Alan Senauke
Encyclopedia
Hozan Alan Senauke is a Soto Zen priest, folk musician and poet
residing at the Berkeley Zen Center
(BZC) in Berkeley, California
, where he currently serves as Vice Abbot. He is a former Executive Director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship
(BPF), holding that position from 1991 to 2001. Alan also was a founder of Think Sangha, a group of writer
s and intellectual
s that are affiliated with the BPF and the International Network of Engaged Buddhists
. In a nutshell, Think Sangha is a group of individuals who meet together to identify some of the most pressing social issues
that they feel engaged Buddhists should be addressing. Senauke, who was born to a secular Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, arrived in the San Francisco Bay area
in 1968 and soon started sitting at the Berkeley Zen Center
. Along with his Dharma sister Maylie Scott
, Senauke received Dharma transmission
from his teacher Sojun Mel Weitsman in 1998 during a ceremony at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
.
, Senauke participated in the Columbia University strike of April 1968. That same year he left for California
, arriving in the San Francisco Bay area
where he began sitting zazen
at the Berkeley Zen Center
. He became Executive Director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship
in 1991, a position in which he served until 2001 (though he remains active in the organization).http://www.bpf.org/html/about_us/staff/bios/alan_senauke.html Though he was a peace and civil rights activist of the 1960s and 1970s, by the 1980s Senauke had more or less allowed his activism to become an exercise in intellectualism. His becoming director of BPF, as well as the emergence of the Persian Gulf War
, allowed Alan's activist tendencies and Buddhist practice to merge. Together, he and his colleague Tova Green brought BPF to the forefront of American engaged Buddhism
. Along with Green, Senauke helped the BPF "become a place in US society, and in the world, where the sources of violence could be contemplated. The debate on the Gulf War was vital to this development."
During the late 1990s Alan also was a founder of Think Sangha, a group of writer
s and intellectual
s that are affiliated with the BPF and the International Network of Engaged Buddhists. http://www.bpf.org/html/about_us/staff/bios/alan_senauke.html In a nutshell, Think Sangha is a group of individuals who meet together to identify some of the most pressing social issues
that they feel engaged Buddhists should be addressing.http://www.bpf.org/tsangha/background.html In 1998 Alan received shiho
(or, Dharma transmission) from his teacher Sojun Mel Weitsman along with Maylie Scott
at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
. Alan is a past board member of Nevada Desert Experience
, an organization which holds various retreats, protests and conferences on the subject of nuclear testing
.http://www.nevadadesertexperience.org/about/board.htm He is also the founder of the Clear View Project, which focuses on social change and relief efforts in Asia
, most recently in Burma. As a result of the recent uprisings in Burma and the subsequent repression by Burma's Military Junta, Alan has become increasingly involved in activism related to the cause of the Burmese people. During 2008 and early 2009, alan has made several trips to Burma along with other members of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and visited communities and Buddhist temples affected by the repressive government. http://news.sfzc.org/content/view/481/46/
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
residing at the Berkeley Zen Center
Berkeley Zen Center
Berkeley Zen Center , temple name , is a Sōtō Zen Buddhist practice center located in Berkeley, California led by Sojun Mel Weitsman. An informal affiliate to the San Francisco Zen Center , BZC was originally founded in 1967 by Weitsman and Shunryu Suzuki as a satellite group for the SFZC...
(BZC) in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, where he currently serves as Vice Abbot. He is a former Executive Director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship
Buddhist Peace Fellowship
The Buddhist Peace Fellowship is a nonsectarian international network of engaged Buddhists participating in various forms of nonviolent social activism and environmentalism with chapters all over the world...
(BPF), holding that position from 1991 to 2001. Alan also was a founder of Think Sangha, a group of writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
s and intellectual
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
s that are affiliated with the BPF and the International Network of Engaged Buddhists
International Network of Engaged Buddhists
The International Network of Engaged Buddhists is an organisation that connects engaged Buddhists from around the world. It was established at a meeting in Thailand in February 1989 organised by Sulak Sivaraksa and Maruyama Teruo. INEB maintains an office in Bangkok. It has members in about 20...
. In a nutshell, Think Sangha is a group of individuals who meet together to identify some of the most pressing social issues
Social issues
Social issues are controversial issues which relate to people's personal lives and interactions. Social issues are distinguished from economic issues...
that they feel engaged Buddhists should be addressing. Senauke, who was born to a secular Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, arrived in the San Francisco Bay area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
in 1968 and soon started sitting at the Berkeley Zen Center
Berkeley Zen Center
Berkeley Zen Center , temple name , is a Sōtō Zen Buddhist practice center located in Berkeley, California led by Sojun Mel Weitsman. An informal affiliate to the San Francisco Zen Center , BZC was originally founded in 1967 by Weitsman and Shunryu Suzuki as a satellite group for the SFZC...
. Along with his Dharma sister Maylie Scott
Maylie Scott
Maylie Scott , Buddhist name Kushin Seisho, was a Sōtō roshi who received Dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman in 1998 at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. She graduated from Harvard University in 1956 and obtained a masters degree in social work from the University of California, Berkeley...
