Taizan Maezumi

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Taizan Maezumi
180 x 269
Born February 24, 1931
Japan
Died May 14, 1995
Tokyo, Japan
Occupation Zen roshi
Spouse Martha Ekyo Maezumi

The Venerable Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi Roshi (known as Taizan Maezumi) (February 24, 1931—May 14, 1995), was a Zen Buddhist monk who had a seminal influence on the growth of Zen Buddhism in the United States.

Contents

[edit] Early life and education

Born in 1931, Maezumi Roshi was ordained as a Soto Zen monk at the age of eleven. He received degrees in Oriental Literature and Philosophy from Komazawa University and studied at Sojiji, one of the two main Soto monasteries in Japan. He received Dharma transmission from Hakujun Kuroda, Roshi, in 1955. He also received approval as a teacher (Inka) from both Koryu Osaka Roshi and Hakuun Yasutani Roshi, thus becoming a Dharma successor in three lines of Zen.

[edit] Work in the United States

In 1956, Maezumi Roshi went to Los Angeles as a priest at Zenshuji Temple, the Soto Headquarters of North America where his goal was to work toward the growth of Zen Buddhism in the West.

In 1967, he established the Zen Center of Los Angeles (ZCLA). Its honorary founder is Baian Hakujun Daiosho, who headed the Soto Sect Supreme Court and was one of the leading figures of Japanese Soto Zen. Maezumi Roshi established six temples in the United States and Europe that are formally registered with Soto Headquarters in Japan. In addition to ZCLA, these included Zen Mountain Center in California (as of 2006, the Abbot is Tenshin Fletcher); Zen Community of New York (at which the Abbot was Tetsugen Bernard Glassman); Kanzeon Zen Centers of Salt Lake City, Utah and Europe (as of 2006, the Abbot is Dennis Genpo Merzel); and Zen Mountain Monastery in New York (as of 2006, the Abbot is John Daido Loori).

Affiliated centers also include the Great Mountain Zen Center in Colorado (as of 2006, Shishin Wick is the teacher), Zen Community of Oregon (as of 2006, Jan Chozen Bays is the teacher); Three Treasures Zen Community in San Diego (as of 2006, Jikyo Miller is the teacher); Centro Zen de Mexico, Coyoacan (as of 2006, Tesshin Sanderson is the teacher), Centro Zen de la Cuidad de Mexico and Hazy Moon Zen Center. In addition, there are over fifty groups in the Americas and Europe that are affiliated with ZCLA.

[edit] Establishment of the Kuroda Institute

In 1976, Maezumi Roshi established the Kuroda Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Human Values, a non-profit educational organization formed to promote scholarship on Buddhism in its historical, philosophical, and cultural ramifications. The Institute serves the scholarly community by providing a forum in which scholars can gather at conferences and colloquia. The Institute also publishes a book series with the University of Hawaii Press devoted to the translation of East Asian Buddhist classics and presentations of scholarly works from its conferences. Maezumi Roshi also founded the Dharma Institute in Mexico City, Mexico. Maezumi Roshi founded the White Plum Asanga, named after his father Baian Hakujun Daiosho.

[edit] Later life

Maezumi Roshi had a long struggle with alcoholism which he movingly described in the video documentary "Zen Center: A Portrait of an American Zen Community" which was filmed in 1984. shortly after he had emerged from a course of treatment in the Betty Ford Clinic.

He transmitted the Dharma to twelve successors: Tetsugen Bernard Glassman (MA), Dennis Genpo Merzel (UT & Europe), Charlotte Joko Beck (CA), Jan Chozen Bays (OR), John Daido Loori (NY), Gerry Shishin Wick (CO), John Tesshin Sanderson (Mexico), Alfred Jitsudo Ancheta (CA), Charles Tenshin Fletcher (CA), Susan Myoyu Andersen (IL), Nicolee Jikyo Miller (CA), and William Nyogen Yeo (CA). These twelve successors have further transmitted the Dharma to nine "second-generation" successors.

Some former students who studied with Maezumi Roshi left the community due to the many problems created by his alcoholism and relationships with students that he and some of the other teachers at his Center had. The best known is probably Al Rapaport, who founded the Open Mind Zen School in Melbourne, Florida. Rapaport, a prominent lay practitioner who was also the founder of the Buddhism in America Conferences, was instrumental in establishing the first lay linneage inspired by Maezumi's teachings.

In America, Maezumi Roshi ordained 68 Zen priests and gave the lay Buddhist precepts to over 500 people. As a major contribution to the transmission of Buddhist teachings to the West, Maezumi Roshi was instrumental in bringing to realization the formation of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association (SZBA) of American Soto Zen teachers. Maezumi Roshi also promoted exchange programs among priests and lay practitioners between the United States and Japan. He had published commentaries on major Buddhist works, and his collected works will be published posthumously.

At the age of 64 Maezumi Roshi drowned in his bath in Tokyo, Japan in the early hours on May 15, 1995. He had been drinking with his two brothers in their temples and the autoposy recorded "accidental death by drowning, with alcohol as a contributing cause." Shortly before his death, Maezumi Roshi gave Inka to his senior disciple Roshi Bernard Tetsugen Glassman, who in turn transmitted Inka to Genpo Merzel, Roshi, the present President of the White Plum Asanga. Genpo Roshi in turn has transmitted Inka to John Daido Loori, Roshi.

Maezumi Roshi is survived by his wife Martha Ekyo Maezumi and their three children, Kirsten Mitsuyo, Yuri Jundo and Shira Yoshimi, all of Idyllwild, CA. Intimate funeral services and cremation were held in Tokyo, Japan on May 19 to 20, 1995. The main funeral was held on August 27, 1995 in Los Angeles, CA.

[edit] Students

Some well known former students of Taizan Maezumi are:

[edit] External links

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