Stephen Tokan "Steve" Hagen,

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 ...

, (born 1945) is the founder and head teacher of the Dharma Field Zen Center in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, Minnesota, and a Dharma heir of

Dainin Katagiri Jikai , was a Sōtō Zen priest and teacher, and the founding abbot of Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he served from 1972 until his death from cancer in 1990. He is also the founder of Hokyoji Zen Practice Comm ...

-roshi. Additionally, he is the author of several books on

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. Among them as of 2003, ''Buddhism Plain & Simple'' was one of the top five bestselling Buddhism books in the United States. In 2012, Hagen updated and revised ''How the World Can Be the Way It Is'' and published it as ''Why the World Doesn't Seem to Make Sense—an Inquiry into Science, Philosophy, and Perception''.

Early life

Hagen grew up in

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

where he was first drawn to

when he was seven or eight years old. He later told Linda Hanson of the ''

Duluth News Tribune The ''Duluth News Tribune'' (known locally as ''The Tribune'' or ''DNT'') is a newspaper based in Duluth, Minnesota. While circulation is heaviest in the Twin Ports metropolitan area, delivery extends into northeastern Minnesota, northwestern Wisc ...

'', "I wanted to know what’s going on and to not be fooled. I wanted to know what was real and genuine and true."

Studies

His childhood desire to know truth eventually led him to

Zen Buddhism Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

in 1967. In 1975 Hagen became a student of Zen master

and he was ordained a Zen priest in 1979. Katagiri Roshi gave Hagen

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 ...

(endorsement to teach) in 1989. Katagiri gave Hagen the name "Tokan" which means "breaking through barrier into peace and understanding."

Dharma Field

Before opening Dharma Field, Hagen took frequent road trips to Menomonie and

Eau Claire, Wisconsin Eau Claire (; ) (French for "clear water") is a city mostly located in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat, and with a small portion in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. It had a population of 69,421 in 2020, making it the stat ...

to give workshops and to lead

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 ...

s. Hagen married Jean Forester, a piano teacher who died in 2010. Forester sold her home to help purchase St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in the

Fulton Fulton may refer to: People * Robert Fulton (1765–1815), American engineer and inventor who developed the first commercially successful steam-powered ship * Fulton (surname) Given name * Fulton Allem (born 1957), South African golfer * Fult ...

neighborhood in the

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

community of Minneapolis, where Hagen founded Dharma Field in 1997.

James Ishmael Ford James Ishmael Ford (Zeno Myoun, Roshi) is an American Zen Buddhist priest and a retired Unitarian Universalist minister. He was born in Oakland, California on July 17, 1948. He earned a BA in psychology from Sonoma State University, as well as ...

wrote that Dharma Field under Hagen had "...an independent sensibility that parallels Charlotte Joko Beck's teaching". Dharma Field offers foundational Buddhist studies as well as advanced courses. Among the latter, Hagen taught a yearlong course on

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...

. Norm Randolph who is also a dharma heir of Katagiri is a teacher at Dharma Field. Lee Register who received dharma transmission from Hagen in 2011 is a former teacher. Bev Forsman was ordained by Hagen in 2007 and received dharma transmission in 2010. Forsman became head teacher in June 2012 and served until May 2014.

Dharma heirs

* Bev Forsman * Lee Register

Publications

Bibliography

* * * * *

Other books

* * ''(Introduction by Steve Hagen)''

Notes

External links

Dharma Field Meditation and Learning Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagen, Steve Zen Buddhism writers Soto Zen Buddhists American Zen Buddhists Living people 1945 births