Member Profile

Shishin Mark Gelula has been an integral part of the Zen Life & Meditation Center Chicago (ZLMC) community since 2011, having served in many capacities including several years as a member of the Board and as Board President.  In May 2015, he received Jukai, the Zen Buddhist ceremony of receiving the precepts, from Roshi Robert Joshin Althouse

With a career spanning 38 years in the field of medical education, Shishin served as a professor at four university medical schools, the last being the world-renowned Department of Medical Education at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) College of Medicine, where he spent 22 years.

Since his retirement, Shishin has been deeply immersed in the study of the 13th Century Soto Zen monk Dogen's seminal work, "Shobogenzo" (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye), and the koans Dogen references within it facilitated by Genzan Quennell Sensei.

Three years ago, Shishin completed the two-year "Infinite Circle" program offered by the Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community. Based on the teachings of Bernie Glassman Roshi and the Zen Peacemakers order, this program explores how to establish a socially engaged Buddhist practice. Currently, he is participating in Bread Loaf's Vowed Way program, which focuses on living a life guided by vows.

In October 2023, during a one-day street walk with Brian Joshin Byrnes Sensei, Shishin received a second Jukai on a street somewhere in Pilson. During the ceremony he was given the Dharma name Sokugen, meaning "directly manifesting the source."

Shishin is married to Pat Bloom, a fellow ZLMC member. They reside in downtown Chicago with their two senior feline companions, Kali and Seeta. They have three children and two grandsons. Shishin and Pat enjoy traveling the world and biking.