- Lezley Zen
Lezley Zen (born February 19, 1974) is an American stripper turned pornstar hailing from Charleston, South Carolina. She has a tattoo of a black stallion on her upper back. She is 50% Cherokee Indian and 50% Caucasian.
- Joseph Cardinal Zen
"His Eminence" Joseph Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun, SDB, STL, PhD (Shanghainese) (born January 13, 1932) is a Chinese prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, currently serving as Bishop of Hong Kong. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2006, and is famous for his outspoken disposition on issues regarding human rights, political freedom, and religious liberty, often attracting criticism from the Communist Party of China.
- Nhat Hanh
Nhat Hanh (Vietnamese: "Nhất Hạnh"; IPA: is an expatriate Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk. A teacher, author, and peace activist, Nhat Hanh was born in central Vietnam on October 11, 1926. He joined a Zen monastery at the age of 16, studied Buddhism as a novice, and was fully ordained as a monk in 1949. Commonly referred to as Thich Nhat Hanh, the title "Thích" is used by all Vietnamese monks and nuns, …
- Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma was the Buddhist monk traditionally credited as founder of Zen. Very little contemporary biographical information on Bodhidharma is extant, and subsequent accounts became layered with legend, but most accounts agree that he was a South Indian monk who journeyed to southern China and subsequently relocated northwards. The accounts differ on the date of his arrival, …
- Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts (January 6, 1915 - November 16, 1973) was a philosopher, writer, speaker, and expert in comparative religion. He was best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Asian philosophies for a Western audience. He wrote more than twenty-five books and numerous articles on subjects such as personal identity, the true nature of reality, consciousness, and the pursuit of happiness, …
- John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 - August 12, 1992) was an American composer. He is perhaps best known for his 1952 composition "4'33", whose three movements are performed without a single note being played. He was a pioneer of chance music, non-standard use of musical instruments, and electronic music. Though he remains a controversial figure, he is generally regarded as one of the most important composers of his era.
- Taisen Deshimaru
Taisen Deshimaru (birth name: Yasuo Deshimaru) (1914-1982) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher. Born in the Saga Prefecture of Kyushu, Deshimaru was raised by his grandfather, a former Samurai before the Meiji Revolution, and by his mother, a devout follower of the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism.
- Nisargadatta Maharaj
Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj (April 17, 1897 – September 8, 1981) is a master of spirituality, considered to have attained the supreme state of moksha ("liberation" in Sanskrit) and to be a "jivan-mukta". Nisargadatta is widely considered to be one of the 20th century's most direct followers of the school of Advaita Vedanta or nondualism, successful in his direct explanation of non-dualism to both easterners and westerners.
- Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki
Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki was a famous Japanese author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in spreading interest in both Zen and Shin (and Far Eastern philosophy in general) to the West. Suzuki was also a prolific translator of Chinese, Japanese, and Sanskrit literature.
- Brad Warner
Brad Warner is a Zen Buddhist priest, ordained in the Sōtō school by Gudo Wafu Nishijima. He is also a published author, musician, film maker, and blogger. He began practicing Zen under Ohio-based teacher Tim McCarthy in the early 1980s while also playing bass guitar for the hardcore punk band 0DFx (also known as Zero Defex), and by the time he moved to Tokyo in 1994 to work for Tsuburaya Productions, …
- Kodo Sawaki
Kodo Sawaki is considered by some to be the most important Japanese Zen master of the 20th century. His parents died early and he grew up being adopted by a gambler and an ex-prostitute. When he was 16, he ran away from home to become a monk at Eiheiji, one of the two main temples of Soto Zen. At first unsuccessful, he was finally ordained as a monk and began his Zen studies. Later, he started to give lectures and instructions in the practice of zazen, …
- Stephen Batchelor
Stephen Batchelor (b. 1953) is a Scottish-born writer and teacher currently residing in France. Batchelor is best known for his best-selling book about Buddhism, "Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening", in which he advocates an agnostic or secular approach to Buddhism that rejects the supernatural and mythical elements with which Buddhism has traditionally been associated. Following his education in England, Batchelor moved to Dharamsala, …
- Thomas Cleary
Thomas Cleary (b. 1949) is a prolific, and somewhat reclusive, author and translator of Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian and Muslim religious literature, and of the Chinese Art of War tradition of strategy and statecraft. He received a PhD in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University, but has had minimal involvement with the academic world.
- Natalie Goldberg
Natalie Goldberg (b. 1948) is an American author and teacher of creative writing. She is best known for a series of books which explore writing as a Zen practice. Natalie Goldberg is a poet, teacher, writer, and painter. She was born in 1948 to Jewish parents of Polish ancestry, and was raised in Long Island. A student of Zen Buddhism for 24 years, she trained intensively with Dainin Katagiri for 12 years at the Minnesota Zen Center, …
- Sheng-Yen
Venerable Master Sheng-yen is one of the more famous living teachers of Chan (Japanese: Zen) Buddhism. Master Sheng Yen is the 57th generation descendant of Linji in the Linji (Japanese: Rinzai) School and a 3rd generation descendant of Master Hsu Yun. In the Caodong (Japanese: Soto) lineage, Master Sheng Yen is the 52nd generation descendant of Master Tung Shan (807-869), and the direct descendant of Master Tung Chu (1908-1977).
