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ABOUT US
Radiant Light Zen offers contemplative training for people interested in beginning or deepening their meditation practice. We host several geographically dispersed online communities, mentor students, and train caregivers in the arts of compassionate care.
Founded by longtime spiritual friends Michael Melancon and Jonathan Prescott, Radiant Light Zen draws from their spiritual practice in the Plum Village Zen tradition. They were ordained together by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in 2005, receiving the Dharma names True Recollection of Radiance and True Recollection of Light. Together, they are Radiant Light!
Founded by longtime spiritual friends Michael Melancon and Jonathan Prescott, Radiant Light Zen draws from their spiritual practice in the Plum Village Zen tradition. They were ordained together by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in 2005, receiving the Dharma names True Recollection of Radiance and True Recollection of Light. Together, they are Radiant Light!
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Jonathan Prescott, BCCC BCPCJonathan Prescott, BCC BCCC BCPC is a Board Certified Clinical Chaplain and Pastoral Counselor. As a long time ordained student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, Jonathan’s practice is to support people experiencing illness and end of life, foster effective caregiving and reconnect people with their innate wisdom and compassion. Jonathan has also studied with Dharmacharya Eileen Kiera and Jack Duffy Roshi at The Mountain Lamp Community and with Frank Ostaseski of the Metta Institute and Zen Hospice Project.
Jonathan offers workshops and retreats to help caregivers become more openhearted, effective, and joyful. He has served as Chaplain in hospice, cancer care, and hospital settings. During Jonathan’s 40-year spiritual practice, he’s led and served many organizations in the Buddhist, Quaker and non-profit realms. At home in the San Juan Islands of Washington, Jonathan relishes the peaceful solitude of his small farm. Jonathan is the author of The Road To Freedom: Learning To Drive With Joy And Kindness. |
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Rev. Michael Daiun MelanconMichael Melancon, Chan Niem Quang is an ordained member of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing. Michael serves as our primary practice leader for Two Palms Up Sangha. He came to Zen practice in 1990, after an extensive yearlong study of the world’s spiritual traditions. Michael says of that exploration, “Many of the world’s spiritual traditions seemed to be about having all the answers, inviting us to believe or believe in this or that doctrine or deity. My encounter with Zen was so refreshing, as Zen is the practice of literally sitting in the questions. Holding space, curiosity and inquiry; allowing truth to arise in this moment of awareness and awakening; exploring life’s big questions with curiosity and open heartedness.”
Michael’s primary teachers have been Thich Nhat Hanh and Dharmacharya Eileen Kiera, who together ordained him into the Order of Interbeing in 2005. He also owes a deep debt of gratitude to Roshi Jack Duffy, with whom he has practiced 21-day retreats, as well as sesshin and dokusan. Over the years Michael has learned the value of including other voices in his spiritual training. He is therefore also indebted to the many nuns, monks and Dharmacharya of the Plum Village tradition, who have offered light on the path. He is especially grateful for his long friendship with Dharmachrya Trish Thompson, founder of the Loving Work Foundation, with whom Michael offered meditation and work retreats in the homeland of Thay Thich Nhat Hanh, Viet Nam. Finally, he studied with his beloved teacher Roshi Joan Halifax and the broad faculty of Upaya Zen Institute’s Chaplaincy Program, where Michael was ordained as a Chaplain with a specialty in end of life care in 2011. He also enjoyed an extensive career as a human resource and organizational effectiveness strategist. Michael is meditation teacher and guiding practice leader for Two Palms Up Mindfulness Community in Palm Springs, as well as for daily online Morning Light Sangha. He is a board member, practice leader and meditation teacher for Radiant Light Zen and Wise Caregiving, though which he and Jonathan Prescott teach Zen practitioners and caregivers contemplative care techniques and tools. |
JOIN US
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TWO PALMS UP SANGHA
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ANACORTES MINDFULNESS COMMUNITY
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MORNING LIGHT SANGHA
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WISE CAREGIVING
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MENTORING
Contemplative wisdom has been passed from mentor to student for countless generations. Elder spiritual friends have illuminated and clarified their student’s paths so that they can become free and one day offer the Dharma to the next generation.
To learn more about joining this stream, or to schedule time with Jonathan Prescott or Michael Melancon, click the 'Learn More' button below.
Mentoring is offered by donation.
To learn more about joining this stream, or to schedule time with Jonathan Prescott or Michael Melancon, click the 'Learn More' button below.
Mentoring is offered by donation.
READ WITH US
In The Road To Freedom, Jonathan Prescott shares how he transformed driving from drudgery to joy. Several hours behind the wheel each day left this hospice chaplain feeling stressed and exhausted. But when he began offering himself the same contemplative tools that he offered his patients, driving became nourishing and pleasant. This book is about much more than driving and can be applied to any task that you'd like to enjoy.