Gerry Shishin Wick is a
Soto Zen roshi, author,
oceanographer and abbot of Great Mountain Zen Center in
Berthoud, Colorado
The Town of Berthoud is a Statutory Town located in Larimer and Weld counties, Colorado, United States. The town population was 10,332 at the 2020 United States Census with 10,071 residing in Larimer County and 261 residing in Weld County. Ber ...
, which he founded in 1996. He is one of the twelve Dharma Successors of the late
Taizan Maezumi, receiving
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 ...
and a
Denkai (precept transmission) from him in 1990. Prior to it, for 24 years he underwent Zen training with
Maezumi,
Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and Sochu Suzuki Roshi. He remained the president of
White Plum Asanga, a Zen school in the Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi lineage, from 2007 to 2014.
He has a
Ph.D. in
physics from the
University of California, Berkeley, and has held a variety of jobs in the scientific community as well as an
adjunct teaching position at
Naropa University
Naropa University is a private university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, it is named for the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The university describes itself as B ...
in
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...
. He also administered the
Zen Center of Los Angeles
The Zen Center of Los Angeles (ZCLA), temple name Buddha Essence Temple, is a Zen center founded by Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi in 1967 that practices in the White Plum lineage.
ZCLA observes a daily schedule of zazen, Buddhist services, and work pr ...
and the Kuroda Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Human Values from 1978 to 1986. In 2006, Wick received
inka from
Bernard Glassman. He was acknowledged as a
roshi in 2000 at
White Plum Asanga, where he remained the president from 2007 to 2014, when he retired as an elder.
[Prebish, 98][Morreale, 134]
See also
* Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States
Bibliography
*
*Wick, Gerry Shishin. Salt Power: Is Neptune's Ole Salt a Tiger in the Tank?
Notes
References
*
*
*
External links
Audio Interview Series
on Buddhist Geeks
Zen Buddhism writers
Soto Zen Buddhists
White Plum Asanga
Rōshi
American Zen Buddhists
Living people
UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
People from Berthoud, Colorado
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