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.
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.
Nancy Natilson
Nancy moved to San Diego in January 2026 with her husband to be closer to family, including their two granddaughters. They immediately felt at home at Open Gate Zen Collective and are grateful to be members of such a welcoming sangha with such a wise and dedicated teacher!
Nancy has practiced Buddhism in the Plum Village tradition since 2004 with the Florida Community of Mindfulness (FCM). In 2011, she was ordained in Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of interbeing and was given the name Truly Living Together. Nancy had many leadership roles at FCM, including Board member.
Nancy is retired from a career in international development. She specialized in supporting civil society organizations and microenterprises in the Global South to become financially sustainable. Nancy traveled extensively all around the world and still enjoys traveling and collecting indigenous crafts. She has an MBA in International Finance from New York University and a BA in Urban Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Nancy currently volunteers to support people and bear witness during their immigration appointments.
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.
Chris (Kenshin) Ariante
Chris grew up in a small coastal town in New Jersey and moved to California in 2017, first to San Francisco and eventually south to San Diego. He practiced with several Insight Meditation groups in San Francisco before finding Zen roughly five years ago. He has been sitting with the Open Gate Zen Collective for the past several years and received Jukai from Sensei Shinzan in 2026.
In his lay life, Chris is the founder and CEO of Nira Energy, a software company focused on helping more renewable energy connect to the electric grid. He has dedicated his career to making the energy system more sustainable and efficient. Chris was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2025 and is an alumnus of Y Combinator. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering.
Jennifer (Myozen) Stiff
Jen’s path to meditation began with a belief that she could not do it. During her first yoga class in 2005, she fell in love with the movement practice but didn’t return to yoga for five years because the brief meditation at the end of class felt unbearable. Feeling an enduring tug in her heart to try again, Jen returned to yoga in 2010 and, one breath at a time, learned how to sit quietly for a few minutes at the end of each class. She became a certified yoga instructor in 2014 and completed the Prison Yoga Project certification in 2015. Jen taught yoga to special populations for several years including at a PTSD treatment center for veterans and established a pilot yoga program with the San Diego Police Department. She is a certified reiki healer and dabbles lightly in practicing reiki on dogs.
Jen began exploring Buddhism in 2017 at the Dharma Bum Temple in San Diego, where she attended Mettā meditation classes and later participated in the Engaged Buddhism Program and led the Women’s Leadership Program. Her journey with Zen began in 2024, at the Hidden Valley Zen Center in San Marcos and later at OG. She took the precepts with Sensei Shinzan in July 2026.
In her work life, Jen leads a communications team at a public service agency and has worked in local nonprofits for 15 years, including 10 years at the American Red Cross. She practices heart-centered leadership, which requires compassion and a sense of humor in equal measure. She has degrees from UCSD and SDSU and is pursuing training in community mediation.
In her free time Jen loves to swim in the ocean and aspires to one day see a whale in the wild, is learning Spanish one “hola” at a time, writes, daydreams about creating wildly contained Ikebana, and appreciates every day she gets to spend with her partner/BFF Jeremy and the love of their lives, the angelic creampuff rescue dog, Meatball.
Gregg (Dojin) Henning
Gregg Dojin Henning (b. August 13, 1959) was born and raised in the Santa Ynez Valley of California. He served in the United States Navy as a medic and later worked for over thirty years as a licensed vocational nurse. Alongside his healthcare career, Gregg has been a professional drummer for more than forty years.
Dojin began Zen practice in 1993 at the Zen Center San Diego, where he practiced for seven years with Charlotte Joko Beck, Elizabeth Hamilton, and Ezra Bayda. He has also practiced for over thirty years with Insight Meditation teacher Gita Morena.
His Zen training has included practice at Sweetwater Zen Center under the guidance of Roshi Ann Seisen Sanders. For the past ten years, Dojin has practiced at Open Gate Zen Collective with Jose Shinzan Palma, Sensei.
Gregg was recently recognized as a Hoshi (Assistant teacher) and continues to share the Dharma grounded in ordinary life, long-term practice, and compassionate presence.
Cathy (Jikai) Rose
Cathy Jikai Rose (she/they) began her practice over 30 years ago eventually finding her way to the Upaya Zen Center in 2001 and receiving Jukai from Roshi Joan in 2007. Cathy travelled to Europe to study with a former Upaya teacher for a number of years and has regularly returned to Upaya either online or in person. Her main teachers are Sensei Shinzan Palma and the members of the Open Gate Zen Collective who continually amaze her with their ability to connect with such warmth as true dharma friends despite the distance. One of the joys of this long path has been finding people to practice with and the discovery that sangha takes many forms.
In 2022 Cathy graduated from a two year Community Meditation Teacher program offered through True North Insight. Cathy studies early Buddhist teachings with True North Guiding Teacher Jill Davey and occasionally collaborates with Jill and other True North teachers for events locally including a mindfulness meditation series for newcomers to practice.
Now retired, Cathy spent over 30 years nursing in remote fly-in communities in the Canadian arctic often as the sole medical provider for her village requiring her to take on a wide variety of roles from public health, emergency care, and midwifery to veterinary care on occasion. She misses the far north deeply and remains in contact with many of the families who befriended her and taught her so much.