March 5, 2025
Remembering Connie Cummings

Connie Cummings / Tosetsu Genjin
Peach Snow, Reveal True Humanity
 August 5, 1956 – February 20, 2025

 

Connie Cummings, a former resident of SFZC, died on February 20, 2025, in Carson City, NV. She lived at all three temples and served in many roles, including Secretary and Plant Manager. She was ordained as a priest by Gaelyn Godwin and was Shuso at GGF in Fall, 2011.

Memorial
There will be a memorial on March 3 at City Center; details TBA.

Obituary excerpted from the Record-Courier:

Connie Cummings passed away at home in Carson City, NV, on February 20, 2025, surrounded by family. Born August 5, 1956, in Nogales, AZ, Connie grew up in southern Arizona. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Arizona before relocating to California. She spent her career as a software developer for companies in Southern and Northern California, including Boeing, Ralph’s, and Oracle. She also worked in Cologne, Germany. In the early 2000s she left Silicon Valley to live in the communities at Tassajara, Green Gulch Farm, and San Francisco Zen Center [City Center]. Connie relocated to the Carson City area in 2014, where she worked as a computer programmer for the State before retiring in 2021. She was an avid reader and enjoyed traveling. She was athletic, engaging in martial arts, hiking, cycling, swimming, and running. She also enjoyed drawing and various crafts.

A celebration of life will be held April 5, 2025, 1:30p.m., in the Crowell Board Room, at the Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St.

10 Comments

  1. Soren Leaver

    I practiced with Connie at Tassajara in the 1990s. She had a steady, unassuming presence and a quiet dedication to practice. She moved forward with sincerity, and every now and then, would surprise me by flashing a warm, unexpected smile.

  2. David Brothers

    I remember Connie from the shop, before she became plant manager. Indefatigable would describe her back then. I remember her cheerfully mangling an old oil filter trying to get it off the generator: she wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. That was a great quality to have off grid at Tassajara in those days. I hope it served her well .

  3. joseph e snow

    So many positive memories.

  4. Qayyum Johnson

    Blessings to you Connie! You modeled wholehearted practice for me as a student at Green Gulch many times. Your willingness to meet the moment, being, situation: profound, absurd, mundane, with humor & basic goodness. May blessings accompany you as you lived: with curiosity, compassion & confidence in buddhanature.

  5. Renshin Bunce

    I practiced with Connie and her cat Tidbit at Tassajara for several years. She was smart, she was funny, and like most of us, she could be really cranky at times. One of my favorite memories of her is when we were being trained in putting chains on a Suburban in case we had to drive to Jamesburg in the winter and, at a certain point, Connie turned to me and said “And that’s when you burst into tears.” I always admired her system of putting on her flannel pajamas before evening zazen, so she could pull her robes off and collapse directly into bed at the end of a long day. Connie was the plant manager who methodically figured out how things worked, and documented their ins and outs in a huge binder for those who would follow. She was really proud of that binder. I think I could say we shared an optimism that intensive Zen practice would change our lives, and I was always sorry that we lost touch after we left Zen Center.

  6. Misha Shungen Merrill

    Connie was originally a member at Kannon Do Zen Center in Mountain View. She became my student in 1998 and received jukai with the name Rare Spring, Inquiring Heart. She was a rare combination of integrity and curiosity, never settling for the easy answer. She will be sorely missed by the Zen community and mourned by her friends at ZHS and Kannon Do.

  7. Jill Kaplan

    Connie practiced with us at Zen Heart Sangha in Woodside for several years before moving to Tassajara. I remember many deep conversations with her over the years; she always had penetrating questions, a quick sense of humor, and what felt to me a complete dedication to understanding this life. I am sad not to have seen her for many years now, sad to hear of her illness, bow for her transition into the mystery.

  8. Shokuchi Deirdre Carrigan

    I practiced with Connie at Tassajara and Green Gulch where we shared the Hikers Hut. She was a person of great integrity, forthright, very diligent and very kind. I have many wonderful memories of practicing with her.

  9. Renshin Bunce

    I knew Connie well when we both lived at Tassajara in the early 2000’s. I admired her technique of wearing her pajamas under her robes for the last zazen of the day, so she could pull her robes off and fall directly into bed when she returned to her cabin. Once we were receiving instructions on putting chains on the vehicle for winter driving, and at a certain point Connie turned to me and said “and that’s when you burst into tears.” Sometimes we were pals and sometimes we were rocks in the tumbler, but I’ll always admire her dedication to practice.

  10. Rachel

    I thought the world of Connie Cummings.

    She was the ino when I first got to Green Gulch as a new student and I ended up sitting next to her. As ino, Connie ended up sitting down a bit after everyone else. I always remember that once she shuffled in and got settled, she would almost disappear. It was like I was sitting next to an empty space, or even a space that quietly absorbed energy around it. I loved getting to know her as a fun person and senior practitioner with grounded perspectives. But more than anything, to this day I think of Connie as how I want to sit.

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