 Rev. Eishin Tom Houghton Rev. Eishin Tom Houghton is the head priest/teacher at the Des Moines Zen Center. He has been a follower of the Buddhist teachings since 1998. He started Zen practice in 2009 at the Des Moines Zen Center. He received lay ordination from Rev. Eido Espe in 2011 and was given the Dharma name “Eishin.” He was priest ordained in 2015, received Dharma transmission from Rev. Espe in 2022, and accepted the position as head priest of the Des Moines Zen Center in April, 2023 when Rev. Espe transitioned into an emeritus role. Eishin has had monastic training at Ryumonji Zen Monastery in northeast Iowa where he has practiced for years with his grandfather teacher, Rev. Shoken Winecoff. He is also significantly influenced by the Christian contemplative tradition, primarily through the teachings of Father Richard Rohr from Albuquerque, New Mexico. |
 Rev. Eido Espe Rev. Eido Bruce Espe is head priest/teacher emeritus of the Des Moines Zen Center and continues in his role as vice-abbot of Ryumonji Zen Monastery in northeast Iowa. He is the founder of Shinsenji (Deep River Temple), the international Soto Zen temple designation given to the Des Moines Zen Center by the Japanese Sotoshu as a result of his practice and dedication. Rev. Espe discovered Zen after serving in the Army and a tour of duty in Vietnam. He has two grown children, two grandchildren, and is retired from a career as a hospice nurse. Rev. Espe is a Soto Zen priest in the lineage of Dainin Katagiri Roshi, receiving ordination in 1997 and dharma transmission in 2010 from his teacher, Rev. Shoken Winecoff. He has trained extensively in Japan, completing four ango practice periods and zuise at Eiheiji and Sojiji Monasteries. |
 Rev. Gendo Thornberry
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 Vicki Joren Goldsmith |
 Bret Kinryu Hoken McFarlin Bret Kinryu Hoken McFarlin serves as a lay teacher of Soto Zen, Dainin Katagiri lineage, Des Moines Zen Center sangha. Entrusted by Rev. Eishin Houghton on February 9, 2025. Hoken first glimpsed Zen’s path in a rural Tennessee meadow where he sat “hippie zen” (zazen, but groovier) with other members of The Farm commune in 1974. Suzuki Roshi’s Zen Mind, Beginners Mind served well as their instruction manual. Later came visits to Soto and Rinzai centers offering more formal zazen, as well as Vipassana and Tibetan retreats, including tantric initiation by His Holiness the 14th Dalai.
In 1992 Hoken joined four others also possessing beginners’ minds, including Vicki Joren Goldsmith, another current Zen Center lay teacher.. Together they sat upright, silent and still, manifesting sangha from thin air. Over three decades, Des Moines Zen Center grew into Shinsenji, Deep River Temple.
Honoring buddhas, ancestors and teachers, Kinryu Hoken roams dharma fields, aspiring to continuous practice, vowing to further awaken from the pernicious illusion that we are in any way separate from one another.
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