Joko Beck

Joko Beck
Religion	Zen Buddhism
School	Ordinary Mind School
Personal
Born	(1917-03-27)March 27, 1917 United States
Died	June 15, 2011(2011-06-15) (aged 94)
Senior posting
Title	Zen Teacher
Predecessor	Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi

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Charlotte Joko Beck (March 27, 1917 – June 15, 2011) was an American Zen teacher and the author of the books Everyday Zen: Love and Work and Nothing Special: Living Zen.

Biography

Born in New Jersey, she studied music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and worked for some time as a pianist and piano teacher. She married and raised a family of four children, then separated from her husband and worked as a teacher, secretary, and assistant in a university department. She began Zen practice in her 40s with Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi in Los Angeles, and later with Hakuun Yasutani and Soen Nakagawa. Having received Dharma transmission from Taizan Maezumi Roshi, she opened the Zen Center San Diego in 1983, serving as its head teacher until July 2006.

Beck was responsible for a number of important innovations in Zen teaching. In particular, she taught students to work with the emotions of everyday life rather than attempting to avoid or escape them. Because she was adept at teaching students to work with their psychological states, she attracted a number of students who were interested in the relationship between Zen and modern psychology. Several of her Dharma heirs are practicing psychologists/psychiatrists. In 1995 Joko, along with three of her Dharma heirs, founded the Ordinary Mind Zen School.

Shortly after Beck’s departure in 2006, she revoked Dharma transmission from two senior students: Ezra Bayda and Elizabeth Hamilton. Beck also stated that Zen Center San Diego should not claim to represent her or her teaching. In 2006 Joko moved to Prescott, Arizona, where she continued to teach until she retired as a teacher in late 2010. In the spring of 2010, Joko announced Gary Nafstad as her last Dharma successor.

Lineage

Joko Beck has appointed nine teachers:

1. Christensen, Larry Jissan
2. Christenson, Anna
3. Dawson, Geoff
4. Howard, Greg
5. Magid, Barry (b. 1949)
6. Nafstad, Gary
7. Penn, Barbara Muso
8. Smith, Elihu Genmyo (b. 1948)
9. Rizzetto, Diane Eshin (b. 1942)

From two teachers she has revoked her appointment:

1. Ezra Bayda(b. 1944)(revoked 2006)
2. Hamilton, Elizabeth (revoked 2006)

Books

• Everyday Zen: Love and Work (edited by Steve Smith; 1989) ISBN 0-06-060734-3.
• Nothing Special: Living Zen (1993) ISBN 0-06-251117-3.

See also

• Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States

References

• Ford, James Ishmael (2006). Zen Master Who?: A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen. Boston: Wisdom Publications. pp. 173–175. ISBN 978-0-86171-509-1. 
• Magid, Barry (June 4, 2009). "Barry Magid Interview". Sweeping Zen. Retrieved March 11, 2012. 
• Friedman, Lenore (2000). Meetings With Remarkable Women: Buddhist Teachers in America. Boston: Shambhala Publications. pp. 125–150. ISBN 978-1-57062-474-2. 
• Tebbe, Adam (June 15, 2011). "Charlotte Joko Beck dies at 94; American Zen pioneer". Sweeping Zen. Retrieved March 11, 2012. 

External links

• Wilkefilm documentary on Joko Beck (2001)
• Upaya Newsletter for 6/20/2011