Charles Tenshin Fletcher is a British-born American

rōshi (Japanese: "old teacher"; "old master") is a title in Zen Buddhism with different usages depending on sect and country. In Rinzai Zen, the term is reserved only for individuals who have received ''inka shōmei'', meaning they have completed th ...

Biography

Born in

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, he moved to the United States in 1979 to study at the Zen Center of Los Angeles with founder

Taizan Maezumi Hakuyū Taizan Maezumi ( Maezumi Hakuyū, February 24, 1931 – May 15, 1995) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher and rōshi, and lineage holder in the Sōtō, Rinzai, and Sanbo Kyodan traditions of Zen. He combined the Rinzai use of ''kōan''s an ...

Rōshi (Japanese: "old teacher"; "old master") is a title in Zen Buddhism with different usages depending on sect and country. In Rinzai Zen, the term is reserved only for individuals who have received ''inka shōmei'', meaning they have completed th ...

'', for whom he served as ''

jisha , along with the titles ''inji'' and ''sannō'',Hori, pp. 638–639 are Japanese terms used in reference to the personal attendant of a monastery's abbot or teacher in Zen Buddhism. In the Rinzai school, the term is usually either ''inji'' or ...

'' (personal attendant). In 1994, he received

Dharma transmission In Chan Buddhism, Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken Lineage (Buddhism), lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' (''kechimyaku'') theoretica ...

(authorization to teach) in the White Plum lineage from

''Rōshi''. He acted as administrator for many years at Zen Center of Los Angeles, and then was made abbot of

Yokoji Zen Mountain Center Yokoji Zen Mountain Center is a year-round Zen Buddhist training and retreat center located in the San Jacinto Mountains of Southern California. It is a 160 acres (65 hectares) of sacred Native American land and wilderness. Founded 1981 by Taiz ...

in 1995 after the death of

''Rōshi'' on May 15, 1995. Charles Tenshin Fletcher ''Rōshi'' continues as the abbot at

, in the

San Jacinto Mountains The San Jacinto Mountains (''Avii Hanupach''Munro, P., et al. ''A Mojave Dictionary''. Los Angeles: UCLA. 1992. in Mojave) are a mountain range in Riverside County, located east of Los Angeles in southern California in the United States. The mou ...

, near Idyllwild, California. He is certified as a ''Kokusai Fukyōshi'' ("Official Foreign Representative") by Sōtō-shū Shûmusôchô, that is, the Japanese

Sōtō Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngshān L ...

Zen sect. Tenshin ''Rōshi'' has trained thoroughly in ''

kōan A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen. Etymology The Japanese term is the Sino-Jap ...

'' and ''

shikantaza is Dogen's Japanese language, Japanese translation of the Chinese language, Chinese phrase ''zhǐguǎn dǎzuò'' (只管打坐 / 祇管打坐), "just sitting." The phrase was used by his teacher Rujing, a monk of the Caodong school of Zen Buddh ...

'' as well as other more recently developed forms of practice. In addition to his work in the US, he returns to the UK annually to lead a ''

sesshin A ''sesshin'' (接心, or also 摂心/攝心 literally "touching the heart-mind") is a period of intensive meditation (zazen) in a Zen monastery. While the daily routine in the monastery requires the monks to meditate several hours a day, duri ...

'' near Liverpool.

Publications

*Tenshin ''Rōshi'' co-authored ''Way of ZEN'' with David Shoji Scott (2001)

References

External links

* Yokoji Zen Mountain Center, California (https://zmc.org/) * White Plum Asanga, US (http://www.whiteplum.org) * Green Mountain Zen, New Zealand (http://www.greenmountainzen.org.nz) * StoneWater Zen Sangha, Liverpool, UK (http://www.stonewaterzen.org/) * Citrus Zen (http://citruszen.com) * Mojave Zen (https://mojavezen.com) * Soto Zen International (https://web.archive.org/web/20080228015830/http://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/eng/org_tmpl_non_jpn.html) Zen Buddhism writers Soto Zen Buddhists Zen Buddhist abbots American Zen Buddhists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Rōshi {{US-reli-bio-stub

Biography

Publications

See also

References

External links