAC Works in Practice

Listening & Discernment
SHAC is informed by what it hears from the sangha—through listening forums, heart-to-heart conversations, written feedback, and direct requests for support. SHAC also remains in dialogue with MRO leadership. When feedback is complex or contradictory, the work is not to resolve everything, but to help the sangha hear itself more clearly.

Supporting Harmony
SHAC does not offer solutions or impose outcomes. Its role is to support agency, reflection, and dialogue—creating conditions in which harmony can unfold. In some situations, SHAC may help mediate or consult with leadership, particularly when concerns are more sensitive or systemic.

Training & Learning
SHAC members receive professional facilitation training and ongoing learning opportunities. Serving on SHAC is understood as a practice and training in itself—one that asks patience, humility, and a willingness to grow together over time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does SHAC do?

One of SHAC’s primary functions is to facilitate spaces for horizontal conversation among sangha members, including regular Heart-to-Heart Meetings, Grief Sharing Spaces, Engaged Response gatherings, and other programs which aim to bring forth the collective wisdom of the sangha. Where appropriate, we may amplify needs, suggestions, and questions arising from these spaces to the teachers and training staff. We also periodically interface with the affinity groups, and support them as needed.

SHAC members are also available to meet with individual sangha members to hear about their experience of practicing in community, and to discuss any concerns or difficulties.

As SHAC welcomes this new cohort, a group of founding members will remain engaged for a time-limited transition period to support continuity and care.

Current SHAC Cohort

Laura Cohen

Laura began training at ZMM in 2016 as a resident and became a formal student in 2019. She has spent time farming, teaching outdoor preschool, and holds a Masters of Divinity in Buddhism and Interreligious Engagement. Laura currently lives and works at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Barre, Massachusetts with her partner, Yunen.

Emily Drucker

Born and raised in New York, Emily (she/her) has been practicing at Fire Lotus Temple and Zen Mountain Monastery since 2021 and became a formal student of Hogen Sensei in 2023. 
Emily’s lifelong creative practice is rooted in the culinary arts. She brings over 15 years of experience cooking in—and leading—the kitchens of high-end restaurants in New York City. During the COVID pandemic, she reconsidered her relationship to the hospitality industry, drawn toward greater balance and deeper meaning.
While cooking remains her primary way of connecting to herself, others, and the world, Emily is currently studying neuroscience and psychology with the intention of becoming a therapist. Her academic work includes a thesis exploring the intergenerational effects of early-life adversity on neurobiological development. She hopes to thoughtfully weave together her interests in food and nutrition, sexuality, psychedelic medicine, and neuroscience in service of healing.
Alongside her studies, Emily works as a private chef, and is in the early stages of planning to co-open a bakery in Kingston, NY, highlighting sustainably sourced, local ingredients. She currently lives in Queens and spends her free time reading, baking, and spoiling her two feline sons, Bialy and The Void.

Joan Gutiérrez

Joan Gutiérrez is a performance artist, somatic intimacy educator, and bodyworker shaped by the Mexican-American borderland of Ciudad Juarez and El Paso. Although trained in psychology at Loyola University Chicago and holding a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), Joan is shaped less by institutional frameworks than by sustained, embodied inquiry—continuing to learn across disciplines through Europe, Asia, and the Americas. She leaped into training at Zen Mountain Monastery in 2018 as a year-long resident and became a formal training student of the MRO during the COVID-19 quarantine in 2020. She currently serves as the Fire Lotus Temple Office manager and on the ZCNYC Temple Advisory Council (TAC) in Brooklyn.

Jaime Hartman

Jaime Hartman (they/them) has been practicing with the Mountains and Rivers Order since 2019. They had the privilege of serving as the Caretaker of Fire Lotus Temple from 2020-2021, during which time they became a student of Hojin Sensei. Living at the intersection of multiple identities, Jaime has been a founding member of both the TGNC Sitting/Affinity Group and the Disability/Neurodivergent Affinity Group. They are a second-degree Blackbelt in TaeKwonDo, a cat whisperer, and a storyteller. Notable pastimes include soap making, reading fiction, and running a Muppets-themed Dungeons and Dragons campaign.

Robyn Ikyo Love

Robyn Ikyo Love (she/her) has been practicing with the Mountains and Rivers Order since 2004. She became a student of Shugen Roshi in 2010 and received jukai in 2013. Ikyo is a visual artist who lives and works in Newfoundland, Canada. She creates performances, installations, and textiles shaped by ritual, humour, and collective storytelling. She collaborates with women in rural communities to unearth erased histories and reimagine power by shining a light on the dignity and joy of ordinary life. Ikyo emigrated to Canada after living in New York City for over 30 years, raising and homeschooling two children. Ikyo also is a certified Yoga therapist and teacher, an enthusiastic student of Sanskrit, and runs an online Yoga school called Atha Yoga School.

