About
A life of practice.
Meet the abbot of Keigakuji.
The abbot
Shunryu Garvey
Shunryu Garvey is the seventeenth abbot of Keigakuji. Raised on a farm in Indiana, he first came to Niigata as an English teacher and was ordained in the Sōtō Zen tradition in 2012.
His Dharma name is Sōen Shunryū (祖淵春龍). Since becoming abbot in 2023, he has cared for the temple’s community and welcomed visitors to practise zazen in English and Japanese.
His invitation is simple: come as you are. You do not need to arrive with perfect posture, special knowledge, or a religious identity.
A path to the temple
From Indiana to Niigata.
2007–2012
Language and place
After graduating from Vassar College in 2007 with a major in Japanese, Shunryu taught English at elementary and junior high schools in Sanjō, Niigata, from 2008 to 2012.
2012
Entering the tradition
He was ordained at Saimyōji, a Sōtō Zen temple in Sanjō, in 2012. His life in Niigata grew from language teaching into Buddhist practice and temple service.
2023–present
Caring for Keigakuji
In 2023 he became Keigakuji’s seventeenth abbot, continuing its life as a village temple while opening opportunities for visitors from Japan and abroad to sit.
Beyond the cushion
Practice in a technological world.
Shunryu earned his PhD in Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2019. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence and Center for International Security and Cooperation in 2019–2020, and a visiting researcher in 2021–2023.
His research examines how societies make decisions about technological risks and the political economy of artificial intelligence. Alongside temple life, he works in medical and scientific translation and contributes to local efforts toward sustainable tourism.
Read the Journal →In print
Keigakuji in the media.
Newspaper and magazine features trace Shunryu’s path into Zen practice, his research, and the temple’s life in the community.
Explore selected coverage from Carrel, Niigata Nippo and Mainichi Shimbun, with original article scans on our Japanese site.
Browse the media archive (Japanese) →
Meet on the cushion.
The best introduction is a visit. Explore a short sitting, a half day at the temple, or an overnight stay.