Soto Zen Buddhism is the largest school of Buddhism in the western world. Starting from China and Japan, it has spread across the nation and has promoted the formation of many temples and communities. One such community is the New River Zen Community, located in Blacksburg, Virginia on the edge of the Virginia Tech college campus. The New River Zen Community does not own its own facilities, instead they meet weekly at the Cooper House, a building owned by the Presbyterian Campus Ministry at Virginia Tech. The Cooper House not only serves as the meeting place of the New River Zen Community and members of the Presbyterian Church, but also as a center for counseling services. The New River Zen Community describes themselves as, “A group of people who support each other in Zen practice.” They emphasize focus on zazen and integration of meditation techniques into everyday life. Members of the community meet weekly on Wednesday nights at the Cooper House where they temporarily set up mats to practice meditation together as well as receive a message from one of the teachers. In addition to their weekly meditation, the New River Zen Community also hosts full day zazen once every few months, as well as participating in several retreats and celebrations of Buddhist holidays.
The New River Zen Community was co-founded by Roshi Charles Shinkai Birx and Ellen Jikai Birx in the fall of 1992. Today, the Birxs, who have been married for over thirty years, function as two of the community’s teachers and leaders. Roshi Charles Birx completed his undergraduate education at Cornell University and earned his M.S. and Ed.D. in curriculum and instruction from Northern Arizona University. He has worked as a remedial English specialist in the public school system as well an Adjunct Professor at Radford University in the College of Education and Human Development. Ellen Birx completed her B.S in education at Northern Arizona University and a B.S. in nursing at Texas Women’s University. She received a master’s degree in psychiatric/mental health nursing from the University of Rochester and her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. She works as a professor at the School of Nursing at Radford University. In addition to the Birxs, the New River Zen Community has two additional teachers, Sensei Scott Zengen Thompson and Sensei Ben Mui Pumphrey. Thompson is a former practicing attorney as well as having worked as a substance abuse and mental health counselor. Pumphrey received his medical degree from the University of Virginia and completed his residency in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Birxs began practicing Zen meditation in 1974 and received the transmission of the Dharma in 1988. In 2014, they received Inka from Roshi Robert Jinsen Kennedy in the White Plum Lineage, qualifying them to teach the practice of Zen Buddhism to others and transmit the Dharma. They belong to the White Plum Asanga, along with over one hundred other teachers worldwide. The White Plum Asanga belongs to the lineage of the Venerable Roshi Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi. The White Plum Asanga does not seek to be a ruling organization, but it does have a code of ethical conduct and a grievance and reconciliation procedure that its members follow. It seeks to be a way for those practicing Zen Buddhism to share their experiences and learn from one another to grow in their practice. Both Thompson and Pumphrey received the transmission of the Dharma from Roshi Charles in 2016 and 2013, respectively. While Pumphrey began his journey with Zen at the New River Zen Community in 1996, Thompson has practiced Zen Buddhism through the New River Zen Community as well as other organizations for over thirty years.
In addition to their talks at the New River Zen Center, the teachers also speak at various other conferences and retreats across the nation. The Birxs have also authored several books. Ellen Birx has written the books Selfless Love and Healing Zen. Both of these books draw on her experiences as a mental health nurse as well as those from her Zen practice to present her views on how mediation can help the healing process as well as help to bring true understanding of one’s nature. Additionally, the Birxs co-authored the book Waking Up Together, which draws on their personal experiences from their marriage to show how relationships can enhance spiritual practices. The teachers also upload some of their talks in the form of podcasts, videos, and written word onto the New River Zen Community website for public viewing purposes. Below is a video of Ellen Birx speaking at TEDx in Lewisburg.
While the New River Zen Community has no list of members that is available to the public, pictures of the constituents at various retreats and meetings show a predominantly white middle-aged and older group. While the majority of the members appear to be in their fifties or older, there are several younger members who appear to be college age, as well as several members who appear to be of different ethnicities. Pictures of the community also show a fairly even gender distribution among members.
The New River Zen Community practices Soto Zen, the largest sect of Zen Buddhism in the world, particularly in the Western World. This tradition of Buddhism began as the Caodong tradition in China, but was introduced in Japan by Eihei Dogen in 1228 and became known as Soto Zen. From its entrance into Japan, Soto Zen was then spread into the United States by several prominent Zen masters. The New River Zen Community belongs specifically to the White Plum Asanga which was founded by Roshi Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi. Maezumi Roshi is regarded as one of the most influential teachers to the spread of Zen Buddhism in the Western World, as he devoted most of his life to spreading this practice. Maezumi Roshi studied Soto Zen from a very early age in one of the most renowned Japanese monasteries. Here he received transmission of the Dharma and Inka. He came to the United States in 1956 to be stationed as a teacher at the Zensuji Temple in Los Angeles, the first Zen temple in the United States and the headquarters of Soto Zen in the west. In 1967 he established the Zen Center of Los Angeles in addition to six other temples in the United States and Europe that are registered with the Zen Center of Los Angeles. Maezumi Roshi transmitted the Dharma to twelve successors, who have passed them on to many successors of their own, contributing to the proliferation of Soto Zen in the United States. One of Maezumi Roshi’s successors, Glassman Roshi, passed the Dharma to Kennedy Roshi who subsequently passed it on to the founders of the New River Zen Community, who passed it onto their fellow teachers.
The transmission of the Dharma by Maezumi Roshi’s successors has created the prolific White Plum Asanga. What started as a few Zen temples established by Maezumi Roshi and his successors, has grown into a vast network. Over fifty temples in the United States belong to the White Plum Asanga. In addition to the temples in the United States, there are also temples belonging to the White Plum Asanga in Mexico, Poland, Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. This network of temples and teachers provides a conduit for the sharing of teachings and experiences among those practicing Zen Buddhism.
The Soto Zen tradition is often known as the “silent illumination” or “just sitting” tradition. The essential practice of this tradition of Buddhism is zazen, or meditation. Followers of Soto Zen spend the majority of their practice in silent meditation, seeking to fully experience every moment. The Soto Zen school also focuses on achieving pure and focused consciousness that is at harmony with the world. The strong mental health and teaching backgrounds of the leaders of the New River Zen Community can be seen in their specific goals and beliefs in Zen Buddhism. They describe the results of meditation: “The beauty of zazen is a mind that is open, attentive, fresh, vital, and sensitive.” Many of their recorded teachings and publications discuss the open mind of meditation and the postures that one should take in meditation. They describe living a Zen lifestyle as, “living fully with appreciation, freedom, and compassionate action.” The New River Zen Community seeks to achieve deep meditative practices together. The New River Zen Community serves as a place for individuals to learn about Soto Zen Buddhism as well as to promote the spread of the religion in the western world.
By Devin Jones
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