Bingwan Liu

Bingwan Liu (she/they) first visited the Fire and Lotus temple in 2016, did a yearlong residency at the temple in 2018, and became a formal student of Hojin Sensei in 2019. She is a clinical social worker and has been practicing psychotherapy since 2014. She dedicates herself to understanding the unique inner lives of herself and others and to helping people navigate toward self-awareness and inner freedom. She lives in Brooklyn with her dog, Buddy, and enjoys spending time with her friends, being part of her community, and getting lost in books and stories with a good cup of tea.

Joe Kenshu Mieloch

Joe Kenshu Mieloch (he/him) began practicing at Zen Mountain Monastery in 1993, became a formal student in 2006, and received Jukai in 2013. His work life included music, engineering, and business management. He has also completed audio projects at the monastery and ZCNY.
Now retired, he facilitates a local Philadelphia MRO sitting group, sits regularly with a Blue Cliff Monastery meditation group, and, as part of his service practice, has volunteered as a GED tutor. He is involved with the NAACP and a local Diversity in Action group in allyship with an immigration support organization, and he participated in the What Is Whiteness affinity group for five years.
He enjoys writing haiku and playing the bodhrán with traditional Irish music groups. He lives near Philadelphia with his wife; they have three sons and two grandchildren.

Donna Dojaku Nicolino

Donna Dojaku Nicolino (she/her/they) grew up outside of NYC and currently lives in the post-industrial New England town of Willimantic, CT. She began practicing meditation in 1997 and began visiting the monastery regularly in 2006. She became a formal student of the MRO in 2011 and received Jukai from Hogen Sensei in 2019. She was one of the co-founders of the What is Whiteness? group at the Temple in 2017 and co-facilitated the group for 5 years.
 
She works as a psychotherapist focusing on PTSD and trauma in her private practice in Willimantic. She has long been involved in her local community and is currently on the Board of Directors of a non-profit food hub organization with a racial and economic justice focus. She also enjoys gardening, cycling, dancing, caring for animals including her small flock of chickens, and doing various creative projects. 

Sushravya Jigo Raghunath

Sushravya Jigo Raghunath (she/her/hers) became a student at ZMM in 2017 and took Jukai in 2025. Originally from India, she moved to the U.S. for graduate school and is now part of the analytics team at a hospital system, using data and research to improve patient care, efficiency, and outcomes. At home she enjoys gardening and crochet; outdoors she likes kayaking, biking, and hiking with her partner and their dog. She also volunteers her time to causes such as animal welfare and mental health.

Destiny Spruill

Destiny Spruill is a musician and JD/PhD candidate at Columbia University. Her research focuses on First Amendment jurisprudence and the emergence of free speech values in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She started practicing at Zen Mountain Monastery in 2024. In 2026, she began the process of becoming a formal training student of Shugen Roshi and entered residence at Fire Lotus Temple. Outside of her academic work, Destiny enjoys working through the primary series of Ashtanga yoga, lifting weights, and going on food tours in the Hudson Valley with sangha members.

Rob Soshu Watt

Rob Soshu Watt (he/him) started his practice in residency at Zen Mountain Monastery in 1992, became a student that year, and took Jukai in 1994.  After a period of solo practice rejoined the MRO during early covid time and is currently a practicing member. 
Soshu lives with his wife and two boys in Brooklyn, NY. He is an avid scuba diver and amateur underwater photographer, serves as treasurer on the board of the Coral Reef Alliance, helped create the White Awareness and Accountability group for white parents at his boys school, loves to cook (especially outdoors over a fire and even more so if it involves chilies), is very passionate about listening to and creating music, and is currently in a program collaborating with other composers creating electronic music.

Active Founding SHAC Mentors (Transition period)

Ajay Shinyu Chandra

Ajay Shinyu Chandra (he/they) has been practicing within the Mountains and Rivers Order since 2017. They have a continual curiosity around community organizing and facilitation, with experience working within collectives tackling climate justice, housing justice, and disability justice. They also have a continual curiosity around mathematics which they teach and research at a university in London where they are currently based.

