Teachers

Intensive Study with a Qualified Teacher

Seven Thunders members have opportunities for long-term study and ongoing intensive study with our teacher, Leonard Marcel Roshi.

Fr. Patrick Hawk Roshi, our founding teacher, passed away May 8, 2012. Pat led our Contemplative Intensive Retreats and Zen Sesshin since 1988. Fr. Pat was a Redemptorist priest with degrees in philosophy, theology and English literature. He was a qualified teacher of contemplation and mysticism having completed these studies under the direction and guidance of Fr. Willigis Jaeger, OSB. He formally practiced Zen since 1978 as a student of Robert Aitken, Roshi. Fr. Hawk received Dharma transmission from Aitken Roshi and was confirmed as a Zen Master in the Diamond Sangha lineage in 1989.

Leonard Marcel Roshi received full Dharma Transmission from Pat Hawk in October 2001. He has been leading sesshin in Europe for several years, and has worked closely with Rolf Drosten Roshi as well as Pat. He has studied both Zen and Christian Contemplation for more than 30 years, and has been teaching since 1996. Leonard was a founding member of Seven Thunders, and was largely responsible for its inception in 1985. Leonard is a retired psychiatrist and Jungian analyst. He has also trained for many years in aikido, iaido, and tea ceremony.

Greg Smith received full Dharma transmission from Leonard Marcel in July, 2025. He has had Zen training for the past fifty years, initially with Robert Aitken, Nelson Foster and Jack Duffy before starting with Leonard Marcel in 2006. He has been teaching since 2019. In addition, he had a distinguished career as a professor (now emeritus) at Lewis and Clark College in the Graduate School of Education and Counseling. He has been a member of Seven Thunders since 2006 and has served the group in many capacities prior to being authorized as a teacher.