Tenshin Reb Anderson

Tenshin Reb Anderson, roshi, is a noted American Zen Buddhism priest and teacher in the Soto school. Raised in Minnesota, he became a Buddhist in 1967 and studied with Shunryu Suzuki at the San Francisco Zen Center. He was ordained as a priest in 1970, receiving the name Tenshin Zenki (Japanese for "naturally real, whole activity").

In 1983, Anderson underwent a dharma transmission ceremony with Suzuki's successor Richard Baker and is widely accepted as an heir to Baker's lineage; however, Baker would later argue that the dharma transmission process was never finally completed. Anderson served as teaching abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center, individually from 1986 to 1988 and with a co-abbot from 1988 to 1995. He lives with his family at Green Gulch Farm, part of the San Francisco Zen Center, where he continues to serve as the Center's senior teacher.

Written works

• Warm Smiles from Cold Mountains: Dharma Talks on Zen Meditation
• Being Upright: Zen Meditation and the Bodhisattva Precepts

External link

Personal website