Article for Northwest Dharma News

A Dharma “Family” Gathers

Over three days in mid-May, Zen Teachers in the lineage of Taizan Maezumi Roshi gathered at Great Vow Zen Monastery in Clatskanie, Oregon. This “White Plum Sangha,” now includes 44 teachers spread over four “generations.” These teachers meet annually in order to support one another, and to reinforce an affinity born of long years of practice together. This year, about half of them converged on the fledgling Great Vow Zen Monastery, founded three years ago by Chozen and Hogen Bays, themselves disciples of Maezumi Roshi. Notably, this year’s meeting coincided with the tenth anniversary of Maezumi Roshi’s death on May 15, 1995. A memorial ceremony was held to mark the occasion, and to celebrate this visionary teacher’s legacy and his vow to plant the seeds of the dharma in the West.

Maezumi Roshi came to the US in 1965 to minister to Japanese-Americans in Los Angeles. He established Zen Center of Los Angeles in 1967 and eventually ordained 68 Zen priests and gave jukai (lay ordination) to over 500 individuals in the US. Bill Yoshin Jordan, a White Plum teacher who lived at the center for fourteen years, remembers the atmosphere in the 70s and 80s as “very alive and very, very dynamic.” Sesshin (weeklong retreats) in that era sometimes included a hundred people, and over a hundred Sangha members lived at the center or in the immediate neighborhood.

Jordan notes that the “extraordinary sense of exploring a new world” has today given way to “a much more mature and adult practice” in the wake of reorganization and renewal in the late 80s. Today, ZCLA, also known as Buddha Essence Temple, is under the guidance of Roshi Wendy Egyoku Nagao. From the central spiritual touchstone of this “mother temple”, Maezumi Roshi’s disciples have developed innovative teaching techniques and a number of skilful means to bring the dharma to life in the West. Roshi Egyoku lauds the wonderful ability of her fellow teachers to both experiment and “to support each other in their own unique evolution.”

And unique they are. Among those in attendance at the May gathering was Roshi Bernie Tetsugen Glassman, head of the Zen Peacemaker Order, the founder of several community-oriented businesses providing employment and job training to underserved communities-- and a practicing clown. Roshi Dennis Genpo Merzel, president of the White Plum Sangha, has packaged a taste of enlightenment into a workshop format bringing the experience of “Big Mind” to thousands of novice meditators. Father Robert Kennedy, a Jesuit priest and lay dharma teacher, practices as a Catholic enriched by Zen insight and is a prominent figure in interfaith dialogue. Barry Kaigen McMahon is an airline pilot as well as a Zen teacher; Charles and Ellen Birx’s spiritual quest together began as a young couple living among the Navajo. Each of these teachers embodies a new and developing aspect of Maezumi Roshi’s heritage. Chozen Bays called it “genius… his ability to see the Buddha nature and the teaching potential in many different kinds of people.”

In the ceremonial core of the meeting, this collection of individuals merged into a whole: joined by their hosts and the ordained novice priests at Great Vow, the White Plum disciples honored their teacher in a memorial service that was traditional, poignant, and momentarily humorous. To have come to this time—and to be the leaders of the largest Soto Zen body outside of Japan—seemed cause indeed for gratitude and reflection.

The gala climax of the meeting was a gourmet dinner served on fine silver and china in the monastery dining hall. After the plates were cleared and dessert was served, the assembly was treated to a beautiful documentary of Maezumi Roshi’s life and times, prepared by Yoshin Bill Jordan’s students at the Santa Monica Zen Center. This short piece featured rare images from his years in Japan and the US, as well as photographs from the early years of ZCLA which showed much-younger versions of many faces in the audience.

A cadre of monastery residents rounded out the evening with an atypical flourish that is fast becoming a Great Vow trademark: a rousing ensemble performance on the marimbas, West-African xylophones which produce exhilarating music. Everyone cheered and clapped along, quite at home with the joys and juxtapositions of present-day Zen practice.

Supporting the teachers of today, inspiring the teachers of tomorrow

This is the third national gathering of Zen teachers hosted by Great Vow Zen Monastery in the last two years. In 2004, the American Zen Teachers’ Association (AZTA) and the Soto Zen Buddhist Association (SZBA) both held their annual meetings at this young and vibrant training temple. The monastery’s beautiful views, rural setting, and twenty acres of meadows and woods make for a relaxing and invigorating retreat. The guest wing of the main building sleeps forty people easily, although in summertime many opt instead to sleep outdoors in tents.

Abbots Chozen and Hogen Bays emphasize welcoming guests of all sorts, and Great Vow Zen Monastery holds a steady sequence of weekend workshops, weeklong meditation retreats, and special events such as a Pan-Buddhist 4th of July Picnic and the 24-hour Interfaith Chant for Peace. Teachers’ meetings are a special treat: the mood is informal, and conversations start readily. Sometimes they merely satisfy one’s curiosity, but often they take a turn into some profound and powerful territory. Talking with them gives today’s young monastics a sense of the incredible dedication and fortitude that is asked of those who follow this path.


Originally trained as a research scientist, Shugetsu D Garigan is re-entering lay life after two and a half years as a resident at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in California, and Great Vow Zen Monastery in Oregon.