Shoshin Bob Kelly dies at 87; Leader of Sokuji Zen Group
We’ve received news that Shoshin Bob Kelly of Sokuji Zen Group in Bemidji, Minnesota passed away on Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at age 87. Shoshin was a dharma successor of Shoken Winecoff of Ryumonji Zen...
View ArticleFr. Patrick Hawk roshi dies at 69; Guiding teacher of the Zen Desert Sangha
We’ve received word that Fr. Patrick Hawk roshi, guiding teacher of Zen Desert Sangha in Tucson, Arizona, died peacefully this morning under hospice care at age 69. Hawk, an ordained Catholic priest...
View ArticleDaehaeng Kun Sunim, Korean Seon (Zen) teacher, dies at 85
Daehaeng Kun Sunim, founder of the Hanmaum Seon (Zen) centers of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, died at 85 on Tuesday at Hanmaum Seonwon in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province. Daehaeng, a Korean Zen nun...
View ArticleIn loving memory of Katherine Sobun Thanas, Roshi
Kind. Considerate. Radiant. Playful. These are words people used to describe Katherine Sobun Thanas when I told them I’d be doing this piece on her. Katherine passed away at 9:45 this morning at the...
View ArticleIn memory of Shin Getsu Fern and Hogaku Ken McGuire
I have more sad news for the mahasangha today, I’m afraid. I just received word from Harvey Daiho Hilbert about the deaths of husband and wife Zen teachers, Shin Getsu Fern McGuire and Hogaku Ken...
View ArticleWalter Nowick, pianist and Zen teacher, dies at 87
We’ve received news that former Zen teacher, Walter Nowick, died yesterday morning at the age of 87. Nowick had been in declining health over the last year, suffering a stroke and having pneumonia. He...
View ArticleGenki Takabayashi, Rinzai Zen teacher, dies at 81
Photo © Marisa Gerard Muhoan Genki Takabayashi Roshi, retired Rinzai Zen teacher, died on Monday at his home in Victor, Montana. He is survived by his wife Genei Leslie Gannon. He was 81. The causes...
View ArticleZen Master Wu Bong, Jacob Perl, dies at age 62
Zen Master Wu Bong of the Kwan Um School of Zen died today in Paris of a heart attack at the age of 62. ZM Wu Bong was Head Teacher of the Kwan Um School of Zen Europe and was a student of the late Zen...
View ArticleToni Packer of Springwater Center dies at 86
The Shambhala Sun has reported today that German-born Toni Packer, founder of the Springwater Center, died yesterday at age 86 — having entered hospice care on August 13. Zen teacher James Ishmael Ford...
View ArticleMyogen Steve Stücky, former SFZC Abbot, dies at age 67
Myogen Steve Stücky (1946 — 2013), the former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC), died this morning following his recent stage four pancreatic cancer diagnosis. The bell was rung 108 times at...
View ArticleOBITUARY: Gudo Wafu Nishijima
A small announcement that NISHIJIMA GUDO WAFU passed from this visible world. He was my Teacher, and Teacher to many others in the United States (Brad Warner among them), many countries of Europe and...
View ArticleSusan Ji-on Postal, teacher at Empty Hand Zen Center, dies at 73
We’ve received word that Tokudo Ji-on Susan Postal, teacher and founder of Empty Hand Zen Center in New Rochelle, NY, passed away at 11:45 pm on February 7, 2014. Born in 1940, she was 73. We do not...
View ArticleRemembering Peter Matthiessen, Zen Peacemaker and author
Peter Matthiessen died on Saturday, April 5, 2014 at age 86 at his home in Sagaponack, New York. The award-winning author and Sōtō Zen roshi died earlier this month of acute leukemia, according to news...
View ArticleJoshu Sasaki, founder of Rinzai-ji, dead at 107
Joshu Sasaki Roshi, the Japanese-born Rinzai Zen teacher and founder of Rinzai-ji, died on Sunday at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, California at 107 years old. He was musician Leonard Cohen’s...
View ArticleZenshin Tim Buckley dies at 72 of lung cancer
Zenshin Tim Buckley, founder and teacher at Great River Zendo in West Bath, Maine, passed away today at 72 years due to lung cancer. He was a student of Yozen Peter Schneider in California and in 2014...
View ArticleDavid Daigan Lueck, priest at Green Gulch Farm, dies at 84
David Daigan Lueck, a longtime practitioner at all three San Francisco Zen Center locations (City Center, Tassajara and Green Gulch Farm), passed away yesterday, April 26, at 3:45 PM. He currently...
View ArticleZen Master Dae Jin, 57, Dies; Mu Sang Sa
Zen Master Dae Jin, Guiding Teacher of Kye Ryong San International Zen Center/Mu Sang Sa in Gyeryong, South Korea passed away recently on December 26, 2015 after a long battle with leukemia. He was 57...
View ArticleMitsu Suzuki, wife of Shunryu Suzuki roshi, dies at 101
Mitsu Suzuki Sensei, also known as “Okusan”, tea ceremony teacher in the Omotesenke school and the widow of SFZC founder Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, passed away early yesterday at the age of 101! What a long...
View ArticleLeonard Cohen, musician and Zen practitioner, dies at 82
The Canadian musician, poet and songwriter Leonard Cohen has died this evening at 82. Cohen was also known within our North American Zen community as a Zen practitioner, a longtime student of the late...
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