[NEW: Read Colleen Morton Busch’s obituary and appreciation of Hozan Alan Senauke, here.]
Shortly after entering hospice care following a heart attack a year ago, Hozan Alan Senauke — dharma teacher, musician, author, and abbot of California’s Berkeley Zen Center — has died. Acknowledging his passing, the Berkeley Zen Center wrote yesterday, in part:
“With great sadness, we are letting you know that our teacher, friend, and Dharma brother Hozan Kushiki Alan Senauke died this afternoon, December 22, 2024, at 4:15 p.m. We will toll the densho bell in the zendo 108 times.” His body was then to be ceremoniously prepared to lie in state in the BZC zendo through the end of Monday. Sangha members have been encouraged to join in person or via the Zoom link on the BZC homepage.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1947, Senauke would become a Soto Zen priest, poet, guitarist, singer, songwriter, and activist and would serve as Executive Director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (from 1991-2001) and finally as abbot of Berkeley Zen Center, where he first started practicing shortly after arriving in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s. He was the author of several books including, most recently, Turning Words and the 2019 chapbook, Words of My Perfect Teacher, comprising poems “drawn from the teachings of” Senauke’s own teacher, Sojun Mel Weitsman.
We at Buddhadharma and Lion’s Roar offer our sympathy to all who knew, cared for, or were touched by Hozan and his teachings.