, Senauke received Dharma transmission
Dharma transmission
Dharma transmission refers to "the manner in which the teaching, or Dharma, is passed from a Zen master to their disciple and heir...
from his teacher Sojun Mel Weitsman in 1998 during a ceremony at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
-External links:*...
.
Biography
Alan Senauke was born in 1947 to a secular Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York. While attending Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, Senauke participated in the Columbia University strike of April 1968. That same year he left for California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, arriving in the San Francisco Bay area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
where he began sitting zazen
Zazen
In Zen Buddhism, zazen is a meditative discipline practitioners perform to calm the body and the mind, and be able to concentrate enough to experience insight into the nature of existence and thereby gain enlightenment .- Significance :Zazen is considered the heart of Zen Buddhist practice...
at the Berkeley Zen Center
Berkeley Zen Center
Berkeley Zen Center , temple name , is a Sōtō Zen Buddhist practice center located in Berkeley, California led by Sojun Mel Weitsman. An informal affiliate to the San Francisco Zen Center , BZC was originally founded in 1967 by Weitsman and Shunryu Suzuki as a satellite group for the SFZC...
. He became Executive Director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship
Buddhist Peace Fellowship
The Buddhist Peace Fellowship is a nonsectarian international network of engaged Buddhists participating in various forms of nonviolent social activism and environmentalism with chapters all over the world...
in 1991, a position in which he served until 2001 (though he remains active in the organization).http://www.bpf.org/html/about_us/staff/bios/alan_senauke.html Though he was a peace and civil rights activist of the 1960s and 1970s, by the 1980s Senauke had more or less allowed his activism to become an exercise in intellectualism. His becoming director of BPF, as well as the emergence of the Persian Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
, allowed Alan's activist tendencies and Buddhist practice to merge. Together, he and his colleague Tova Green brought BPF to the forefront of American engaged Buddhism
Engaged Buddhism
Engaged Buddhism refers to Buddhists who are seeking ways to apply the insights from meditation practice and dharma teachings to situations of social, political, environmental, and economic suffering and injustice...
. Along with Green, Senauke helped the BPF "become a place in US society, and in the world, where the sources of violence could be contemplated. The debate on the Gulf War was vital to this development."
During the late 1990s Alan also was a founder of Think Sangha, a group of writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
s and intellectual
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
s that are affiliated with the BPF and the International Network of Engaged Buddhists. http://www.bpf.org/html/about_us/staff/bios/alan_senauke.html In a nutshell, Think Sangha is a group of individuals who meet together to identify some of the most pressing social issues
Social issues
Social issues are controversial issues which relate to people's personal lives and interactions. Social issues are distinguished from economic issues...
that they feel engaged Buddhists should be addressing.http://www.bpf.org/tsangha/background.html In 1998 Alan received shiho
Shiho
refers to a series of ceremonies in Sōtō Zen Buddhism wherein which a priest receives full transmission, inheriting the Dharma from his/her master and becoming empowered to transmit the precepts and lineage to others. A shiho ceremony can last anywhere from one to three weeks, with the final...
(or, Dharma transmission) from his teacher Sojun Mel Weitsman along with Maylie Scott
Maylie Scott
Maylie Scott , Buddhist name Kushin Seisho, was a Sōtō roshi who received Dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman in 1998 at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. She graduated from Harvard University in 1956 and obtained a masters degree in social work from the University of California, Berkeley...
at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
-External links:*...
. Alan is a past board member of Nevada Desert Experience
Nevada Desert Experience
The Nevada Desert Experience is a name for the movement to stop U.S. nuclear weapons testing that came into use in the middle 1980s. It is also the name of a particular anti-nuclear organization which continues to create public events to question the morality and intelligence of the U.S. nuclear...
, an organization which holds various retreats, protests and conferences on the subject of nuclear testing
Nuclear testing
Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield and explosive capability of nuclear weapons. Throughout the twentieth century, most nations that have developed nuclear weapons have tested them...
.http://www.nevadadesertexperience.org/about/board.htm He is also the founder of the Clear View Project, which focuses on social change and relief efforts in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, most recently in Burma. As a result of the recent uprisings in Burma and the subsequent repression by Burma's Military Junta, Alan has become increasingly involved in activism related to the cause of the Burmese people. During 2008 and early 2009, alan has made several trips to Burma along with other members of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and visited communities and Buddhist temples affected by the repressive government. http://news.sfzc.org/content/view/481/46/
See also
- Buddhism in the United StatesBuddhism in the United StatesBuddhism is one of the largest religions in the United States behind Christianity, Judaism and Nonreligious, and approximate with Islam and Hinduism. American Buddhists include many Asian Americans, as well as a large number of converts of other ethnicities, and now their children and even...
- Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United StatesTimeline of Zen Buddhism in the United StatesBelow is a timeline of important events regarding Zen Buddhism in the United States. Dates with "?" are approximate.-Early history:* 1893: Soyen Shaku comes to the United States to lecture at the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago...
- Nevada Desert ExperienceNevada Desert ExperienceThe Nevada Desert Experience is a name for the movement to stop U.S. nuclear weapons testing that came into use in the middle 1980s. It is also the name of a particular anti-nuclear organization which continues to create public events to question the morality and intelligence of the U.S. nuclear...