Taigen Dan Leighton (born 1950, grew up in Pittsburgh, PA) is a Sōtō priest and teacher, academic,[1] and author.

[3] Leighton worked as a television and film editor in New York City, and then San Francisco.

[2] Leighton lived in Japan from 1990–1992, translating Dōgen texts with Shōhaku Okumura and training under various masters.

[2] In 2007 Leighton relocated to Chicago to serve full-time as Guiding Dharma Teacher for Ancient Dragon Zen Gate, which he had founded with students there a few years before.

In 2008 Leighton performed Zuisse ceremonies at Eiheiji and Sōjiji temples in Japan to be recognized as a Dharma teacher by the Japanese Sōtō School.