What we’re about
Welcome! I’m Courtney—but please call me by my nickname Chaan. I recently located to southern Arizona from Santa Barbara, California, where for seven years I facilitated a Buddhist meditation group. Our group offered group meditations, study groups, field trips to local monasteries, wilderness meditation retreats, full moon night hikes, and even international Buddhist retreats and pilgrimages.
Our programs always were—and always will be—completely free of charge.
I’d like to offer the same suite of Dharma-related programs here in my new home—specifically, Green Valley.
Allow me to offer a bit of my background:
I’m a longtime author, Asian art collector, audiophile, and adventurer, having spent the better part of 20 years wandering and climbing mountains all over the world. In the process, I’ve written and/or edited more than a dozen books, including hiking guidebooks, a number of books about meditation and Buddhist philosophy, and even a book about Jim Morrison and the Doors.
I began my Buddhist journey in my twenties, when I spent a decade exploring the delicate and beautiful world of Japanese Zen. Then, in 2006, I met my first teacher, himself a student of the venerable Vietnamese Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. After a decade with that teacher, I found myself living in the mountains of Alaska when I met a group of forest monks from Thailand. That opened me up to the world of Theravāda Buddhism.
In early 2017, I met my current teacher—a venerable Burmese master called U Zeyathuta. The master has skillfully guided my meditation far beyond where I’d ever dreamed. It was under his tutelage that I also took ordination as a Buddhist monk some years ago. It was a brief but formative experience for me, one that has positioned me well for the facilitating I’ve done in the group I formed in Santa Barbara.
My master has authorized me to not only facilitate mindfulness meditation programs but also to teach Buddhist philosophy, or Abhidharma—regarded as the most profound of the Buddha’s teachings.
Welcome to Pink House Sangha—named in homage to the group my first teacher formed in 2005. The more you participate, the more events and programs are offered. Meditations, study groups, retreats, pilgrimages, the art of tea, and the study of Asian art—you’re welcome to be a part of Pink House Sangha’s new manifestation in southern Arizona.
