Our Teachers
Zen Master Jeong Bong, Guiding Teacher
Zen Master Jeong Bong (Eric Nord) has practiced Zen in the lineage of Zen Master Seung Sahn and Zen Master Ji Bong since 1996. He received Inka from Zen Master Ji Bong in 2008 and transmission from Zen Masters Ji Bong and Jeong Ji in 2023. He served as Head Dharma Teacher for Blue Heron Zen Community and its predecessor organization from 2002 through 2021. Jeong Bong has two grown daughters and lives with his wife in Seattle, Washington. He can be reached at jeongbong@blueheronzen.org.
Listen to dharma talks by Zen Master Jeong Bong:
Attaining the Inconceivable, November 15, 2022
Signlessness, October 22, 2022
Paul Gulick, JDPSN, Abbot
Paul Gulick began practicing Zen in 1979, and in 1984 began practicing in the lineage of Zen Master Seung Sahn. Paul lives in Seattle and is a social worker at the King County Jail. He has been Abbot of Blue Heron Zen Community since November 2020. He received inka from Zen Master Jeong Ji in 2023. Paul can be reached at paul@blueheronzen.org.
Chris Chapman, JDPSN
Chris Chapman began practicing Zen in the lineage of Zen Master Ji Bong in 2001. He has served as Blue Heron Zen Community’s Head Dharma Teacher since 2022. Chris received inka from Zen Master Jeong Ji in 2023. Chris lives in Seattle where he is an industry research psychologist. Over the years, he has visited Zen centers around the US and in Korea, Japan, Canada, and France. Chris can be reached at chris@blueheronzen.org.
Zen Master Ji Bong, Founding Teacher
Zen Master Ji Bong (Robert Moore) has been a Zen student since 1969. He began studying with Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1974 and became a Zen Master in 1997. He is a retired professor of music at the University of Southern California. Zen Master Ji Bong founded the Golden Wind Zen Order, of which Blue Heron Zen Community is a member. Currently he teaches Zen in Long Beach, California. He has three children and lives with his wife in Long Beach, CA.
Zen Master Jeong Ji
Zen Master Jeong Ji (Anita Feng) has practiced Zen in the lineage of Zen Master Seung Sahn since 1976. She studied with Zen Master Ji Bong from the 1990s, receiving Inka in 2008 and transmission in 2015. She is married with three adult children and two grandchildren. Currently she serves as the guiding teacher at the Albuquerque Zen Center. She can be reached at fenganita@gmail.com For more information about her Buddha sculptures, books and teachings, visit her blog at www.anitafeng.com.
Ann Pepper, JDPSN
Ann Pepper, JDPSN has been a student of Zen Master Ji Bong since 2002 and received Inka from him in 2015. She teaches with Zen Master Ji Bong at the Golden Wind Zen Center in Long Beach, California and also at the Aikido-Ai dojo in Whittier, California. A former newspaper reporter, she lives in Seal Beach, California.
Jeff Tipp, JDPSN, Teacher Emeritus
Jeff Tipp, JDPSN was ordained as a monk in an order of Christian mystics in 1968, entered the Dharma in 1973, met Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1978, and founded the precursor to Blue Heron Zen Community in 1980. He received Inka from Zen Master Ji Bong in 2006 and is a practicing Psychotherapist. He has one son, and lives with his wife in Sebastopol, California.
Inka Holder
Greg Eisen, JDPSN
Greg Eisen has practiced Zen in the lineage of Zen master Seung Sahn and studied under Zen Master Ji Bong since 1996. He received Inka on the Precepts Path from Zen Master Jeong Ji in 2022. Zen teaching takes many forms. Greg is an example of embodying the teachings, including serving as our treasurer since 1999 and as a Dharma Teacher since 2007. He has two children and lives in Seattle, Washington. He can be reached at eisengn@gmail.com.