White Plum Asanga
Zen
White Plum Asanga
白梅
Branch of Sōtō
The White Plum Asanga (白梅, 'white plum blossom') is the lineage sangha of Taizan Maezumi Roshi (1931–1995) and his Dharma successors[1]. It is not a Japanese Sōtōshū-registered sub-school but a Western Zen order that inherits Maezumi's tri-lineage authorization: Sōtō shihō from his father Baian Hakujun Kuroda, Rinzai inka from the lay teacher Kōryū Osaka, and Sanbō-Zen inka from Hakuun Yasutani[1][2]. Maezumi named twelve American Dharma heirs — including Bernie Tetsugen Glassman, Charlotte Joko Beck, Dennis Genpo Merzel, John Daido Loori, Jan Chozen Bays, and Gerry Shishin Wick — and through their own transmissions the White Plum now has several hundred authorized teachers and roughly a thousand affiliated practice places worldwide[3]. Because the order combines shikantaza with the Harada-Yasutani koan curriculum, and because it operates outside Sōtōshū registration, most White Plum heirs teach under the Asanga's own name rather than as Sōtō priests.
Meditation practice
White Plum practice reflects Maezumi's triple authorization: shikantaza in the Sōtō sense (zazen as the direct expression of awakening) combined with a formal koan curriculum derived from Harada Daiun Sogaku and Hakuun Yasutani — beginning with the Mu koan, moving through breakthrough koans, and continuing into the Shōyōroku, Mumonkan, Denkōroku, and Hekiganroku[2]. Formal face-to-face interview (dokusan) is central. Many White Plum centers also integrate the social-action emphasis of the Zen Peacemaker Order, which Glassman founded in 1996 within Maezumi's line[4].
Prominent masters
Taizan Maezumi (1931–1995) founded the Zen Center of Los Angeles in 1967 and, by the time of his death, had given Dharma transmission to twelve American successors[1]. Among the best known are Bernie Tetsugen Glassman (1939–2018), founder of Greyston Bakery and the Zen Peacemaker Order[4]; Dennis Genpo Merzel (b. 1944), founder of Kanzeon Sangha[5]; Charlotte Joko Beck (1917–2011), whose ‘Ordinary Mind School’ took her teaching out of the lineage tree[6]; John Daido Loori (1931–2009), founder of Zen Mountain Monastery and the Mountains and Rivers Order[7]; Jan Chozen Bays, co-abbot of Great Vow Zen Monastery; and Gerry Shishin Wick. Through their own transmissions the White Plum now spans several hundred authorized teachers in North America, Europe, and beyond[3].
Key texts
- On Zen Practice
The foundational White Plum teaching volume — Maezumi and senior students on zazen, the kōan curriculum, ritual, and lineage. Reissued by Wisdom Publications as the canonical introduction to the Asanga's approach.
- The Hazy Moon of Enlightenment
Companion volume to On Zen Practice, gathering Maezumi's teachings on the Five Ranks, emptiness, and the post-awakening integration work that distinguishes the White Plum's path after initial kenshō.
- Appreciate Your Life
A posthumous collection of Maezumi's talks edited by his Dharma heir Wendy Egyoku Nakao (Zen Center of Los Angeles). The clearest single volume of Maezumi's own voice.
Key concepts
- Three Tenets
'Not-knowing, bearing witness, taking action' — Bernie Glassman's distillation of Maezumi's teaching into a social-action practice. The working framework of the Zen Peacemaker Order and many White Plum lineage groups.
- Tri-lineage inheritance
The defining White Plum inheritance: each authorized teacher carries Maezumi's Sōtō shihō (via Baian Hakujun Kuroda), Rinzai inka (via Kōryū Osaka), and Sanbō-Zen inka (via Hakuun Yasutani). Most heirs transmit only the Sōtō and Harada-Yasutani koan streams.
In the words of the masters
- The Eight Gates
Zazen, study, liturgy, art practice, body practice, work practice, the precepts, and right action — eight gates leading to one yard. Walk through each at your own pace.
- Mountain and Monastery
The mountain has been at this practice longer than any teacher in the building. When the bell rings, listen for the way the mountain sits beneath it.
- Camera as Cushion
Photographing the river, I sat with the river for hours. The shutter clicked once. The picture was good; the morning was the practice.
- Koan and Creativity
Painting, calligraphy, theater — each can be a koan if you let the work cut you. The cut is not destruction; it is the doorway through which you stop being separate from the work.
- Everyday Zen
There is no special place for practice. The kitchen, the office, the traffic jam — these are the meditation hall. The cushion is only for rehearsal.
- Stop Fixing Yourself
Practice is not the work of fixing yourself. It is the work of seeing what is, including the wish to fix. Once the wish is seen clearly, the fixing-energy returns to the body as ordinary attention.