Ordinary Mind Zen School

Ordinary Mind Zen School
Information
Denomination	Zen
Founded	1995
Founder(s)	Charlotte Joko Beck, Elizabeth Hamilton, Diane Eshin Rizzetto, Elihu Genmyo Smith.
Portal:Buddhism

The Ordinary Mind Zen School is a network of independent Zen centers established by Charlotte Joko Beck and her Dharma Successors in 1995. The school is unaffiliated with any Zen centers that falls outside of its own network. The history of the Ordinary Mind Zen School dates back to 1983, which was the year that Joko Beck had left the Zen Center of Los Angeles.^[1] That was the year her teacher, Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi, had been confronted by his students about his alcoholism and sexual liaisons with some female students. Joko Beck established the Zen Center of San Diego in 1983, currently run by Ezra Bayda and Elizabeth Hamilton, though Joko Beck has disassociated herself from these teachers. According to Richard Hughes Seager, "By 1998, the Ordinary Mind School had centers in San Diego, Champaign, Illinois, Oakland, California, and New York City."^[2] There is no one set structure of curriculum in the Ordinary Mind School, as the Dharma Successors of Joko Beck get to decide their method of training independent of any organizational head. Before retirement, Joko Beck had done away with all titles and no longer wore her okesa. She had distanced herself considerably from her roots in the Sōtō school, and much of the ceremony had been abandoned in favor of informality.^[1]

Teachers

• Barry Magid (Ordinary Mind Zendo)
• Pat Jikyo George (Zen Center of Philadelphia)
• Larry Christensen (Zen Center of Portland)
• Elihu Genmyo Smith (Prairie Zen Center)
• Diane Rizzetto (Bay Zen Center)
• Anna Christensen
• Gregg Howard (Ordinary Mind Zen Brisbane)
• Geoff Dawson (Ordinary Mind Zen Sydney)
• Peg Syverson (Appamada in Austin, TX)

See also

• Buddhism in the United States
• Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Ford, 173-175
2. ^ Seager, 102

References

• Ford, James Ishmael (2006). Zen Master Who?: A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen. Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0861715098. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70174891&referer=one_hit. 
• Seager, Richard Hughes (1999). Buddhism In America. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231108680. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/40481142&referer=one_hit.