Ven. T.T. Roshi Thích Ân Giáo

Ven. T.T. Roshi Thích Ân Giáo received ordination in the Soto Zen tradition in 1973 when he was ordained as a priest by Soyu Matsuoka Roshi at the Long Beach Zen Center in Long Beach, California. In 1979, he received transmission and full ordination as a Rinzai priest by the Most Venerable Thích Thiên Ân, the first Vietnamese patriarch in America, at the International Buddhist Meditation Center in Los Angeles, California. Shortly after his ordination Ven. An Giao was given permission to teach and took his first monk disciple. In May of 1997, Ven. An Giao was transmitted the Dharma Mind Seal by the Most Venerable Thich Man Giac, Supreme Abbot and Patriarch of the Vietnamese Buddhist Congregations in America, at Chua Viet Nam in Los Angeles, California. With the bestowing of the Mind Seal, Ven. An Giao was given the title of Great Master or Roshi and became the first American, in the Vietnamese Zen tradition, to be recognized as a Great Master or Roshi. In his career as a monk Ven. An Giao has served as assistant to the Abbot, Treasurer, and Head Monk at the Long Beach Zen Center, Instructor of Meditation and Sutra studies at the International Buddhist Meditation Center and Abbot of the Long Beach Zen Monastery.

Venerable An Giao works as a high school teacher to support the Temple and the Buddhadharma.

Lineage

The abbot has been transmitted in both the Soto and Lam Te (Rinzai) traditions and was given permission to teach by his late master, the Most Venerable Thích Thiên Ân, who was the first patriarch of the Vietnamese Congregations in America.