Taisen Deshimaru
Founder of Association Zen Internationale, Deshimaru had a great influence on Zen in the West, especially Europe. He studied Rinzai Zen before finding his true teacher Kodo Sawaki and the practice of Dogen's Zen. Kodo Sawaki asked him to spread Zen to the West, and he came to Paris in 1967, where he taught for the rest of his life. La Gendronniere, the practice center he founded (1979) in France, continues to be an important Zen center. He died in 1982, leaving a number of influential disciples...See more
Founder of Association Zen Internationale, Deshimaru had a great influence on Zen in the West, especially Europe. He studied Rinzai Zen before finding his true teacher Kodo Sawaki and the practice of Dogen's Zen. Kodo Sawaki asked him to spread Zen to the West, and he came to Paris in 1967, where he taught for the rest of his life. La Gendronniere, the practice center he founded (1979) in France, continues to be an important Zen center. He died in 1982, leaving a number of influential disciples, including Etiene Zeisler, Roland Rech, Kosen Thibaut, Philippe Coupey and Robert Livingston. See less
