Elizabeth Hamilton has taught at the Zen Center of San Diego since 1992, the same year that she and Mother Parks co-founded a West Coast–Mexico branch of the Rosa Parks Institute.

She started Zen practice in 1975 at the Zen Center of Los Angeles, and has led retreats in the United States, Nova Scotia, and Australia, individually and with her practice partner–husband Ezra Bayda.

Her book, Untrain Your Parrot – and Other No-nonsense Instruction on the Path of Zen, was released by Shambhala Publications in summer 2007.