Kojin-an Zendo

Specialties

The Oakland Zen Center at Kojin-​an Zendo welcomes Buddhist beginners and explorers, though our style is best suited to people who have an established Zen practice and want a community place to meditate, without much formal instruction or regular programming. That is because this is a family temple, rather than a training monastery or an American-​style Zen center. Not all residents are involved in temple activities, and their privacy at home is respected. The zendo is open for zazen daily. However, Kojin-​an Zendo does not actively recruit new members, charge membership dues, or offer regularly scheduled programs, donations are gratefully received. Japanese Tea Ceremony, and brush Calligraphy classes are offered weekly. Wedding, Memorial, and other Buddhist services can be arranged.

History

Established in 1982.

Kojin-​an Zendo formally opened in its current location June 18, 1994, but by then it had been growing for a dozen years. It started in 1982 when Yoshie Akiba, Kazuo Kajimura, and Hiroyuki Hori, the co-​founders of Yoshi’s restaurant and jazz club, created a four-​mat zendo and a small Japanese tea room in the attic of their home on Claremont Avenue, Oakland. The zendo held up to ten people, and was gradually filled by friends and neighbors who wanted to join the founders for meditation and tea.

On March 13, 1983, the small zendo officially opened in a ceremony conducted by Rev. Gengo Akiba, then a guest teacher at San Francisco Zen Center, and Rev. Ekai Korematsu of Berkeley. Rev. Akiba named it Kojin-​an. Kojin means «good people» and an means «gathering place,» so Kojin-​an is «where good people meet.» Rev. Korematsu led meditation there twice a week until he returned to Japan in 1986. The following year, Rev. Akiba became the resident priest.

Meet the Manager

Gengo A.

Manager

The Rev. Gengo Akiba (who prefers to be addressed as «Osho-​san»), was born in Japan in 1943. He graduated from Komazawa University in Tokyo and worked in advertising for several years. He decided to become a Zen priest, and was ordained by the late Rev. Chido Shoitsu. In 1973, he entered Eihei-​ji, one of the two head temples of the Soto-​shu, or Soto Zen school. He trained there for eight years. In 1982, he spent one year as a visiting teacher at San Francisco Zen Center. Rev. Akiba then spent two years at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center. He returned to Japan and served at Hose-​in, a temple affiliated with Eihei-​ji outside Tokyo. From 1997 to 2010, he served as Sokan («Bishop»), of Soto-​shu in North America, and as abbot of Zenshu-​ji Temple in Los Angeles. In 2010 he led the first Soto-​shu ango (90-​day intensive monastic training period) in North America. Currently, he is working on building ‘Tempyo Zan’ a new training temple in Northern California.