Zen Master Dennis Genpo Merzel
Dennis Genpo Merzel Roshi is a revolutionary in the tradition of the old Zen Masters who so embodied Buddhist teaching that they were able to revitalize and transform it for their own day and age. As the Buddha Dharma moved from India to China to Japan and other Asian cultures, it found unique expression in each culture that made its fundamental teachings resonate for a new time and place. Genpo Roshi is working to transmit the essence of the Buddha’s teachings in a way that is readily accessible to Westerners and relevant to our everyday life.
The core of Genpo Roshi’s teaching is the unshakable and contagious certainty that every one of us, regardless of our socioeconomic, cultural or religious background, can instantly awaken to our true nature, like the great masters of old — like the historical Buddha himself, whose essential teaching was nothing less than this. This experience helps us shed anxiety and fear and learn to live more purposeful, compassionate and joyful lives. Roshi combines Zen tradition with the insights of such visionary western figures as Carl Jung, Fritz Perls, and Hal Stone, enabling virtually anyone to realize their true nature, a realization they can further deepen through meditation.
Dennis Merzel comes from a long line of Rebbes. Born in Brooklyn NY, he grew up in Southern California where he was both a high school and college champion swimmer and All-American water polo player. He earned a Bachelors Degree in Economics from California State University at Long Beach and a Masters degree in Education from the University of Southern California and was a teacher and lifeguard before ordaining as a Zen monk under Zen Master Taizan Maezumi in 1973. Completing formal Koan study in 1979 he became Maezumi Roshi’s second Dharma Successor in 1980, the first being Zen Master Bernie Glassman. He received Inka (final seal of approval as Zen Master) from Zen Master Glassman in 1996, thereby becoming one of a small group of Westerners recognized as lineage holders in both the Soto and Rinzai Zen traditions.
In 1982 Genpo Sensei began teaching throughout Europe and founded the international group he named the Kanzeon (Love and Compassion) Sangha, now centered in Salt Lake City, Utah, with affiliates in France, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Germany, England, and Malta. He has fifteen Dharma Successors: Catherine Genno Pages, John Shodo Flatt, Anton Tenkei Coppens, Malgosia Jiho Braunek, Daniel Doen Silberberg, Nico Sojun Tydeman, Nancy Genshin Gabrysch, Diane Musho Hamilton, Michael Mugaku Zimmerman, Richard Taido Christofferson, Michel Genko Dubois, Tammy Myoho Gabrysch, Maurice Shonen Knegtel, KC Kyozen Sato and Judy Kanchi Warren. He has given Inka to nine Zen teachers making them Zen Masters: John Daido Loori, Catherine Genno Pages, Anton Tenkei Coppens, Jan Chozen Bays, Charles Tenshin Fletcher, Nicolee Jikyo McMahon, Susan Myoyu Andersen, Sydney Musai Walters and Malgosia Jiho Braunek. For eleven years, until 2007, he was the President of the White Plum Asanga, the worldwide community comprising all the Dharma heirs of Taizan Maezumi Roshi, their successors, and the many groups they lead.
Genpo Roshi is currently conducting workshops throughout the world. His publications include The Eye Never Sleeps, Beyond Sanity and Madness, 24/7 Dharma, and The Path of The Human Being, and many DVD's. His latest book, Big Mind/Big Heart: Finding Your Way, published in 2007, has also been published in translation in the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Russia, Poland, France, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, and Bulgaria. He has two children, Tai, an aerospace engineer who graduated with a Masters in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California and Nicole, who graduated with a Bachelors in Mathematics and a Masters in Education from the University of Puget Sound.
Additional information about Genpo Roshi and the Big Mind process is available at
[Shorter version:]
Zen Master Dennis Genpo Merzel
Dennis Genpo Merzel Roshi is a revolutionary in the tradition of the old Zen Masters who so embodied Buddhist teaching that they were able to revitalize and transform it for their own day and age. As the Buddha Dharma moved from India to China to Japan and other Asian cultures, it found unique expression in each culture that made its fundamental teachings resonate for a new time and place. Genpo Roshi is working to transmit the essence of the Buddha’s teachings in a way that is readily accessible to Westerners and relevant to our everyday life.
The core of Genpo Roshi’s teaching is the unshakable and contagious certainty that every one of us, regardless of our socioeconomic, cultural or religious background, can instantly awaken to our true nature, like the great masters of old — like the historical Buddha himself, whose essential teaching was nothing less than this. This experience helps us shed anxiety and fear and learn to live more purposeful, compassionate and joyful lives. Roshi combines Zen tradition with the insights of such visionary western figures as Carl Jung, Fritz Perls, and Hal Stone, enabling virtually anyone to realize their true nature, a realization they can further deepen through meditation.
Dennis Merzel comes from a long line of Rebbes. Born in Brooklyn NY, he grew up in Southern California where he was both a high school and college champion swimmer and All-American water polo player. He earned a Bachelors Degree in Economics from California State University at Long Beach and a Masters degree in Education from the University of Southern California and was a teacher and lifeguard before ordaining as a Zen monk under Zen Master Taizan Maezumi in 1973. Completing formal Koan study in 1979 he became Maezumi Roshi’s second Dharma Successor in 1980, the first being Zen Master Bernie Glassman. He received Inka (final seal of approval as Zen Master) from Zen Master Glassman in 1996, thereby becoming one of a small group of Westerners recognized as lineage holders in both the Soto and Rinzai Zen traditions.
In 1982 Genpo Sensei began teaching throughout Europe and founded the international group he named the Kanzeon (Love and Compassion) Sangha, now centered in Salt Lake City, Utah, with affiliates in France, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Germany, England, and Malta. He has fourteen Dharma Successors, and has given Inka to eight Zen teachers making them Zen Masters. For eleven years, until 2007, he was the President of the White Plum Asanga, the worldwide community comprising all the Dharma heirs of Taizan Maezumi Roshi, their successors, and the many groups they lead.
Genpo Roshi is currently conducting workshops throughout the world. His publications include The Eye Never Sleeps, Beyond Sanity and Madness, 24/7 Dharma, and The Path of The Human Being, and many DVD's. His latest book, Big Mind/Big Heart: Finding Your Way, published in 2007, has also been published in translation in the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Russia, Poland, France, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, and Bulgaria.
Additional information about Genpo Roshi and the Big Mind process is available at