Toni Packer (April, 1927 – August 23, 2013) was a teacher of "meditative inquiry", and the founder of Springwater Center. Packer was a former student in the

Sanbo Kyodan is a lay Zen sect derived from both the Soto (Caodong) and the Rinzai ( Linji) traditions. It was renamed Sanbo-Zen International in 2014. The term ''Sanbo Kyodan'' has often been used to refer to the Harada-Yasutani zen lineage. However, a ...

lineage of Zen Buddhism, and was previously in line to be the successor of Phillip Kapleau at the

Rochester Zen Center The Rochester Zen Center (RZC) is a Sōtō and Rinzai Zen Buddhist sangha in the Kapleau lineage, located in Rochester, New York and established in 1966 by Philip Kapleau. It is one of the oldest Zen centers in the United States. History Since ...

Biography

Toni Packer was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, Germany in 1927. Her family was

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

in name only, as they endeavored not to divulge the fact that her mother was of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent. It was in her childhood, growing up amidst the turmoil of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, that Packer first developed mistrust for authority. The family eventually made a move to Switzerland, where she married her husband Kyle Packer in 1950. The pair moved to New York near the

State University of New York at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

, where Kyle came to earn a degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

. Toni began reading the pioneering works about

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), an ...

Alan Watts Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was an English writer, speaker and self-styled "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Japanese, Chinese and Indian traditions of Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu ...

D. T. Suzuki , self-rendered in 1894 as "Daisetz", was a Japanese-American Buddhist monk, essayist, philosopher, religious scholar, translator, and writer. He was a scholar and author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in s ...

and

Philip Kapleau Philip Kapleau (August 20, 1912 – May 6, 2004) was an American teacher of Zen Buddhism in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition, a blending of Japanese Sōtō and Rinzai schools. He also advocated strongly for Buddhist vegetarianism. Early life Kapleau ...

. It was the last which had the greatest impact on her, and she soon joined the nearby

with her husband. Throughout the 1970s she accepted minor teaching positions at Rochester, and in 1981 she ran the center for an extended period in Kapleau's absence. During this time she instituted many changes in the practice there; for example, she discontinued wearing the abbreviated Buddhist robe called a

rakusu A is a traditionally Japanese garment worn around the neck of Zen Buddhists who have taken the precepts. It can also signify Lay Ordination. It is made of 16 or more strips of cloth, sewn together into a brick-like pattern by the student dur ...

, worn in some Japanese Zen circles to distinguish more advanced practitioners. In 1980, Toni visited Roshi Kapleau in Mexico, where he was on a sabbatical while she ran the Zen Center. According to Roshi Kapleau's assistant, who was present at the meeting, Toni had “reached a point where she felt she could no longer practice in a Buddhist context.” When Toni's decision to no longer practice at the Center was announced to the Zen membership (sangha), there was a period of dismay and even acrimony—more so among individual members than between Roshi Kapleau and Toni, However, several years after Toni left the Zen Center, Roshi Kapleau visited the Springwater Center that Toni and her group had established. About two decades later, Toni was invited to speak by phone with Roshi Kapleau as he was dying. In 1981 she founded the Genesee Valley Zen Center, in Rochester, New York. In 1986 the center relocated and changed its name, dropping the word Zen to become the Springwater Center for Meditative Inquiry and Retreats in

Springwater, New York Springwater is a town in Livingston County, New York, United States. The population was 2,439 at the 2010 census. Springwater is in the southeast part of the county. History The first settlers arrived around 1807. The town was established in 1 ...

. The Springwater Center is incorporated under New York State law as a religious institution. Packer has rejected labels for herself such as a ''teacher'' or ''authority'', though some of the individuals she has asked to carry on her work do not. The word "Zen" was dropped from the Center's name as a result of Packer's move away from Japanese Zen Buddhist traditions.

Teaching style

Her discussion of meditative inquiry is informed largely by her own vision, but also by the talks and writings of J. Krishnamurti. Up to sixteen retreats are held a year, giving a blend of ritual-less silent retreats and David Bohm style dialogues/group meetings. Packer has been described as ". . . a Zen teacher minus the 'Zen' and minus the 'teacher,'" emphasizing the importance of meditative inquiry without practicing Buddhism. Though stripped of rituals, Packer still found the practice of

zazen ''Zazen'' (literally " seated meditation"; ja, 座禅; , pronounced ) is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition. However, the term is a general one not unique to Zen, and thus technicall ...

to be useful.

Bibliography

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Notes

References

External links