Buddhist leader and Zen teacher Peter Schneider dies at 87

A respected figure in North American Zen Buddhism, the Rev. Peter Schneider, known by his Dharma name Yozen Taishin, died around 4 p.m. on Jan. 20, according to fellow practitioners in his community in California. He was 87.

Community members noted that Schneider had recently been hospitalized following a fall in which he fractured his femur. His recovery was complicated by a bacterial infection, and although he was declared free of the infection and taken off antibiotics, Schneider remained in a fragile condition. According to a sangha member’s statement, a nurse had checked on him for only an hour before his unexpected death. The precise cause of death has not yet been released.

Schneider is survived by his wife and co-abbot Myokaku Jane Schneider, as well as a vast sangha that spans the West Coast of the United States and beyond. Plans for memorial services and other commemorative events have not yet been publicly announced.

“May we celebrate his life and remember his teaching,” Chris B (Myokan Daisho) said in an informal memorial note posted online. (Cuke.com) The reference highlights how Schneider’s teachings and leadership have impacted a broad community of Zen practitioners in California and beyond. The Beginner’s Mind Zen Center continues to operate under the co-direction of Jane Schneider, who is also an ordained priest, underscoring the couple’s shared commitment to Zen practice and education.

Peter Schneider was born on December 24, 1937, and began practicing Zen Buddhism under Shunryu Suzuki-roshi in the early 1960s. Over the next decade, Schneider deepened his involvement in Zen training at the San Francisco Zen Center (SFZC) and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the first Zen training monastery established outside of Asia. He became Tassajara's second director and later served as president of SFZC. In 1970, Suzuki Roshi ordained Schneider as a priest in the Soto Zen lineage, and he later received a Dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman Roshi of the Berkeley Zen Center in 2002.

In 1973, Schneider and his wife accepted scholarships to study Buddhism in Japan. The couple spent more than two decades, from 1973 to 1995, immersing themselves in Japanese practice communities and further refining their understanding of Soto Zen. After returning to the United States, the Schneiders established the Beginner's Mind Zen Center, originally known as the Northridge Zen Center, in 2003. It continues to serve as a spiritual community for dedicated Zen practitioners. Jane Schneider studied under Myoan Grace Schireson Roshi in preparation for her own Dharma transmission, underscoring the partners' long-standing dedication to spreading Zen teachings in the West.

Many colleagues and students have praised Peter Schneider's calm leadership style, as well as his willingness to adapt traditional Zen practices to the realities of contemporary life. Observers have noted that his death has left younger practitioners with the responsibility of maintaining and expanding the Soto Zen tradition he helped cultivate. The Beginner's Mind Zen Center will likely continue to anchor his legacy, offering zazen (Zen meditation), Dharma instructions and advice for long-term students and newcomers.

Among Schneider's notable accomplishments was his dedication to transcribing Suzuki-roshi's talks for publication, an effort that contributed to the wider dissemination of Zen principles in America. Community figures credit Schneider with guiding newcomers through the fundamentals of zazenas well as fostering a stimulating environment in keeping with the spirit of Suzuki Roshi's teachings.

Zen Buddhism gained popularity in the United States in the mid-1962th century, thanks in part to teachers such as Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, who arrived from Japan and founded the SFZC in 1967. Suzuki Roshi's establishment of Tassajara in XNUMX marked a new chapter in American Zen, providing Western practitioners with a structured training environment. Over the decades, the lineage evolved through leaders such as Schneider and Weitsman, influencing various Zen communities across North America.

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Peter and Jane Schneider (San Francisco Zen Center)
Jane and Peter Schneider (Cuke.com)
Myokaku Jane Schneider (Soto Zen Buddhist Association)

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