Our Teachers

Roshi Kennedy, Sensei Bachmann

Carl Bachmann, Sensei

Carl Genjo Bachmann, Sensei, is a therapist and an administrator at the Passaic County Board of Social Services. After graduating from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford, NJ, Carl earned an MSW from Rutgers University and was certified as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). From the mid-1970's through the present Carl has worked in the field of public welfare, running programs for homeless women and children. He also maintains a private practice in Morris County, specializing in grief counseling and trauma.

Carl was introduced by a friend to Zen practice in the early 1970s and soon became involved with the Zen Studies Society in NYC. He later joined the Zen Community of New York in Riverdale and studied under Bernard Glassman, Roshi. As the seventies gave way to the eighties, Carl devoted himself to family life and developing his career, while continuing to sit and attend occasional retreats.

In the 1990's, Carl began studying with Roshi Robert Kennedy, S.J. in Jersey City, meeting early in the morning to share silence and discuss the great wisdom of the koans. Also during the 90's, Carl became involved with John Flynn and the Metro Zen group in Montclair. As Metro Zen evolved into the Clear Mountain Zen Center, Carl assumed growing responsibilities as community leader and teacher.

The Clear Mountain sangha thus expressed its great joy when Roshi Kennedy formally transmitted dharma authority to Carl on December 12, 2010, recognizing him as Sensei. Sensei Bachmann took the dharma name "Genjo", meaning "Original Silence". At his installation, Sensei Bachmann said that "Zen has helped me experience the intimacy of not knowing, allowing me to live a more connected and open-hearted life. Teaching is an opportunity to help others experience this for themselves and to serve the greater community that is us."
 

Guiding Teacher

Robert Kennedy, S.J. directs a number of communities practicing interfaith zen in the metro New York-New Jersey-Connecticut area. Roshi Kennedy, a Jesuit Roman Catholic priest, teaches Theology at St. Peters College in Jersey City, NJ and is a psychotherapist in private practice. He is the author of several books, including Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit and Zen Gifts to Christians. He was ordained a priest in Japan in 1965 and studied Zen with Yamada Roshi in Japan, Maezumi Roshi in Los Angeles, and Tetsugen Bernard Glassman Roshi in New York. In 1991 he was installed as a Sensei in the White Plum Asanga lineage and was given the honorific title Roshi in 1997.
 

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Script for Mountain and Clarity

Clear Mountain Zen Center
80 Pompton Ave
Verona, NJ 07044
 

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