Richard Reishin Collins

Richard Reishin Collins (born 1952, Eugene, Oregon) is the second abbot of the New Orleans Zen Temple and the principal dharma successor of Robert Livingston Roshi. An academic by profession (English / comparative literature), he began Zen practice with Livingston in 2001, received monastic ordination in 2010, was given permission to teach in 2012, and received shihō (dharma transmission) from Livingston at midnight on 1 January 2016 in the dōjō at 748 Camp Street — the intimate ceremony in which Livingston handed over his kotsu (the curved teaching stick) as the symbol of transmitted authority. He has since served as abbot of the New Orleans Zen Temple while residing in Sewanee, Tennessee, where he directs the Stone Nest Dōjō and oversees the wider American Zen Association sangha. He is the author of *No Fear Zen: Discovering Balance in an Unbalanced World* (2015) among other writings^[1].