Sandy Stewart Talk

Born in 1938, Sandy Gentei Stewart became interested in Zen when he was 16 and heard Alan Watts speak on the radio. At age 29 he heard a radio interview with Joshu Sasaki Roshi and immediately knew he had found his teacher. In 1971 he was ordained as a Zen teacher (Osho) and became Vice-Abbot of the Cimarron Zen Center (now Rinzai-ji in Los Angeles.

In 1975 he was appointed abbot of the Jemez Bodhi Mandala (now Bodhi Manda) in Jemez Springs, New Mexico. Three years later he moved to North Carolina with his wife Susanna and stepdaughter Lara. Sandy was the guiding force behind the North Carolina Zen Center for nearly three decades. He currently (2024) shares his Zen wisdom with a core group of Zen students in North Carolina and via zoom.

"The most important book one can read is the autobiography of your self in the present moment." - Gentei Osho