Chōbun Nenzen Pamela Brown was introduced to sitting meditation in 1976. Over the following decades—through marriage, a law career, and family life—she returned to practice sporadically, keeping a small but steady thread of the teachings in her life. Later, as her father and then her husband were declining with a neurodegenerative disease, she finally chose to remain seated, committing herself to a continuous path.
She initially trained with Sensei Gary Koan Janka from whom she received the Bodhisattva Precepts; she served Koan Sensei's Santa Barbara Zen Center for many years in various roles. Koan Sensei introduced her to Jikoji Zen Center, where she was ordained in Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi’s lineage by Shōho Michael Newhall. She received Dharma Transmission from Jakko Eso Vanja Palmers at Felsentor, Switzerland.
Nenzen serves as the Abiding Teacher at Jikoji Zen Center, where she lives and practices within the daily rhythms, challenges and joys of a communal temple life—finding in them a continual source of practice and endless gratitude.