About the Authors

Peg Syverson, Ph.D.

Peg has been studying and practicing Zen since 1966. She was a student of Joko Beck from 1990 until Joko’s death in 2011; Joko originally authorized her to teach. From 2001 to 2006, she also trained with Flint Sparks at Austin Zen Center in the formal Japanese tradition of Suzuki Roshi, and was ordained as a Soto Zen priest there in 2004. She had formal priest training in residence for six months at Austin Zen Center and six months at Great Vow Zen Monastery in Clatskanie, Oregon, under the guidance of the Abbots, Jan Chozen Bays and Hogen Bays. In 2014 she received dharma transmission with Kosho McCall in the Suzuki Roshi lineage.

Peg is also an Emeritus Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing. She taught courses such as Zen Rhetoric, Non-violent Rhetoric, Information Architecture, and Knowledge Ecologies, for undergraduates and graduate students. She was the Director of the Computer Writing and Research Lab and then the Undergraduate Writing Center.

Flint Sparks, Ph.D.

Flint Sparks is a Zen teacher and former psychologist dedicated to assisting people in the unending path of growing up and waking up. He is an experienced therapist and a master teacher who assists people in the skillful removal of blocks to love, both inside and outside. He is a clear and caring resource on the path of freedom from unnecessary suffering. Flint has nearly four decades of experience in the practice and teaching of psychotherapy. He also leads Zen retreats throughout North America and Europe.