Ineke Vogel lives in the Netherlands. She is an authorized Zen teacher and priest in the Soto Zen tradition. In 2011, she received jukai, the Buddhist precepts, from Zen master Genpo Roshi. She became a student of his successor, Maurice Genko Knegtel Roshi, and was ordained by him as a Shuke, or home-leaver, in 2019. In 2023, she also received Shiho, Dharma Transmission, from him. This places her in the lineage that traces back through Maurice Genko Roshi, Genpo Roshi, and Taizan Maezumi Roshi to Japan, China, and India, all the way to the historical Buddha.
Before choosing the Zen tradition, she spent a significant amount of years in the Shambhala tradition, founded by the Tibetan teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Ineke has a master’s degree in psychology and completed a two-year post-master’s program in mental health care. Additionally, she specialized in oncological psychology. She has worked in healthcare, with the last fifteen years focused on cancer patients and their loved ones. The issue of life and death has always fascinated her, and her work with clients has also enriched her understanding of it.
From a young age, Ineke faced physical health issues that caused her a lot of pain, which led to her becoming completely unable to work at the age of 38. After eight years, she was able to work part-time again until she had to stop working permanently at the age of 58.
Ineke has a partner and is the mother of two adult twin sons.