- Eugen Herrigel
Eugen Herrigel was a German philosopher who taught philosophy at the University of Tokyo between the World Wars and introduced Zen to large parts of Europe. He used archery in an attempt to further understand Zen. In 1936 he published a 20-page article entitled 'Die Ritterliche Kunst des Bogenschiessens' (The Knightly Art of Archery) in the journal, Zeitshrift für Japanologie, which later formed the core of his most famous work "Zen in the Art of Archery".
- Joko Beck
Charlotte Joko Beck is a Zen teacher in the United States and the author of the books "Everyday Zen: Love and Work" and "Nothing Special: Living Zen". Born in New Jersey in 1917, she studied music at Oberlin College and worked for some time as a pianist and piano teacher. Having received Dharma Transmission From Taizan Maezumi Roshi, …
- Cheri Huber
Cheri Huber is an independent American Zen (Soto) teacher. Huber is the author of 18 books including "There Is Nothing Wrong with You, The Fear Book, The Depression Book, When You’re Falling, Dive", and the workbook "How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything". She founded the Mountain View Zen Center in Mountain View, California, which has now moved to Palo Alto and is called Palo Alto Zen Center.
- Joseph Goldstein
Joseph Goldstein (born 1944) is one of the first American vipassana teachers (Fronsdal, 1998), co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) with Jack Kornfield and Sharon Salzberg, contemporary author of numerous popular books on Buddhism (see publications below), resident guiding teacher at IMS, and leader of retreats worldwide on insight (vipassana) and lovingkindness (metta) meditation.
- Hsu Yun
Venerable Master Hsu Yun (Traditional Chinese: 虛雲大師, Simplified Chinese: 虚云大师, Pinyin: Xū Yún Dà Shī, "empty cloud") (1840-1959) was a renowned Ch'an master and one of the most influential Buddhist teachers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Although many aspects of his life (particularly his great longevity) are disputed by historians and Zen scholars, this article attempts to give an accurate biography, …
- Adyashanti
Adyashanti (Sanskrit word meaning, "primordial peace"), is a spiritual teacher from the Bay Area who gives regular Satsangs in the United States and also teaches abroad. He is the author of several books, CDs and DVDs and is the founder of "Open Gate Sangha, Inc." a nonprofit organization that supports, and makes available, his teachings.
- Huineng
Huineng was a Chinese Chan (Chinese Zen) monastic who is one of the most important figures in the entire tradition. Huineng is the Sixth Patriarch of Chinese Chan Buddhism, as well as the last official patriarch. Since then, there are unofficial "patriarchs" of different lineages derived from Chan. In Japanese he is known as Daikan Enō. He is said to have advocated an immediate and direct approach to Buddhist practice and enlightenment, …
- Paul Reps
Paul Reps (1895-1990) was an American artist, poet, and author. He is best known for his unorthodox haiku-inspired poetry that was published from 1939 onwards. He is considered one of America's first haiku poets. In association with his writing, Reps was also a well-received artist. Many of his books have artwork influenced by Zen Buddhism displayed in association with his writings. Reps was widely travelled and spent a large amount of his time in Asia.
- Gil Fronsdal
Gil Fronsdal is a Buddhist who has practiced Zen and Vipassana since the 1970s, and is currently a Buddhist teacher who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Center (IMC) of Redwood City, California. He is one of the best-known American Buddhists. He has a PhD in Buddhist Studies from Stanford University. His many dharma talks available online contain basic information on meditation and Buddhism, …
- Taizan Maezumi
The Venerable Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi Roshi (known as Taizan Maezumi) (February 24, 1931-May 14, 1995), was a Zen Buddhist monk who had a seminal influence on the growth of Zen Buddhism in the United States.
- Eisai
Myōan Eisai was a Japanese Buddhist priest, credited with bringing the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism and green tea from China to Japan. He is often known simply as Eisai Zenji (栄西禅師), literally "Zen master Eisai". Born in Bitchū Province (modern-day Okayama, Okayama), Eisai started his studies of Buddhism in a Tendai temple. Dissatisfied with the state of Buddhism at the time, in 1168 he set off on his first trip to Mt. Tiantai, …
- Linji
Línjì Yìxuán (?–866) was the founder of the Linji school of Zen-Chán Buddhism during Tang Dynasty China. Linji was born into a family named Xing (邢) in Caozhou (modern Heze in Shandong), which he left at a young age to study Buddhism in many places. Linji was trained by the Chan master Huángbò Xīyùn (黃蘗希運; Huang-Po Hsi-Yun) but, according to the "Record of Linji", enlightened under the reclusive monk Dàyú (大愚).
