Yokoji-Zen Mountain Center is a Zen Buddhist Training and Retreat Center located in the beautiful wilderness of the San Jacinto Mountains of Southern California.
Founded in 1981 by Taizan Maezumi Roshi as a summer retreat center for the Zen Center of Los Angeles, it is now a year-round Zen Center for residents and non-residents under the direction of the abbot, Tenshin Fletcher Roshi.
Yokoji-Zen Mountain Center is open to people in all spiritual traditions and walks of life who would like to experience the life changing practice of meditation. We offer a regular daily schedule, introductory weekends, silent meditation retreats (sesshin) ranging from 2 to 7 days, and two intensive training periods a year. Yokoji has grown up over the years, from a small collection of temporary buildings with a tent for a Zendo, into the fully fledged international Training Center of today - and a continuous cycle of year-round training has been maintained since 1995. We are a Soto Zen Buddhist temple - to find more out about what this means, click here.
Ecological considerations informed the way that Yokoji developed over the years. Living in harmony with the land was not only a nice idea, but a necessary reality for living in this mountain wilderness. Our water is drawn from two onsite wells, which are gravity fed into tanks which supply all our water outlets. The water is pure and clean, and without it we would not be able to survive up here. We are an off-grid community, drawing power from solar panels and wind turbines. We also have a back up generator for the winter months when there is too little light and wind. This life style permits us to live in a way that is totally dependant upon our environment. If there is not enough snow and rain in the year, we may be low on water. If there there is too much cloud coverage, we may be low on power. The environment literally shapes the way we run the Center on a day to day basis. The valley in which the Zen Center lies is a great teacher to us, all year round.
Our name, Yokoji, means sunlight temple. When YZMC was founded, the formal name of the temple was Dounzan Yokoji. Doun refers to the honorary founder, Shiomi Doun Roshi, and Zan means mountain. Although Maezumi Roshi is seen as the actual founder of the temple, the honorary founder, Doun Roshi, had to fulfil a vow to open a certain amount of temples in his lifetime. Maezumi Roshi helped Doun Roshi to accomplish his vow by naming him honorary founder of Yokoji-Zen Mountain Center.
The Abbot
Tenshin Fletcher Roshi
Born in Manchester, England, Charles Tenshin Fletcher Roshi came to the United States in 1979 to study at the Zen Center of Los Angeles with founder Taizan Maezumi Roshi. In 1994, Tenshin Roshi received Dharma Transmission (authorization to teach) in the White Plum lineage from Maezumi Roshi, and Inka from Genpo Roshi in 2006 (Zen Master, final seal of approval). He acted as administrator for many years at ZCLA and is now the primary teacher and abbot at Yokoji-Zen Mountain Center. Tenshin Roshi is one of the few North American teachers officially certified as a Dendokyoshi (Recognized Zen Teacher) by Japanese Soto Headquarters. In 2009, Tenshin Roshi was appointed Kokusaifukyoshi (Official Foreign Representative ) by the Japanese Soto Headquarters.
Students come from around the world to train with Tenshin Roshi for his profound insight into traditional Zen study and ability to guide students toward their own inner wisdom. Tenshin Roshi's own life experience includes 8 years of running his own business as a general contractor in Los Angeles and 5 years in business in England, as well as raising a young family. Like most teachers in the White Plum lineage, Tenshin Roshi uses both koan and shikantaza (just sitting) in his training. Although traditionally associated with the Rinzai school of Zen, koan practice has a strong history in the Soto school and The Harada-Yasutani lineage, of which Maezumi Roshi was a part, emphasize the importance of both practices. Tenshin Roshi also has over 20 years of voice dialog experience, a psychological technique described by its founders as an "empowering psychospiritual approach to relationship, personal growth and communication".
Tenshin Roshi co-authored a book with David Shoji Scott called the "Way of Zen". It was published in 2001 by St Martin's Press at their request for a comprehensive book on Zen Buddhism at the turn of the century. As such, it is an invaluable resource on the history, various cultures and practices of Zen Buddhism from India to China, Japan and the United States and Europe. The book is used by many as a text book on Zen Buddhism and appears often on reading lists for Zen temples and study groups.
The Founder
Taizan Maezumi Roshi (1931-1995)
Founder of Yokoji-Zen Mountain Center and the Zen Center of Los Angeles, Hakuyu Koun Taizan Maezumi Roshi was one of the most significant Zen practitioners of the twentieth century. During the last thirty-five years of his life, spent in the United States, he taught countless Westerners the subtle art of Zen meditation and practice.
He was known to tell his students not to go searching for this thing called "Zen", but instead to develop an appreciation for their own lives. In his words, "all of us are equally absolute, equally precious, equally splendid, wherever we are at this moment."
Maizumi Roshi was known for working on the grounds of his temple wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and a baseball cap with the word "Retired" written across it. One afternoon, an earnest young couple came to the door. Roshi was out in the front garden doing some weeding. They asked him where they could find information about Zen.
"If you go upstairs to that office, they will tell you what Zen is", he answered.
The couple went upstairs as he had suggested. They then told the person behind the desk that the gardener had directed them here for some packets of information. The laughter that ensued helped them to realize that they had just walked right past an accomplished Zen teacher in order to find something in a booklet!
Mission Statement
To provide students and families with a supportive environment for the teaching, training, and practice of Zen Buddhism; to incorporate sound ecological principles into the development of Yokoji-Zen Mountain Center; and to ensure the continuation of the Buddha Dharma for future generations.