Our Teacher
Meido Moore Roshi (1968) is the founding shike (training master or abbot) of
Korinji, our headquarters monastery, and guiding teacher of Rinzai Zen International. He is author
of The Rinzai Zen Way: A Guide to Practice and Hidden Zen: Practices for Sudden
Awakening and Embodied Realization (both from Shambhala Publications).
Meido Roshi began Zen practice in 1988 after completing the Antioch Buddhist Studies program in Bodh Gaya, India and a degree in religious studies at Rutgers University. He trained under three Rinzai Zen masters in the lineage of Omori Sogen Roshi: Toyoda Tenzan Rokoji, Hosokawa Dogen Roshi, and So'zan Miller Roshi. Under these teachers he undertook long-term residential training, completed the koan curriculum of this lineage, and studied the broader body of Rinzai Zen practices transmitted within it.
In 2008, at the age of forty, he received inka shomei, or “mind seal,” recognizing him as an 86th-generation Rinzai Zen lineage holder. In 2013 he was installed as the first abbot of Korinji, and in 2018 began overseeing training at the completed monastery. He continues to learn from his living Zen teachers who serve as important advisors.
In order to broaden his grasp of Japanese Buddhist practice and temple culture, Meido Roshi later undertook kengaku - cross study - under teachers of other schools. He completed Shingon shido kegyo and received denbo kanjo at Sohonzan Negoroji, subesequently receiving ichiryu denju (Sanboin-ryu), and dento (lineage transmission) of Ein Horyu, the major Tozan Shugendo practice lineage. He has participated in Shugendo mountain training at Omine-san and other locations in Japan. Currently he continues his studies under Shingon, Tendai, and Shugendo teachers.
Before Korinji’s completion, Meido Roshi taught Japanese martial arts professionally for twenty-five years. He served as Director of the Aikido Association of America and Aikido Association International under the late teacher Fumio (Tenzan) Toyoda Shihan, founded a network of dojos based in Chicago, and instructed internationally in both traditional and tactical contexts. He was a student of classical martial arts under teachers including the late Shinbukan Headmaster Kuroda Tetsuzan Sensei. He is certified as 7th dan shihan by the Aikido World Headquarters in Tokyo, and leads the Budo training at Korinji.
Meido Roshi practices Kogetsu Enshu-ryu Zen Sado (tea ceremony) under the guidance of Headmaster Nakamura Nyosen Soke, who has awarded him the jun-shihan, assistant instructor, certificate. He studies calligraphy, and is a trained bladesmith.
Meido Roshi resides and teaches at Korinji, where he oversees daily training and intensive retreats throughout the year. He also travels internationally to teach, while continuing his own training and relationships with teachers in Japan.
For more information on Meido Roshi, please see the Korinji monastery site.