Bonnie Myotai Treace

Bonnie Myotai Treace is the founder and teacher of Hermitage Heart; she leads a program of training in Garrison, New York and Asheville, North Carolina. She is particularly known for her work in women's spirituality, poetry, and the nexus of mind and environment. Myotai was the first Dharma successor of John Daido Loori, Roshi, in the Mountains and Rivers Order, having received shiho, dharma transmission, from him in 1996. Serving for almost two decades as vice-abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery, she was the establishing teacher and first abbess of the Zen Center of New York City. At the Monastery she was the first director of Dharma Communications, editor of Mountain Record, and in charge of the affiliates of the Mountains and Rivers Order.

Treace holds advanced degrees in literature, was a lobbyist for women's issues, and an analyst with the Potomac Research Institute specializing in hydromechanics.

In 2016 Myotai gave shiho or dharma transmission to Phil Sengetsu Kolman, Sensei, and named John Kyoman Weiczorek as Dharma Steward of Hermitage Heart.

Treace is the author of several books, among them: "Winter Moon: A Season of Zen," and "Empty Branches." She's also had chapters in "Water: Its Spiritual Significance" (Vons Fitae Press), The Art of Just Sitting: Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikantaza, and "Lotus Moon: The Poetry of Rengetsu", along with many other writings. Myotai's teachings have appeared in various Buddhist publications, including Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly, The Mountain Record and in several editions of The Best Buddhist Writing. She is a member of the American Zen Teachers Association.