According to author James Ishmael Ford, "Reb Anderson is one of the most prominent of contemporary Western Zen teachers.

In a controversial incident, while jogging in Golden Gate Park in 1983, Anderson found the corpse of a man with a bullet wound to the head and a revolver nearby.

According to James Ishmael Ford, "...Anderson Roshi is one of the first people to have worked hard to bring Dogen studies West.

"[1] To some students, "...Reb's practice invites comparison to the legendary Japanese samurai, the warriors who trained in medieval Zen monasteries.

"[4] Sobun Katherine Thanas received shiho from Tenshin Roshi in 1988 and later was installed as abbess of the Santa Cruz Zen Center.

[13] Anderson gave shiho to his student Jiko Linda Cutts in 1996, who went on to serve as co-abbess of the San Francisco Zen Center from 2000 until 2007.

She was installed as the abiding abbess of Green Gulch Farm Zen Center and has served from 2014 to the present.

Myo Denis Lahey received shiho in 1999 and became head teacher of the Hartford Street Zen Center, Issan-ji, in San Francisco.

Leighton has since gone on to establish the Mountain Source Sangha[15] and after moving to Chicago, Ancient Dragon Zen Gate.