Rev. Zenshin Florence Caplow
Zen Priest and Teacher | Author | Conservation Biologist |
Social Justice Activist | Change Coach | Unitarian Universalist Minister
My greatest joy is to accompany others in their journeys toward greater freedom, joy, and connection. I am also dedicated to the appreciation and protection of our beautiful world, through my previous work as a conservation scientist and through environmental and social justice activism. I have a number of identities, but they are all about service to others and helping communities and individuals toward greater wholeness and integrity.
I grew up in the Midwest, raised by a single mother, a professor of art history and humanities at Indiana State University. I had a long and happy first career as a field botanist and conservation biologist, conducting rare plant surveys from Alaska to the Mojave, many of them for The Nature Conservancy. I discovered and named new plant species, and spent five years as the lead botanist for the State of Washington.
Since my teens I have seriously studied and practiced Buddhism and Buddhist meditation, in both the Zen and Vipassana traditions. I was ordained as a Soto Zen priest in 2007, given authorization to teach in 2012, and received Dharma Transmission in 2022, through the lineage of Suzuki Roshi, San Francisco Zen Center, Zoketsu Norman Fischer, Everyday Zen, and Bruce Fortin. I speak and teach regularly online for Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, Ancient Dragon Zen Gate in Chicago, Occidental-Laguna Sangha in Sebastol, California, and San Francisco Zen Center. Most recently I have offered two class series at San Francisco Zen Center about spiritual practices for those with the challenges of chronic illness and pain. I have also written widely for Buddhist publications, as well as co-editing The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty Five Centuries of Awakened Women. I meet with serious Buddhist practitioners online for one-on-one practice interviews and spiritual direction, by donation.
I was born and raised a Unitarian Universalist. I felt a call to UU Ministry in 2008, and began UU seminary at Starr King School for the Ministry in January of 2013. I was ordained by Two Rivers Unitarian Universalist, where I was serving as a solo minister, on April 30th, 2016, and have served Quimper UU Fellowship in Port Townsend, Washington, and the UU Church of Urbana-Champaign, in Illinois.
I currently live in Illinois on a tree-lined street with two cats, Hocus and Rosa, and enjoy gardening, birding, and when I get the chance, paddling on local rivers.
After training in coaching and spiritual direction, I have realized that I feel a deep call to accompany those who are on the cusp of change in their lives through Change Coaching. I am committed to extending my coaching work to those who might otherwise not find coaching financially feasible: BIPOC, LGTBQ+, full time activists, and those with the challenges of chronic illness and disability.