| Kyozan Joshu Sasaki | |
|---|---|
Kyozan Joshu Sasaki in 2007 |
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| School | Rinzai |
| Personal | |
| Born | April 1, 1907 Japan |
| Senior posting | |
| Based in | Mount Baldy Zen Center Bodhi Manda Zen Center |
| Title | Roshi |
| Religious career | |
| Teacher | Joten Soko Miura Roshi |
Kyozan Joshu Sasaki (Sasaki Jōshū 佐々木承周), Roshi (born April 1, 1907) is a Japanese Rinzai Zen teacher who has lived in the United States since 1962. Joshu Sasaki is the founder and head abbot of the Mount Baldy Zen Center, near Mount Baldy in California, and of the Rinzai-Ji order of affiliated Zen centers.[1] As of 2011[update], he is still actively teaching at the age of 104. Joshu Sasaki regularly offers formal training sessions at both the Mount Baldy Zen Center and the Bodhi Manda Zen Center, occasionally offering sesshin at the Rinzai-Ji Zen Center in Los Angeles and Haku-un-ji Zen Center in Tempe, AZ. Roshi's teaching schedule greatly depends on his health, however.
Joshu Sasaki became an ordained monk at age thirteen under his teacher, Joten Soko Miura. Soon after, he followed Joten Soko Miura to Myoshin-ji, the head temple of one of the largest branches of Rinzai. Having been awarded the title of roshi in 1948, Kyozan Joshu Sasaki took the position of an abbot at Yotoku-in.[1] In 1962, Joshu decided to travel across the Pacific Ocean to teach students in the West.[1] He has been one of the most influential teachers of Zen students in the USA and Europe, and some of his students have gone on to become Zen teachers themselves.
One of his best known students is Canadian poet and singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, who served as personal assistant to Joshu Sasaki during his 1990s seclusion to the Mt. Baldy monastery.[1] Many of the poems in Cohen's 2006 Book of Longing refer to Mt. Baldy and Joshu Sasaki (mostly referred to as "Roshi").
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In a recent interview Eshin Godfrey, Abbot of the Zen Centre of Vancouver and a student of Sasaki-roshi, said of his teacher, "He has become a precious golden Buddha! You can only have great gratitude for your teacher, even though I’ve found it a bitter-sweet relationship. As the western styles of Zen develop I’m grateful to have started study in the traditional way."
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