Zen Heart Sangha

About Us

Misha Shungen Koun Merrill began practicing Zen in 1984, and has been the Guiding Teacher of Zen Heart Sangha in Menlo Park and Woodside, California, since 1993. She was ordained as a Zen priest in 1988 and received Dharma Transmission in 1998 from her teacher, Les Kaye Roshi, the founding teacher of Kannon Do Zen Center in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, the founder of San Francisco Zen Center. She also received Dharma Transmission in 2025 in the lineage of Kobun Houn Roshi, the founder of Jikoji Zen Center from teachers Shoho Michael Newhall and Nenzen Pamela Brown. Misha was a teacher at the Peninsula School in Menlo Park for 33 years before retiring in 2022. She resides in Woodside with her husband, dog, and other wildlife creatures.

Kakushin Jill Kaplan has been practicing Zen since 1993 with Zen Heart Sangha and received Dharma Transmission from Misha in July 2013. She received priest ordination in 2001 and was Shuso (Head Monk) for the Sangha’s first practice period in 2008. She is currently serving as Tanto of the Sangha, helping to lead the evening and Saturday programs, as well as teaching the sewing of Buddha’s robes. Jill has a psychotherapy practice in Redwood City, is a teaching member of Sandplay Therapists of America, and has taught Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. She resides in Redwood City with her husband and has two grown sons.