ABOUT SHINRŌ

I am an ordained Zen priest and  lineage holder in the White Plum Asangha, founded  to support the teaching legacy of  Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi Roshi (1931-1995),  the late abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles. I have practised Zen within that lineage for more than 40 years.

Although I first learned Buddhist meditation practices  in 1979, I began Zen practice with Maezumi Roshi's Dharma successor, Dennis Genpo Merzel Sensei, in 1982. I was able to train with Maezumi Roshi himself on several occasions and received the lay precepts (jukai) from Genpo Merzel Sensei in 1987. In 1992, I  co-wrote a beginner's book,  The Elements of Zen, with David Scott,  which was published in two editions and several languages. In the 1990s, I  trained with another of Maezumi Roshi's successors, Charles Tenshin Fletcher, the abbot of Yokoji Zen Mountain Center, in southern California, and with successors of Genpo Merzel Roshi, including Catherine Genno Pagès Roshi  of the Dana Zen Centre in Paris and  Tenkei Coppens, abbot of Zenriver Zen Centre in the Netherlands. 

​In 2010, I received shukke todukdo  (priest ordination) from  David Keizan Scott Roshi (my erstwhile co-author), who  founded Stonewater Zen Sangha in the UK, and who  received shiho and inka (Dharma transmission and the title of roshi, or elder teacher) from Tenshin Fletcher Roshi. In December 2020,  I received shiho and the title of sensei (teacher) from Keizan Scott Roshi, at which time I joined the White Plum Asangha.

Together with Keizan Scott Roshi and his other Dharma successors, I work in the leadership of sesshin (Zen retreats) and other activities in StoneWater Zen Sangha. In 2023,  I also joined the faculty as a trainer in the White Plum Asangha's  teacher training course, Healthy Boundaries for Buddhist Teachers.
​