Masao Abe (阿部 正雄; ☸ 1915—September 10, 2006) was a Zen Buddhist scholar of the so-called Kyoto School and Professor of Philosophy at Nara University of Education, among other educational institutions. A leading ... Continue Reading »
Robert Baker Dairyu Chotan Gyoun Aitken (☸ June 19, 1917—August 5, 2010) was a Zen teacher in the Harada-Yasutani lineage and the founder of Diamond Sangha, a lineage which he and his wife, ... Continue Reading »
Tenshin Reb Anderson Rōshi (born 1943) is a Zen teacher and lineage holder in the Soto Zen tradition of Shunryū Suzuki Rōshi. He is a Senior Dharma teacher at the San Francisco Zen ... Continue Reading »
Shundo Aoyama (born January 15, 1933) is a Soto Zen priest of Muryo-ji and the Aichi Semmon Niso-do, a training monastery for women in Japan. She is author of the book Zen Seeds: ... Continue Reading »
Sogen Asahina (☸ 1891—1979; Asahina Sogen) was a Japanese Rinzai Zen master and Chief Abbot of Engakuji in Kamakura, Japan. Asahina-roshi trained a good many Westerners in the Rinzai way, despite not knowing ... Continue Reading »
Eiko Joshin Carolyn Atkinson is a Soto Zen priest and Dharma successor of the late Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi (through Vanja Palmers) and has been practicing Zen Buddhist meditation since 1973. She currently ... Continue Reading »
James H. Austin (born 1925) is a professor of neurology and widely read author on studies involving Zen and the brain. He has spent most of his early career at the University of ... Continue Reading »
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Helen J. Baroni is Associate Professor of Religion at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She has written two important books on the Obaku sect of Japan as well as a reference Encyclopedia ... Continue Reading »
Stefano Mui Barragato (☸ April 21, 1930—September 24, 2010) was a member of the White Plum Asanga and the founding teacher of Treetop Zen Center in Oakland, Maine, along with his wife Margaret ... Continue Reading »
Josh Mu'nen Keido Bartok (born May 24, 1971) is a Senior Dharma Teacher* with Boundless Way Zen at the Ralph Waldo Emerson Sangha and was ordained in July of 2006 by James Ishmael ... Continue Reading »
Ezra Bayda (born 1944) is a member of the White Plum Asanga and has been practicing meditation since 1970. He originally trained in the Gurdjieff tradition, living in a community led by Robert De ... Continue Reading »
Jan Chozen Bays (born August 9, 1945) is a Zen priest of the White Plum Asanga practicing in Oregon, where she is co-abbot of Great Vow Zen Monastery with her husband Laren Hogen ... Continue Reading »
Charlotte Joko Beck (☸ March 27, 1917 – June 15, 2011) was an American Zen pioneer, the founder of Ordinary Mind Zen and an influential author. Born March 27, 1917 in New Jersey, Beck ... Continue Reading »
Perle Besserman holds a doctorate in comparative literature from Columbia University and, together with Manfred Steger, is founding teacher of the Princeton Area Zen Group, in Princeton, N.J. Recipient of several prestigious literary ... Continue Reading »
Charles Shinkai Birx (born December 24, 1944), along with his wife Ellen Jikai Birx, is co-founder of New River Zen Community in Radford, VA. In 1998 he received Dharma transmission from Roshi Robert ... Continue Reading »
Ellen Jikai Birx (born January 1, 1950), along with her husband Charles Shinkai Birx, is cofounder of New River Zen Community in Radford, VA. In 1998 she received Dharma transmission from Roshi Robert ... Continue Reading »
John Blofeld (☸ April 2, 1913—June 7, 1987) was a British writer and translator with an interest in Asian religions and philosophies, specifically Taoism and Chinese Buddhism. As a translator of Zen Buddhist ... Continue Reading »
Joseph Bobrow is a Zen master and the founder of Deep Streams Zen Institute in San Francisco, authorized to teach by the late Robert Aitken, Roshi of Diamond Sangha. Deep Streams has a ... Continue Reading »
Bon Yeon (Jane McLaughlin-Dobisz) is a Zen master in the Kwan Um School of Zen, a dharma heir of the late Seung Sahn. She currently serves as Guiding teacher of the Cambridge Zen ... Continue Reading »
Established in 2009 as a grassroots initiative, Sweeping Zen is a digital archive of information on Zen Buddhism. Featuring in-depth interviews, an extensive database of biographies, news, articles, podcasts, teacher blogs, events, directories and more, this site is dedicated to offering the public a range of views in the sphere of Zen Buddhist thought. We are also endeavoring to continue creating lineage charts for all Western Zen lines, doing our own small part in advancing historical documentation on this fabulous import of an ancient tradition. Come on in with a tea or coffee. You're always bound to find something new.