Toni Packer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The relevance of particular information in (or previously in) this article or section is disputed.
The information may have been removed or included by an editor as a result.
Please see discussion on the talk page considering whether its inclusion is warranted.

This article or section is currently being developed or reviewed.
Some statements may be disputed, incorrect, biased or otherwise objectionable.

Please read talk page discussion before making substantial changes.

Toni Packer (born 1927) is an American person who leads meditation retreats. She is a former Zen teacher who helped found the Springwater Center for Meditative Inquiry and Retreats in upstate New York and currently occupies the senior administrative position there.

Packer was born in Germany to a German gentile father and Jewish mother. Her status as a half-Jewish person in Germany during the World War II years had a profound impact on her outlook.

Prior to the founding the Springwater Center, Packer had been deeply involved in Zen Buddhism. She studied and taught at Rochester Zen Center and also was a student of Philip Kapleau for 13 years.

Springwater Center is not a Buddhist meditation center. Toni had departed from Rochester Zen Center amid disillusionment with her perceptions of the dogma, methodology and ritual involved in its practice. Packer describes what she now does as "seeing without knowing".