Jimmy Yu (born 1968), also known as Guo Gu (果谷 Guǒ Gǔ), is a Chan teacher and a scholar of Buddhism. He was the bassist for the American 1980s

hardcore bands This is a list of Notability in the English Wikipedia, notable hardcore punk bands. Hardcore punk (commonly shortened to hardcore) is an underground music genre that generally revolves around a thicker and more aggressive tone than earlier punk r ...

Death Before Dishonor (the original) and

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

. After his youthful days in hardcore

straight edge Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated as sXe or signified by XXX or simply X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs in reaction to the punk subculture's excesses. Some ...

, he returned to Buddhism and became a monk under Chan Master

Sheng Yen Sheng Yen (), born Zhang Baokang (), (January 22, 1931 – February 3, 2009) was a Taiwanese Buddhist monk, religious scholar, and writer. He was one of the mainstream teachers of Chan Buddhism. He was a 57th generational dharma heir of Linji ...

. In 2000, he left monasticism to pursue academia. He received an MA degree in Chinese Buddhist studies from

the University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

in 2002 and a Ph.D. from Princeton University's Department of Religion in 2008. He is currently a Professor of Religion at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

, teaching courses in East Asian religious traditions, especially Chinese Buddhism and late imperial Chinese cultural and religious history. His research interests include the history of the body, Buddhist monasticism, Chan/Zen Buddhism, and popular religions within the broader context of fifteenth- to seventeenth-centuries China. Jimmy Yu is also a long-time practitioner of Chan; his Dharma name is 果谷 Guǒ Gǔ. He practiced with the late Chan Master

from 1982 until the latter died in 2009. Guo Gu was Sheng Yen's translator, attendant, and assistant in leading intense Chan retreats. He first received '' inka'', a seal of approval for his experience of Chan, in 1995 by Sheng Yen, and subsequently received several ''Inkas'' from him, the last one being in 2007. He is the founder and Dharma teacher of the Tallahassee Chan Center in

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

, and founder of the Dharma Relief project. Additionally, Jimmy Yu is also the author of academic books, such as ''Sanctity and Self-Inflicted Violence in Chinese Religions'' (2012) and ''Reimagining Chan Buddhism: Sheng Yen and the Creation of the Dharma Drum Lineage of Chan'' (2022). This former explores the religious aspects of self-inflicted violence, such as texts written in blood and the occasional practice of

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...

during times of

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...

in late

Ming The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of China ruled by the Han people, t ...

and early

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

China, and the latter is the first socio-intellectual history of the Dharma Drum Lineage of Chan (Zen) by Master

, challenging the received academic and popular image of Chan Buddhism as a meditation school that bypasses scriptural learning.

Books

* Yu, Jimmy, ''Sanctity and Self-Inflicted Violence in Chinese Religions, 1500–1700'', Oxford University Press, 2012. * Guo Gu, ''Passing Through the Gateless Barrier: Kōan Practice for Real Life'', Shambhala Publications, 2016. * Guo Gu, ''The Essence of Chan: A Guide to Life and Practice according to the Teachings of Bodhidharma'', Shambhala Publications, 2020 (first paperback edition); (eBook edition, 2012) * Guo Gu, ''Silent Illumination: A Chan Buddhist Path to Natural Awakening'', Shambhala Publications, 2021 * Yu, Jimmy, ''Reimagining Chan Buddhism: Sheng Yen and the Creation of the Dharma Drum Lineage of Chan'', Routledge, 2022. * Yu, Jimmy, (editor) ''Readings of the Gateless Barrier'', Columbia University Press, 2025.

Sources

# Ryan J. Downey
Biography: Judge
" AMG Retrieved 19 May 2010 # Tim McMahon and Gordo of Double Cross
Parts I ~ VI
" Retrieved 2 January 2011 # Department of Religion, FSU faculty page
Jimmy Yu
" Retrieved 4 February 2025

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Jimmy American heavy metal bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Florida State University faculty American Chan Buddhists Zen Buddhist spiritual teachers 1968 births Living people