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 Berkeley Zen Center (BZC), official temple name , is a residential Sōtō Zen Buddhist practice centre located in Berkeley, California which has been led since 2024 by Shinchi Linda Galijan and Zenshin Greg Fain. Founded as an affiliate temple of ...

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 Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. Weitsman was a

Sōtō Zen Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai school, Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Caodong school, Cáodòng school, which was founded during the ...

roshi practicing in the lineage of

Shunryū Suzuki Shunryu Suzuki (鈴木俊隆 ''Suzuki Shunryū'', dharma name ''Shōgaku Shunryū'' 祥岳俊隆, often called Suzuki Roshi; May 18, 1904 – December 4, 1971) was a Sōtō Zen monk and teacher who helped popularize Zen Buddhism in the Unite ...

, 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 Cantongqi (), or Sandōkai, is a poem by the eighth Chinese Zen ancestor Shitou Xiqian (Sekito Kisen, 700–790) and a fundamental text of the Caodong (Sōtō) school of Chan (Zen), chanted daily in temples throughout the world. Title The ...

Biography

Mel Weitsman was born in

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

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

in 1964. He co-founded the

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 Commu ...

Roshi, Kōbun 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 Shu ...

, 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 commer ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. 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 from 1988 to 1997, following the eviction of Zen Center's previous abbot,

Zentatsu Richard Baker Richard Dudley Baker (born March 30, 1936) is an American Soto Zen master (or roshi), the founder of Dharma Sangha—which consists of Crestone Mountain Zen Center located in Crestone, Colorado and the ''Zen Buddhist Center Black Forest'' (Zen-Bu ...

, 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 Bernie Glassman (January 18, 1939 – November 4, 2018) was an American Zen Buddhist Rōshi, roshi and founder of the Zen Peacemakers (previously the Zen Community of New York), an organization established in 1980. In 1996, he co-founded the Zen ...

Dennis Genpo Merzel Dennis Merzel (born June 3, 1944, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American Zen and spirituality teacher, also known as Genpo Roshi. Biography Early life Dennis Paul Merzel was born on June 3, 1944, in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised and sch ...

and Keido Les Kaye in 1995. Weitsman has entrusted the Dharma to over twenty individuals, including Zenkei

Blanche Hartman Zenkei Blanche Hartman (née Gelders; 1926 – May 13, 2016) was a Soto Zen teacher practicing in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. From 1996 to 2002 she served two terms as co-abbess of the San Francisco Zen Center. She was the first woman to assume ...

(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 ...

(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) # 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 (?—2014) # 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) # 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