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 »
Jiro Osho Fernando Afable (born 1943), aka Jiro Andy Afable, is a Rinzai Zen teacher and founder of Early Light Zendo in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Born in the Philippines, he moved to the United ... 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 »
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 »
Bankei Yotaku (☸ 1622-1693) was a Japanese Rinzai Zen Master who constantly encouraged audiences to abide in the Unborn Buddha Mind. He had a great impact on Zen during his day, giving public ... Continue Reading »
Tetsugyu Ban Bantetsugu (☸ June 4, 1910—January 21, 1996) was a Zen priest of both Soto Zen and Rinzai Zen, born in Hanamaki, Japan in 1910. Ordained a Soto Zen monk by ... Continue Reading »
Hakuun Sokai Geoff Barratt is the Rinzai Zen Abbot of Haku-un-ji in Tempe, Arizona, a temple in the lineage of his teacher Kyozan Joshu Sasaki. Barrat began his Zen training with Sasaki in ... Continue Reading »
Bassui Tokusho (☸ 1327—1387) was a Japanese Rinzai Zen master who made it a life mission to revitalize Zen Buddhism in Japan during his lifetime. In that vein, Bassui preferred living the life ... Continue Reading »
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*This biography is missing from our database. If you are the subject or someone working on their behalf, please consider submitting your biography to us today. Thanks! Continue Reading »
Roko Shinge Sherry Chayat (born 1943) is a Rinzai Zen master in the lineage of the late Soen Nakagawa and the newly installed Abbot of Dai Bosatsu Zendo, located in the Catskills of ... Continue Reading »
*This biography is missing from our database. If you are the subject or someone working on their behalf, please consider submitting your biography to us today. Thanks! Continue Reading »
*This biography is missing from our database. If you are the subject or someone working on their behalf, please consider submitting your biography to us today. Thanks! Continue Reading »
Daisetsu Shoen (☸ 1797—1855), nicknamed "the devil" or "the demon," was a Japanese Rinzai Zen master and abbot of Shokoku-ji in Kyoto, Japan. Daisetsu Shoen was first introduced to most Western readers in ... Continue Reading »
Daiju Gentei Richard Diedrichs (born August 20, 1946) tried several spiritual paths before he discovered Alan Watt’s The Way of Zen in the early 1970s. Through that and other books, Diedrichs ... Continue Reading »
Dokutan Sosan, a.k.a. Dokuton Toyota (☸ 1840—1917) was a Rinzai priest and Abbot of Nanzenji and Kokeizan in Japan. One of his better known students was Harada Daiun Sogaku, who had been given ... Continue Reading »
*This biography is missing from our database. If you are the subject or someone working on their behalf, please consider submitting your biography to us today. Thanks! Continue Reading »
Myōan Eisai (明菴栄西; ☸ May 27, 1141—July 2, 1215) is widely-regarded as the founder of the Japanese Rinzai school, though his efforts were largely unsuccessful in his own lifetime; it is more accurate ... Continue Reading »
*This biography is missing from our database. If you are the subject or someone working on their behalf, please consider submitting your biography to us today. Thanks! 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.