Hakuryu Sojun Mel Weitsman (July 20, 1929 – January 7, 2021), born Mel Weitsman, was an American Buddhist who was the founder, abbot and guiding teacher of Berkeley Zen Center located in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

. Weitsman was a Soto Zen roshi practicing in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki, having received

Dharma transmission In Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' (''kechimyaku'') theoretically traced back to the Buddha him ...

in 1984 from Suzuki's son Hoitsu. He was also a co-abbot of the

San Francisco Zen Center San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC), is a network of affiliated Sōtō Zen practice and retreat centers in the San Francisco Bay area, comprising City Center or Beginner's Mind Temple, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, and Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. ...

, where he served from 1988 to 1997. Weitsman was also editor of the book ''Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness: Zen Talks on the Sandokai'', based on talks given by Suzuki on the

Sandokai The Sandōkai () is a poem by the eighth Chinese Zen ancestor Shitou Xiqian (Sekito Kisen, 700–790) and a fundamental text of the Sōtō school of Zen, chanted daily in temples throughout the world. Title The poem's title, "參同契", is pro ...

Biography

Mel Weitsman was born in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

in 1929, to Edward Weitsman and Leah Rosenberg Weitsman.Ford, 128-129 Interested in religion from an early age, he started practicing at the

under Shunryu Suzuki in 1964. He co-founded the Berkeley Zen Center with his teacher in 1967. Suzuki ordained Weitsman as a priest in 1969, and arranged for him to be Shuso (Head Monk) in 1970 under Tatsugami Roshi at

Tassajara Zen Mountain Center The Tassajara Zen Mountain Center is the oldest Japanese Buddhist Sōtō Zen monastery in the United States. It is on the border of the Ventana Wilderness and within the Los Padres National Forest, southeast of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The ...

. His other teachers included

Dainin Katagiri Jikai , was a Sōtō Zen priest and teacher, and the founding abbot of Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he served from 1972 until his death from cancer in 1990. He is also the founder of Hokyoji Zen Practice Com ...

Roshi, Kobun Chino Roshi, Ryogen Yoshimura and

Kazuaki Tanahashi is an accomplished Japanese calligrapher, Zen teacher, author and translator of Buddhist texts from Japanese and Chinese to English, most notably works by Dogen (he began his translation of '' Shobogenzo'' in his twenties). He first met Shunryu ...

, with whom he has often worked on translations of Zen texts. In 1984, Weitsman received

from Suzuki Roshi's son and Dharma Heir, Hoitsu Suzuki Roshi, Abbot of Rinso-In Temple in

Yaizu is a city located in central Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 139,578 in 57,593 households, and a population density of 2000 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Yaizu is a noted port for comm ...

, Japan. Installed as Abbot of Berkeley Zen Center in 1985, he later was invited to lead San Francisco Zen Center as co-abbot with Tenshin

Reb Anderson Tenshin Zenki Reb Anderson (born 1943) is an American Buddhist who is a Zen teacher in the Sōtō Zen tradition of Shunryu Suzuki. He is a Senior Dharma teacher at the San Francisco Zen Center and at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in Marin County, C ...

from 1988 to 1997, following the eviction of Zen Center's previous abbot, Richard Baker, because of sexual scandal and allegations of financial wrongdoing.Downing, Michael. ''Shoes Outside the Door''. Counterpoint, 2002. passimGach, 230 He co-founded the American Zen Teachers Association (AZTA) with senior American Dharma teachers Tetsugen Bernard Glassman, Dennis Genpo Merzel and Keido Les Kaye in 1995. Weitsman has entrusted the Dharma to over twenty individuals, including Zenkei Blanche Hartman (1988)Skinner Keller, 643 and

Zoketsu Norman Fischer Zoketsu Norman Fischer is an American poet, writer, and Soto Zen priest, teaching and practicing in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. He is a Dharma heir of Sojun Mel Weitsman, from whom he received Dharma transmission in 1988. Fischer served as co- ...

(1988).San Francisco Zen Center: About Us: Lineage: Zoketsu Norman Fischer

Lineage

# Josho Pat Phelan (?—present)Sweeping Zen, ''"Shunryu Suzuki lineage"''
/ref> # Mary Mocine (?—present) # Myoan Grace Schireson (born 1946) ## Jane Myokaku Schneider (?—present) ## Myosho Baika Andrea Pratt (born 1960) # Shinshu Roberts (?—present) # Daijaku Judith Kinst (?—present) # Soshin Teah Strozer (?—present) # Chikudo Lew Richmond (?—present) # Peter Yozen Schneider (?—present) # Shosan Victoria Austin (?—present) # Dairyu Michael Wenger (born 1947) ## Darlene Su Rei Cohen (☸ 1942—2011) ### Susan Ji-On Postal (?—present) #### Myozan Dennis Keegan (?—present) ### Horyu Ryotan Cynthia Kear (?—present) ### Sarita Tamayo-Moraga (?—present) ## Mark Lancaster (?—present) ## Marsha Angus (?—present) lay entrustment ## Barent (Last name?) (?—present) lay entrustment ## Jamie Howell (born 1945) lay entrustment # Hozan Alan Senauke (born 1947) # Maylie Scott (☸ 1935—2001) # Fran Tribe (☸) # Gil Fronsdal (born 1954) # Edward Espe Brown (born 1945) # Ryushin Paul Haller (born 1947) # Myogen Steve Stucky (?—present) # Steve Weintraub (?—present) # Zoketsu Norman Fischer (born 1946) ## Do-An Robert Thomas (?—present) ## Shokan Jordan Thorn (?—present) ## Ingen Breen (?—present) ## Bruce Fortin (?—present) ## Arlene Lueck (?—present) ## Daigan Lueck (☸ ?—2015) ## Shinko Rick Slone (?—present) ## Gloria Ann Lee (?—present) ## Myphon Hunt (?—present) retired ## Gyokujun Teishin Layla Smith (born 1946) ## Eihei Peter Levitt (?—present) lay entrustment ## Mick Sopko (?—present) lay entrustment # Zenkei Blanche Hartman (?—present) ## Kosho McCall (born 1946) ## Seirin Barbara Kohn (?—present) retired ## Gengetsu Jana Drakka (born 1952) ## John Daniel King (☸ 1935—2001) ## Ryumon Hilda Guitierrez Baldoquin (?—present)

References

Written references

Web-references

Sources