- Zazie
Zazie (born Isabelle de Truchis de Varennes on 18 April 1964 in Boulogne-Billancourt) is a French singer and songwriter. She also co-produces her own albums with other producers. Zazie's father was an architect and her mother, a music teacher. Her songs range from upbeat rock or pop songs to languid down tempo tunes. Zazie debuted in 1992 with the album "Je Tu Ils" and the single "Sucré salé". In 1995, she released her second album "Zen", …
- Janwillem van de Wetering
Janwillem van de Wetering (middle name: Lincoln), born 12 February 1931, is the author of a number of works in English and Dutch. He is particularly noted for his detective fiction., his most popular creations being Grijpstra and de Gier, a pair of Amsterdam police officers who figure in a lengthy series of novels and short stories. The mysteries are rich with images from Amsterdam, where they take place; some also feature a cat named Oliver.
- Burton Watson
Burton Watson is a translator of Chinese and Japanese literature. Watson was born in New York City, United States. He has taught at Columbia, Stanford, and Kyoto universities. His translations include "The Lotus Sutra", "The Vimalakirti Sutra", "Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings", "Mo Tzu: Basic Writings", "Han Fei Tzu: Basic Writings", "Ryōkan: Zen Monk-Poet of Japan", "Saigyo: Poems of a Mountain Home", …
- David Brazier
David Brazier is a British author and psychotherapist known for his writings on Zen Buddhism and psychotherapy.
- Ingen
Ingen Ryuki was a Chinese Linji Chan Buddhist monk, poet, and calligrapher. Ingen's father disappeared when he was five. At age 20, while searching for him, Ingen arrived at Mount Putuo off Zhejiang province, where he served tea to monks. At 28, after the death of his mother, he was ordained as a monk at his family temple - Wanfu Temple, Mount Huangbo, Fujian. Ingen's teachers there were Miyun Yuanwu and Feiyin Tongrong.
- Karlfried Graf Dürckheim
Karl Friedrich Alfred Heinrich Ferdinand Maria Graf Eckbrecht von Dürckheim-Montmartin was a German diplomat, psychotherapist and Zen-Master.
- Steven Heine
Steven Heine, Ph.D., is a Professor of Religion and History as well as Director of the Institute for Asian Studies at Florida International University (FIU). He specializes in East Asian and comparative religions, Japanese Buddhism and medieval intellectual history, Buddhist studies, and religion and social sciences. His research interests include Zen Buddhism and Japanese culture. Heine teaches a variety of courses including Japanese Religion and Culture, Zen Buddhism, …
- John Blofeld
John Eaton Calthorpe Blofeld (Born Anthony, April 2, 1913-June 7, 1987) was a British scholar of Asian thought and religion, especially Taoism and Chinese Buddhism. Blofeld was born in London and educated at Haileybury College, then Downing College, Cambridge University where he read natural sciences but did not complete his degree. Instead he left in his second year for travels to China. From 1933-1939 he resided in and wandered around China, …
- Hakuin Ekaku
Hakuin Ekaku was undoubtedly one of the most influential figures in Japanese Zen Buddhism. He transformed the Rinzai school from a declining tradition that lacked rigorous practice into a tradition that focused on arduous meditation and koan practice. Essentially all modern practitioners of Rinzai Zen use practices directly derived from the teachings of Hakuin.
- Dennis Genpo Merzel
Dennis Genpo Merzel (1944 to present) was born in Brooklyn, NY and is a Zen Buddhist teacher as well as a Dharma heir to Taizan Maezumi. As a young man his family moved to Long Beach, CA where he grew up. He is head abbot of Kanzeon Zen Center in Salt Lake City, UT and also has affiliated sangha as far off as the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Poland and France.
- David Chadwick
David Chadwick (born 1945) grew up in Texas and moved to California to study Zen as a student of Shunryu Suzuki in 1966. Chadwick was ordained as a Buddhist priest in 1971, shortly before Suzuki's death. He assisted in the operation of the San Francisco Zen Center for a number of years. Chadwick has two children and has married and remarried. He has written several books and continues to "dabble in Buddhism and related matters".
- Ashikaga Yoshimasa
was the 8th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1449 to 1473 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimasa was the son of the sixth shogun Ashikaga Yoshinori. The teenage Yoshimasa became "Seii Taishogun" six years after the death in 1443 of his older brother, the seventh shogun Ashikaga Yoshikatsu. During Yoshimasa's reign Japan saw the growth of Higashiyama Culture, famous for Japanese tea ceremony ("Sado"), …
- Hanshan
Hanshan (fl. 9th century) was a mythological figure associated with a collection of poems from the Chinese Tang Dynasty in the Taoist and Zen tradition. He is honored as a Bodhisattva -figure in Zen-mythology in Japanese and Chinese paintings together with his sidekick Shide and with Fenggan.