Jude Kushu Dinan

Jude Kushu Dinan (she/her) has been practicing with the MRO at Zen Mountain Monastery since 2009, becoming a formal student in 2010 and receiving jukai in 2016. Kushu has a degree in Business and Finance with 31 years of government service. She is also a veteran having served 4 years on active duty in the US Marine Corps. Kushu holds a third degree black belt in traditional Japanese karate and taught martial arts for many years (Seido, Budokai). She is an avid cyclist and runner and currently volunteers with hospice and is a master gardener with Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Julia Jiryu Krupa

Jiryu (she/her) is originally from Long Island, loves to spend time with dogs, and enjoys being a maker of functional things. She completed a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design and a Bachelor of Architecture, and worked as an architect in Florida, Indianapolis and New York City for about 18 years. While in residence at Fire Lotus Temple in 2013, she trained in culinary arts, and worked briefly as a cook in New York City. Prior to entering residential training at ZMM in 2018, she practiced with San Francisco Zen Center/City Center, and trained at Tassajara for 2 years. Jiryu has been training with the MRO since 2007, became a formal student of Shugen Roshi’s in 2010, and received Jukai in 2019. She entered monastic training in 2021, and stepped out in 2024 to clarify and discern her path. Currently she is engaged in formal Buddhist academic study and contemplative care training.

Ravi Baikei Mishra

Ravi Baikei Mishra (he/him/they) is an entrepreneur, activist, and Buddhist, currently working in software product management at Indeed and living in San Francisco. Previously, he founded the Awaken Meditation app (now a podcast) alongside Rev. angel Kyodo williams and Lama Rod Owens. He has been practicing meditation in the Zen tradition since 2009, completed the yearlong meditation teacher training with the Interdependence Project in NYC, and served on the board of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship from 2020-2022. When not working, you can find him rollerblading, running, or biking around San Francisco, or pursuing one of too many hobbies (current favorite: learning how to spin fire poi).

Annie Ng

Annie Ng (she / they) was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to the US with her parents when she was 1 1/2 years old. In an effort to heal her own racialized trauma, she trained in somatic abolitionism with Resmaa Menakem and the communal consultation for bodies of culture community two years in a row. She has been practicing at ZMM since 2019 and is an integral part of MRO’s BIAPoC and Asian Sangha Gathering communities. Manwai lives with her partner, Sekku, at the Monastery where she developed a love for the forest and all its inhabitants. She is well traveled, loves to cook, and in particular, eat.

Tasha Sonju Ortloff

Tasha Sonju Ortloff (she/her) has practiced at Zen Mountain Monastery since 1997, became a formal student in 2018, and received Jukai in 2022.
She brings over ten years of experience in nonprofit operations, program development, and people-centered organizational support, grounded in equity, care, and collaborative leadership. Tasha is committed to cultivating accessible and compassionate systems that support shared responsibility and skillful participation.
She enjoys wild food foraging, artmaking, and spending time in the natural world.

Jacob Romm

Jacob Romm (he/they) is a graduate student in Renaissance Studies at Yale University, as well as a letterpress printer and translator of French, Yiddish and Hebrew poetry. He began practicing at Zen Mountain Monastery in 2013, and spent time in residency after finishing college. Jacob now lives in New Haven, CT and is active in the Trans and Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) and LGBTQ affinity groups.

Robin Wells

From the 5^th Ward of Houston, to the South Side of Chicago, to Berkeley, Cambridge, Princeton, the U.K., and then to the Upper West Side, Robin has lived many lives in many places. A former academic and now a writer, Robin is also a former yoga teacher who trained with Bessel Van Der Kolk in somatic approaches to trauma therapy in 2005-2008. The insights gained from understanding how trauma affects the ability to meditate led her to study Tibetan Buddhism for many years with Rob Preece, a Jungian psychotherapist and student of Tulku Lama Yeshe.  Prompted by her interest in unrecognized intergenerational trauma, she is now assisting in academic research on the post-Civil War history of Communities of Color in Texas.
Robin began visiting the Monastery in 2017 and became a practicing member the following year.  In 2022 she became a formal student of the MRO.  Since 2019 Robin has helped facilitate the monthly meeting of the People of African Descent (PAD) Affinity Group.  In addition to those lives, Robin considers herself a gardener, a cat whisperer, a celestial gazer and sometime poet. As her somatic practice she sings gospel and North Indian classical music.

With gratitude, we acknowledge the founding SHAC cohort whose vision, care, and labor established SHAC and laid the foundation for future cohorts

Stay Connected

If you have questions, reflections, or concerns you would like to share with the Sangha Harmony Advisory Council, please contact us at shac@dharma.net or access our