Rev. Dr. Masaki Matsubara was born into and grew up in a Zen temple family in the Myoshinji denomination of the Rinzai School in Japan. Following his Zen monastic training in Heirinji Monastery, he earned a PhD in Asian religions from Cornell University (2009). He taught Buddhist studies and East Asian languages and cultures, as well as religious studies, at UC Berkeley (2009-2013) and was the BDK Fellow at the Ho Center for Buddhist Studies at Stanford University (2013-2014). Currently he is a visiting scholar at the East Asia Program at Cornell University. In addition, he is a research associate at the Contemplative Studies Initiative at Brown University. He is the head priest of Butsumoji Zen Temple, supervising the nearby affiliated International Zen Center in Japan and traveling between the States and Japan to lead retreats and seminars. He currently resides in Oakland, California.