Our Team
Jose (Shinzan) Palma
Sensei Shinzan was born in Veracruz, Mexico, He is an ordained Zen priest and Dharma successor of Joan Jiko Halifax, roshi.
Shinzan arrived at Upaya Zen Center in 2006 where he lived and trained for over 8 years as a resident and student of Joan Halifax, roshi. He received Dharma transmission from Joan Halifax, roshi in Jan 2015 before relocating to San Diego, CA..
He is the founder of the Open Gate Zen Collective in San Diego ,CA. co-teaches teen retreats in the US for IBME , and is a guest teacher at Upaya Zen Center and New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. Guiding Teacher for Sanghas in México City and Bogotá, Colombia.
His vision is to continue to mentor and teach young men and women and to create a Zen Hispanic community in the USA and Mexico.
JiHyang Padma
Ji Hyang Padma has combined an academic career with her vocation as a spiritual teacher. Ji Hyang Padma has done intensive Zen training and teaching in Asia and North America for 25 years. She has completed several 90-day intensive retreats in Korea and North America. Ji Hyang has also served as Director and Abbot of Cambridge Zen Center, one of the largest Zen Centers in the country. She has taught meditation as core faculty at Omega Institute for sixteen seasons.
Ji Hyang holds a doctorate in psychology from Sofia University. Ji Hyang also has received certification as a Mindfulness- Based Stress Reduction teacher. She has an additional sangha affiliation with One Heart Zen, in Somerville, MA. Ji Hyang also has a practice of energy work that is informed by the traditional healing and ritual of the Q’ero of Peru. Her work can be found at Mountain Path and Natural Wisdom.
Ji Hyang’s recent writing has been published in Our Neighbor's Faith: Stories of Interfaith Encounters and Arts of Contemplative Care: Pioneering Voices in Buddhist Chaplaincy and Pastoral Work. Her first book, Zen Practices for Transformative Times, was released by Quest Books in 2013. Her second book, Field of Blessings
Ritual & Consciousness in the Work of Buddhist Healers, was published in September 2020 by Mantra Books.
Devon Walker
Devon grew up in both Northern and Southern California. She moved to Colorado for college, where she received a bachelor’s degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition. She then spent several years in Oklahoma earning her master’s degree and becoming a Registered Dietitian. Five years ago, Devon returned to California; she now resides in beautiful San Diego, loving all that it has to offer.
Over the past three years, Devon has learned a great deal about the benefits of mediation and the passion exhibited within the Zen community. She wanted to deepen her practice by becoming a member of the Board and furthering her commitment to OG Collective. Devon’s partner has been a student of Shinzan’s for over five years and is a dedicated member of Open Gate Zen Collective.
Peter (Daio) Kapich
Raised and educated in San Diego, California, Peter took advantage of an intensive academic study. After graduating from The Bishop’s School, and completing the required courses at the University of California San Diego, Peter earned a degree in Applied Math with a minor in psychology and physics. Within recent years, Peter has broadened his neopositivist background and expanded into a Black Belt in martial arts. He also sits on the Ken-Ka-Kung Fu board. Moreover, working sales for a large multinational company has gifted him the opportunity to travel extensively throughout North America and Europe. This has allowed him the possibility to sit with many diverse Sanghas! Peter has helped maintain the North County Sangha during the last three years and sits on the OGZC board. He took Jukai from Shinzan in 2019 after four years of Zen practice.
Joana (Joren) Arcos- Gamboa
Born and raised in Cali Colombia, moved to The United States to pursue a college education. Joana received multiple degrees from Rutgers University, University of New Mexico, South West Acupuncture Collage and Heilongjiang University in Harbin China. Working and studying full time took a toll on her, which lead her to finding Zen Buddhism. Joana has practiced Buddhism for 13 years with multiple Sanghas and in 2015 She took Jukai with Shinzan. In 2018 she moved to San Diego and became a part of Open Gate Zen Collective. Joana was able to practice for 4 years with the OG Sangha., forming bonds that will last a lifetime. In 2022 Joana married a wonderful human being, TJ and moved to Tokyo, Japan with their dog Shak. In Japan she teaches English and has an arts and crafts home business. She continues her Zen practice with two temples in Japan, Tosho-Ji and Sozen-Ji.
Madrone B. Phoenix
Madrone (They/ She) is a queer-identified, multiethnic, mental health professional and parent raising the next generation. They founded and run the Phoenix Rising Centers, a social justice mental health collective that centralizes care for Black, Brown and QT2S+ communities across the US.
In their spare time, they offer forensic evaluations to asylum seekers with Physicians for Human Rights and create native wildflower gardens for pollinators. They find their balance and calm in gardens and the natural world as well as in the world of Zen Buddhism and various Yogas.
Before becoming a licensed clinician, Madrone explored and lived in various states and nations. One of their proudest accomplishments includes the two years they spent deepening their own meditation practice while in residency at a Upaya Zen Center in the Santa Fe, NM. They are a proud parent of two little ones and remain committed and active in doing their own personal work so they can break the cycle of intergenerational trauma from being passed down to the next generation. Their hopes and dreams are vast and wide for a inclusive and bright future for us all.
Peg Kendo Murray
Peggy is a Zen Peacemaker, a priest and a Dharma Holder (hoshi) in the White Plum Lineage who lives and serves at Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community in Cornwall VT alongside Joshin Byrnes, sensei. Kendo has been a close spiritual friend of Shinzan sensei since living and practicing beside him as a fellow resident at Upaya Zen Center from 2007-2013. During her years of residency at Upaya, Kendo served as personal and administrative assistant to the Abbott, Roshi Joan Halifax and also coordinated both the Prajna Mountain Refuge site and the Being With Dying Training for palliative care clinicians.
Kendo left Upaya in 2013 to formally study Early Buddhist teachings/ Pali Canon through Bodhi College and completed the Committed Dharma Practitioner Program in 2015. In addition, she spent many weeks between Dec 2016-May 2018 in service and training in the Tibetan Vajrayana tradition at Dharma Ocean in Crestone Colorado.
Peg holds a M.Ed. in Counselor Education, is a mom and a grandmother, and enjoys sharing the various perspectives from her eclectic Buddhist studies while infusing the skillfull means of humor and joy into her life, practice and teaching responsibilities.