Not Two: The Appamada Story is the autobiography of a sangha—a Zen community of practice.

There are many Zen books that tell the story of a teacher’s awakening or a student’s journey, and some that provide historical surveys of Zen in the West. This book tells the colorful story of the evolution of one contemporary Zen sangha in Austin, Texas—how it came into being, found its form, weathered difficulties, and learned Zen practice together over nearly thirty years.

Book One: Teachers traces the spiritual formation and formal Zen training of founding teachers Peg Syverson and Flint Sparks, as well as profiling the pioneering women Zen teachers—Charlotte Joko Beck, Zenkei Blanche Hartman, Jan Chozen Bays—who transmitted the Dharma to them. Through Peg and Flint’s unique synergy, vision, and creative energy, Appamada took shape as a new model of “relational Zen”—with the conviction that we wake up and grow up together, that Zen’s DNA is a double helix of encounter and meditation.

Book Two: Sangha follows what emerged: a distinctive movement and organizational architecture developed in collaboration with sangha members who saw Appamada’s potential and joined in its evolution—a revisioning of an ancient tradition for contemporary lives and times. Along the way, the book shares how common dilemmas faced by spiritual communities were creatively resolved in some surprising ways. It offers practical guidance on governance, finances, succession, and the training of lay teachers—not as a template, but as an account of one sangha’s lived experience.

This book is lavishly illustrated with photos, reflections from sangha members, and a wide range of Zen teachings. It is written for sangha members seeking to understand Appamada’s roots, leaders of small Zen groups looking for wise counsel, practitioners at larger centers exploring new perspectives, and anyone interested in how organizations can evolve and thrive. Not Two: The Appamada Story embodies our central teaching of mindful, energetic care—appamada—the Buddha’s last word.

Peg Syverson

Peg has been studying and practicing Zen since 1966. She was a student of Joko Beck from 1990 until Joko’s death in 2011; Joko originally authorized her to teach. From 2001 to 2006, she also trained with Flint Sparks at Austin Zen Center in the formal Japanese tradition of Suzuki Roshi, and was ordained as a Soto Zen priest there in 2004. She had formal priest training in residence for six months at Austin Zen Center and six months at Great Vow Zen Monastery in Clatskanie, Oregon under the guidance of the Abbots, Jan Chozen Bays and Hogen Bays. In 2014 she received dharma transmission with Kosho McCall in the Suzuki Roshi lineage.
Peg is also an Emeritus Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing. She taught courses such as Zen Rhetoric, Non-violent Rhetoric, Information Architecture, Knowledge Ecologies, and Minds, Texts, and Technologies for undergraduates and graduate students. She was the Director of the Computer Writing and Research Lab and then the Undergraduate Writing Center. Peg currently lives in Wilmette, Illinois.

Flint Sparks

Flint Sparks is a dharma-transmitted Zen teacher in the Shunryu Suzuki lineage and a former psychologist. He has nearly four decades of experience in the practice and teaching of psychotherapy. Flint also leads Zen retreats throughout North America and Europe. He is dedicated to assisting people in the unending path of growing up and waking up, and as an experienced therapist and a master teacher, he assists people in the skillful removal of blocks to love, both inside and outside. He is a clear and caring resource on the path of freedom from unnecessary suffering. Flint currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.