Tim Bassui Moran

Timothy Bassui Moran is a 45-year-old married father of five who lives in Rockford, Illinois.  He has a Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering but has never entered the field and instead has had a number of careers which includes external medical devices prototyping, ice cream machine design, natural gas compressors design, and managing the design of fleet salt spreaders.  He is currently in the process of creating his own Engineering services company.  His first experience with Buddhism and Zen was reading Brad Warner’s Hardcore Zen.  Everyone has that one eye opening experience and that was his.  His first meditation experiences occurred at a local Theravada temple.  An inability to attend the Theravada temple’s schedule led to an extended period of sitting by himself.  Several years later, he joined several Facebook groups in order to gain a better understanding of Zen and connect with like-minded individuals.  In 2016, he took part in the Kie San Bo ceremony with Clear Mind Zen and was given the dharma name of Bassui.  Later that year he also took part in the Jukai ceremony and in 2017 became an Unsui under John Shoji Sorensen.  Since that time, he has been leading a small group of meditators every Saturday morning at the local Unitarian Universalist church.  He received transmission in 2020.

Russell Kyofu Seikyo Mitchell

Rev. Russell Kyofu Seikyo Mitchell is a Certified Safety Professional. He is also a Technical Fellow of the International System Safety Society Inc., and currently serves as Immediate Past President of the Society. Russ is a Dharma transmitted priest in the Clear Mind School of Zen having studied under Shoji Roshi. Russ has studied in the Open Mind School of Zen under Fusho Roshi since 2012 and received Dharma transmission in that lineage in 2022. Russ teaches mindful awareness as a critical element in the practice of system safety and industrial/occupational safety as well as meditation within corporate environments. Russ is accepting traditional Zen students for Priest progression, koan students, and lay students. Weekly zoom meetings held on Tuesdays, provide a backbone of sangha support for his students.