White Plum Asanga
Encyclopedia
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...
, family practice, Zen and the arts, secularized Zen, and progressive traditionalism." Conceived of informally in 1979 by Maezumi and Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
Bernie Glassman , aka Tetsugen Bernard Glassman, is an American Zen Buddhist roshi and co-founder of the Zen Peacemakers , an organization established in 1996 with his late wife Sandra Jishu Holmes...
, the White Plum Asanga was named after Maezumi's father Baian Hakujun Daiosho and then later incorporated in 1995 following Maezumi's death. Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
Bernie Glassman , aka Tetsugen Bernard Glassman, is an American Zen Buddhist roshi and co-founder of the Zen Peacemakers , an organization established in 1996 with his late wife Sandra Jishu Holmes...
was the White Plum Asanga's first President and his successor was Dennis Genpo Merzel
Dennis Genpo Merzel
Dennis Merzel is an American Zen and spirituality teacher, also known as Genpo Merzel Roshi. He was a student and is heir of the Japanese-born Zen teacher Taizan Maezumi. Merzel obtained a Master's degree in educational administration from the University of Southern California and went on to...
. Following Merzel's term, in May of 2007, Gerry Shishin Wick
Gerry Shishin Wick
Gerry Shishin Wick is a Soto Zen roshi, author, oceanographer and abbot of Great Mountain Zen Center which he founded in 1996—one of twelve Dharma Successors of the late Taizan Maezumi . He has a Ph.D...
was elected President of White Plum.
Notable members
- Gerry Shishin WickGerry Shishin WickGerry Shishin Wick is a Soto Zen roshi, author, oceanographer and abbot of Great Mountain Zen Center which he founded in 1996—one of twelve Dharma Successors of the late Taizan Maezumi . He has a Ph.D...
(President) - Jan Chozen BaysJan Chozen BaysJan Chozen Bays, MD , is a pediatrician and Zen teacher practicing in Oregon. With her husband Laren Hogen Bays, since 1985 she has been a teacher at the Zen Community of Oregon, a Zen center or sangha in Portland, Oregon. Chozen and Hogen Bays are also co-founders of the Great Vow Zen Monastery...
- Merle Kodo BoydMerle Kodo BoydMerle Kodo Boyd is the first ever African-American woman to have received Dharma transmission in Zen Buddhism, a Dharma heir of Wendy Egyoku Nakao in the White Plum Asanga...
- Charles Tenshin FletcherCharles Tenshin FletcherCharles Tenshin Fletcher is a British-born American rōshi. Born in Manchester, England, he moved to the United States in 1979 to study at the Zen Center of Los Angeles with founder Taizan Maezumi Rōshi, for whom he served as jisha . In 1994, he received Dharma transmission in the White Plum...
- Tetsugen Bernard GlassmanTetsugen Bernard GlassmanBernie Glassman , aka Tetsugen Bernard Glassman, is an American Zen Buddhist roshi and co-founder of the Zen Peacemakers , an organization established in 1996 with his late wife Sandra Jishu Holmes...
- Joan Jiko Halifax
- Robert Jinsen Kennedy
- John Daido LooriJohn Daido LooriJohn Daido Loori was a Zen Buddhist rōshi who served as the abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery and was the founder of the Mountains and Rivers Order and CEO of Dharma Communications. Daido Loori received shiho from Taizan Maezumi in 1986 and also received a dendokyoshi certificate formally from the...
- Peter Muryo Matthiessen
- Wendy Egyoku NakaoWendy Egyoku NakaoWendy Egyoku Nakao is currently the abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles, having moved into the center in 1978 and later receiving Dharma transmission and inka from Bernard Glassman. She assumed her abbotship in 1999...
- Pat Enkyo O'Hara
- John Tesshin SandersonJohn Tesshin SandersonJohn Tesshin Sanderson is a Soto Zen roshi of the White Plum Asanga and spiritual director of the Centro Zen de México in Coyoacán, Mexico City, one of only twelve Dharma Successors of the late Taizan Maezumi...
- Michael Mugaku Zimmerman
- Daniel Doen Silberberg
Notable centers
- Still Mind ZendoStill Mind ZendoStill Mind Zendo, a Zen meditation center formed in 1994, is in the Soto lineage of the late Taizan Maezumi Roshi and the White Plum Asanga. The founder and resident teacher of Still Mind Zendo, Sensei Janet Jiryu Abels, is a dharma successor of Roshi Robert Jinsen Kennedy as is Sensei Gregory...
- Yokoji Zen Mountain CenterYokoji Zen Mountain CenterYokoji Zen Mountain Center is a year-round Zen Buddhist training and retreat center located in the San Jacinto Mountains of Southern California. It is of sacred Native American land and wilderness....
- Upaya Institute and Zen CenterUpaya Institute and Zen CenterUpaya Institute and Zen Center is a center for residential Zen practice located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and founded by Joan Halifax Roshi. The center focuses on integration of Zen practice with social action, with traditional cultivation of wisdom and compassion in the Buddhist sense...
- Kanzeon Zen CenterKanzeon Zen CenterKanzeon Zen Center is a Zen Buddhist center located in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is an affiliate of the White Plum Asanga, an association of Zen centers stemming from the tradition of Taizan Maezumi. Currently, the Abbot of Kanzeon Zen Center is Dennis Genpo Merzel Roshi, and the Vice-Abbot is Rich...
- Zen Center of Los AngelesZen Center of Los AngelesThe Zen Center of Los Angeles , temple name Buddha Essence Temple, is a Zen center founded by Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi in 1967 that practices in the White Plum lineage.ZCLA observes a daily schedule of zazen, Buddhist services, and work practice...
- Zen Mountain MonasteryZen Mountain MonasteryZen Mountain Monastery is a Zen Buddhist monastery and training center on a forested property in the Catskill Mountains in Mount Tremper, New York. It was founded in 1980 by John Daido Loori, originally as the Zen Arts Center. It combines the Rinzai and Sōtō Zen traditions, in both of which Loori...
- Village ZendoVillage ZendoVillage Zendo is a Soto Zen practice center originally located in the apartment of Enkyo Pat O'Hara, who founded the zendo in 1986. Formerly located in a red brick building, the Zen center took up the majority of space in O'Hara's apartment. The center has since moved to its new location on...
- Great Vow Zen MonasteryGreat Vow Zen MonasteryGreat Vow Zen Monastery was founded in 2002 and is operated by Zen Community of Oregon under the leadership of abbots Chozen Bays, Roshi, and Hogen Bays...
- Heart Circle SanghaHeart Circle SanghaHeart Circle Sangha is a Zen practice center located in the home of Joan Hogetsu Hoeberichts, Sensei who founded the zendo along with Nicolee Jikyo McMahon in 1996...