About Rev. Lucy Xiao
Gendo Lucy Xiao is a Dharma Heir in the Shunryu Suzuki Roshi lineage. She began practicing at San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC) in 2000 and studied under former abbot Ryushin Paul Haller, from whom she received priest ordination and Dharma Transmission. She lived and practiced for many years at City Center and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and now serves as a non-residential teacher at SFZC.
Lucy was born and raised in Guangzhou, China. Her Chinese heritage remains a wellspring of inspiration and connection, and her teaching reflects a blend of both Eastern and Western perspectives. Being a Zen priest and a Doctor of Chinese Medicine, Lucy's spiritual and healing paths are deeply intertwined, enriching her understanding of the interconnected and ever-changing nature of life.
She is the guiding teacher of the Harmony Zen sitting group in San Francisco and the Chuxin (original mind) sitting group in Guangzhou, China — both communities dedicated to meditation, Zen study, and cultivating awareness in everyday life.
In midlife I came to cherish the Way,
and at old age I found a home near Zhongnan.
I go to the mountain alone anytime the urge strikes,
and delight in the marvels of things.
Walking along the stream till it ends, I sit and watch the clouds rise.
If by chance I meet an old woodsman,
we talk and laugh, forgetting to go home.
- "Retreat at Mt. Zhongnan", Wang Wei (Tang Dynasty)
中歲頗好道，晚家南山陲。
興來每獨往，勝事空自知。
行到水窮處，坐看雲起時。
偶然值林叟，談笑無還期。
- 《終南別業》, 王維 (唐)
