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Dainin Katagiri

Jikai Dainin Katagiri (片桐大忍, January 19 1928—March 1 1990), aka Hojo-san Katagiri, was a Soto Zen roshi and the founding abbot of Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he served from 1972 until his death from cancer in 1990. Before becoming first abbot of the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center, Katagiri had worked at the Zenshuji Soto Zen Mission in Los Angeles and had also been of great service to Shunryu Suzuki at the San Francisco Zen Center, particularly from 1969 until Suzuki's death in 1971. Katagiri was important in helping bring Zen Buddhism from Japan to the United States during its formative years—especially to the American Midwest. He is also the credited author of several books compiled from his talks, the two most prominent being Returning to Silence: Zen Practice in Daily Life (1988) and You Have to Say Something: Manifesting Zen Insight (1998).

Biography

Dainin Katagiri was born in Osaka, Japan on January 19, 1928 He was ordained a monk by Daicho Hayashi at Taizo-in, and went on to study under Eko Hashimoto at Eiheiji for three years. After Eiheiji Katagiri enrolled at Komazawa University—the renowned Soto institution in Tokyo, Japan—majoring in Buddhist studies. In 1963 Katagiri was sent by the Soto Headquarters Office in Japan to Los Angeles, California to serve as a priest at the Zenshuji Soto Zen Mission. In 1965 he was sent to the Sokoji Soto Zen Mission in San Francisco, California to assist Shunryu Suzuki and later helped out the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC), which had shared the same building as Sokoji until 1969; Katagiri was of great help to Shunryu Suzuki, especially from 1969 onward. During his years in San Francisco, Katagiri sometimes toyed with the idea of opening up his own Zen community nearby. So, not long before Suzuki's death, he did open a zendo in his home in Monterey, California.

In 1972 Katagiri relocated to Minneapolis, near Lake Calhoun. There he became abbot of a small group without a leader, which became known as the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center (Ganshoji). There he also founded Hokyoji Zen Practice Community (Catching the Moon Zen Mountain Center), a country retreat temple in southeast Minnesota. A factor in deciding to go to Minnesota had been the fact that few, if any, Buddhist teachers were located there. Katagiri understood that the majority of teachers at this time were either in New York or California, with much of the country in-between left in need of teachers. During the 1970s and 1980s Katagiri sent over many of his Western students to train at Soji-ji in Japan, where Narasaki Ikko roshi was abbot. In 1984, in the wake of the Zentatsu Richard Baker controversy resulting in Baker's resignation as abbot of San Francisco Zen Center, Katagiri came at the request of SFZC and served as abbot there on an interim basis until 1985 (returning to Minnesota afterward). He remained there for the remainder of his life, succumbing finally to cancer on March 1, 1990 ; he left behind twelve Dharma heirs.

Criticism

Following his death, it was rumored that Katagiri roshi had engaged in sexual relationships with some female students. Describing how she took the news, author Natalie Goldberg has written, "I cried a lot. I found myself remembering all the years I practiced with him in the zendo. It was almost like watching a movie that would run in front of my eyes automatically, without my calling it up. I watched the movie of him in the zendo, and I realized this behavior had been right in front of me all along. He flirted a lot, and he even came on to me. I just wasn't willing to see it." She goes on later to write, "It was agony. I had an outbreak of shingles from the stress. I could not find equilibrium. It completely tossed me away, because he was such a strong foundation for me. I was heartbroken. But going all the way into it brought me my own awakening, brought me to stand more solidly on the ground."

Personal life

Katagiri was married to Tomoe Katagiri, and the couple had two sons together (Yasuhiko and Eijo). They both had married in 1960.

Dharma heirs

Bibliography

Katagiri, Dainin; Martin, Andrea Each Moment is the Universe: Zen and the Way of Being Time. Shambhala Publications.
Katagiri, Dainin Katagiri Roshi : Buddhist lay ordination lectures: a transcription of the lectures given January 6 to February 4, 1982 at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Katagiri Roshi Book Project.
Katagiri, Dainin; Hagen, Steve You Have to Say Something: Manifesting Zen Insight. Shambhala Publications.
Katagiri, Dainin; Conniff, Yūkō; Hathaway, Willa Returning to Silence: Zen Practice In daily Life. Shambhala Publications.

Notes

References

Ford, James Ishmael Zen Master Who?: A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen. Wisdom Publications.
Gach, Gary What Book!?: Buddha Poems from Beat to Hiphop. Parallax Press.
Goldberg, Natalie The Great Failure: My Unexpected Path to Truth. HarperCollins Publishers.
Greiner, Tony The Minnesota Book of Days: An Almanac of State History. Minnesota Historical Society Press.
Leighton, Taigen Daniel; Shohaku Okumura; Dogen Dogen's Pure Standards for the Zen Community: A Translation of the Eihei Shingi.
Paprock, John-Brian; Paproack, Teresa Peneguy Sacred Sites of Minnesota. Big Earth Publishing.
Prebish, Charles S Luminous Passage: The Practice and Study of Buddhism in America. University of California Press.
Snelling, John The Buddhist Handbook: A Complete Guide to Buddhist Schools, Teaching, Practice and History. Inner Traditions.