Seigaku Kigen Oshō

William Ekeson began his study of Zen Buddhism at the Cambridge Buddhist Association, a centre co-founded by Shin’ichi Hisamatsu and D.T. Suzuki in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Under Myo-on Maurine Stuart Rōshi he took up Koan practice in 1987.

A year later he settled as a resident Tathagata Zen practitioner at the Rinzai-ji temple in Los Angeles and undertook formal Koan study under Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Rōshi. This Japanese Zen master is known for his uncompromising demands on practice and is one of the few masters of the Tathagata Zen tradition teaching in the West.

In 1990 Kigen moved to the Mount Baldy Zen Center and was ordained there as a monk. In this first stage of training the student immerses himself completely in the strict monastic setting and must undergo intensive Koan training. This is a system of increasingly complex existential questions that can be answered only through a non-intellectual approach.

In this way the Zen tradition teaches “understanding through experience” together with a distinctive philosophical understanding. In the 40 years since the Mount Baldy Zen Center was founded, only a few have completed its monastic training programme and thereby been granted the role of an Oshō (Zen priest).

After nine years of training at Mt. Baldy, Kigen was appointed Oshō and asked to return to the Rinzai-ji temple in Los Angeles as vice-abbot and teacher. Rinzai-ji is the head temple of the Tathagata Rinzai Zen lineage brought to the USA by Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Rōshi.

Four years later Kigen was given the opportunity to lead a new meditation group and founded the Hollywood Zen Center in 2007, to meet the needs of Zen practitioners in the Hollywood area.

In 2010 the founder and abbot of the Bodhidharma Zendo, Seiun Genro Oshō, passed away. Seigaku Kigen Oshō was invited to serve as Zen teacher from March 2012. In this capacity he leads meditations, gives Dharma talks and offers his students orientation in pursuing Zen practice. Since the end of November 2019, Seigaku Kigen Oshō has been abbot of the Rinzai-ji Order of Austria.

Ceremonies

Seigaku Kigen Oshō is available to Sangha members for Buddhist ceremonies. In consultation with those involved, he is glad to take formal charge of solemn occasions such as weddings, births and funerals.

Please send enquiries to mail@bodhidharmazendo.net