White Plum Asanga

Many teachers of the White Plum Asanga present at the 40th anniversary of the Zen Center of Los Angeles

White Plum Asanga, sometimes termed White Plum Sangha, is a loose (hence asangha) "organization of peers whose members are leaders of Zen Communities in the lineage of Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi,"[1] created by Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi[2] and Tetsugen Bernard Glassman. It consists of Maezumi's Dharma heirs and subsequent successors.[3]

Characterization

A diverse organization spread across the United States and with a small presence in Europe, the White Plum Asanga

[I]ncludes teachers who represent the spectrum of styles to be found to American Zen—socially engaged Buddhism, family practice, Zen and the arts, secularized Zen, and progressive traditionalism."[4]

Conceived of informally in 1979 by Maezumi and Tetsugen Bernard Glassman, the White Plum Asanga was named after Maezumi's father Baian Hakujun Dai-osho and then later incorporated in 1995 following Maezumi's death. Tetsugen Bernard Glassman was the White Plum Asanga's first President and his successor was Dennis Genpo Merzel.[5] Following Merzel's term, in May 2007, Gerry Shishin Wick served as elected President of White Plum, until 2013 when Anne Seisen Saunders became the current president.[6]

Notable members

Notable centers

See also

References

  1. ^ White Plum Asanga website
  2. ^ Tucker (1997), p. 174.
  3. ^ Maezumi & Glassman (2002), p. 171.
  4. ^ Westward Dharma, 111
  5. ^ Luminous Passage, 282
  6. ^ "Roshi Anne Seisen Saunders voted in as the new President of the White Plum Asanga". Zen Peacemaker Order. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Membership List". The White Plum Asanga. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2024.

Sources

greatwave.org