Mike Smith

Mike is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi. He lived in the Ventana Wilderness as a monk at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Monastery and served as the Director of San Francisco Zen Center’s City Center temple. He is a devout backpacker and has co-guided Wildtender pilgrimages since 2024.

Upcoming Programs by Mike Smith

Wild Pilgrimage: Backpacking Journey to Esalen

Also With Fletcher Tucker

April 24 - 26, 2026

In the mountains east of Esalen, an enchanting, ecologically diverse, and psycho-spiritually fertile wilderness awaits. Over four nights and five days, we will engage in a contemporary form of pilgrimage, backpacking as reverent seekers through these ancestral lands of the Esselen Tribe, now known as Big Sur’s Ventana Wilderness. Our journey concludes at the coastal […]