Teachers

Vicara Mary Connelly Roshi

Vicara Roshi has been involved in meditative practice since the early 1970s. After receiving her MSW followed by 2 years of postgraduate training in psychotherapy, she practiced as a psychotherapist until entering medical school in 1984. 

While in medical school, she began her Zen training in the Soto tradition and received Jukai from Zenkai Taiun Michael Elliston.  She was one of the founding members of the Charleston Soto Zen Center in South Carolina. After moving to Appleton, WI, Vicara began practicing yoga with Ma Dhyana in 1993 and began studying with Jun Po Roshi in 1994.  She received Jukai with Jun Po Roshi in 1998. Vicara Roshi is one of the founding members of what became Zen River Sangha in Appleton, WI. In 2002, she was designated to teach as Sensei and received Hollow Bones Priest Ordination in 2003. On December 4, 2015, she received Inka, Dharma Transmission, from Jun Po Roshi.

Vicara Roshi retired after 32 years of medical practice in 2020. Her last 12 years of practice focused on providing Integrative Medicine services to oncology patients at 2 cancer centers in NE Wisconsin. Previously, she directed the Center for Health & Healing, an Integrative Medical Center in Green Bay, WI. 

Working in partnership with those facing critical illness embodies the truth of our life as practice.  None of us can escape sickness, old age, and death. Opening and allowing this deep truth can help us face what truly needs to be seen and experience life as it is.

Reishin Denise Leong

Reishin Denise Leong has been in the Hollow Bones Zen sangha since 2005, taking jukai vows in 2007, and ordaining as a priest 2010. She currently serves as one of six teachers at the Zen River Sangha in Wisconsin. Reishin spent forty-one years in education as a teacher in middle school, high school, college, and finally as the IT director for a public school system. In her retirement, Reishin has been serving as a hospital chaplain since 2018.

After twenty-five years of doing volunteer work in hospice, Reishin recognized the importance and value of death awareness. She has embarked on a new journey of sharing death awareness through this HBZ course “Zen and Facing Sickness, Old Age, and Death,” as well as hosting Death Cafes online for the last four years. 

Reishin holds a certificate as an End-of-Life Doula through the University of Vermont School of Medicine and a Proficiency Badge from the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance (NEDA). She earned a certificate as a Grief Support Specialist through the University of Wisconsin. She is also certified as an Advanced Care Planner through Advocate Health and as a Thanatologist by the Association of Death Education and Counseling (ADEC).

Soshin Lisa Baitsell

Soshin Lisa Baitsell joined Hollow Bones Zen during the pandemic and took jukai vows in 2021. She is an attorney, adjunct constitutional law professor, and an end-of-life doula who is passionate about helping individuals meet the realities of dying and grief with mindfulness, compassion, and courage.

After nearly twenty years of being an assistant district attorney and an administrative law judge, Soshin started her own law practice where she incorporates Buddhist teachings on ethical living and the law surrounding end of life decisions, highlighting the importance of preparing all necessary legal documents to lessen the burden of dying for clients and their loved ones.

Soshin received her Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School and is barred in New York State. She received her end-of-life doula certification through the University of Vermont School of Medicine.