Remembering Sojun Mel Weitsman, teacher, abbot, founder of Berkeley Zen Center
His clear and steady leadership made BZC a beacon for Buddhist practitioners and other spiritual seekers in the East Bay and around the U.S.
Sojun Mel Weitsman. Photo: Courtesy family
With great sadness, the Berkeley Zen Center community announces that our teacher Sojun Mel Weitsman Roshi died peacefully at home on Thursday, Jan. 7. He was 91 years old.
Sojun’s clear and steady leadership made BZC a beacon for Buddhist practitioners and other spiritual seekers in the East Bay and more widely in the U.S. With a strong circle of dedicated Zen students, as guiding teacher and abbot at BZC for 53 years, Sojun created a place where rigorous daily sitting practice was integral with people’s life of family, work, and service. He often spoke of BZC as a kind of “one-room schoolhouse,” where each person could find the necessary teachings for their position in life. Anyone could knock on Sojun’s office door and he would readily invite them in.