Thomas Yuho Kirchner, a native of Connecticut who has resided in Japan since 1969, is an ordained Rinzai Zen monk and a graduate of Otani University in Kyoto with an M.A. in Buddhist Studies. After practicing for ten years in Japanese monasteries he worked on the editorial staff at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya. He presently serves as priest at the temple Rinsen-ji in the Arashiyama area of Kyoto, and is a researcher at the International Research Institute for Zen Buddhism at Hanazono University.
Nelson Foster is a Dharma heir of Diamond Sangha founder Robert Aitken and succeeded him at its Honolulu temple. He now teaches mainly at Ring of Bone Zendo in the California foothills, making periodic visits to the East Rock Sangha in New England.
Ueda Shizuteru, Professor Emeritus at Kyoto University, specializes in the philosophy of religion. His areas of interest include Christian mysticism, Buddhist thought, and Kyoto School philosophy. He is a longtime practitioner of Zen meditation.