Shinzen Young

Shinzen Young (真善 Shinzen?) is an American meditation teacher. He leads residential meditation retreats for students interested in learning the Vipassana (mindfulness) tradition of Buddhism. Although Vipassana is traditionally a Theravada technique, Shinzen was originally ordained in Japan as a monk in the Shingon (Japanese Vajrayana) tradition.[1] He has studied and practiced extensively in other traditions, including Zen and Native American traditions.

He frequently uses concepts from mathematics as a metaphor to illustrate the abstract concepts of meditation. As a result, his teachings tend to be popular among academics and professionals.[2] His interest in integrating meditation with scientific paradigms has led to collaborations with neuroscientists at UCLA and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is working on various ways to bring a secular mindfulness practice to a wider audience, using revamped terminology and techniques and automated expert systems.[3]

Contents

Personal Life

Shinzen was born Steve Young in Los Angeles, California. He had a strong interest in Japanese language and Asian culture in high school, which led to him living as an exchange student in Japan. There he was exposed to Buddhism and Buddhist teachers, which eventually led him to become a monk.[4]

Books

Audio publications

References

  1. ^ The Point of Contact Fall 2005 By Polly Young-Eisendrath, in Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
  2. ^ http://scienceandreligion.arizona.edu/spring2005.html
  3. ^ BG 102: Shinzen Young: The Hybrid Teacher Buddhist Geeks: Seriously Buddhist, Seriously Geeky. (2008-12-28). Podcast accessed on 2009-02-18.
  4. ^ Shinzen, Young. "Shinzen Young". http://shinzen.org. Retrieved 29 April 2011. 

External links