Brooklyn Zen Center | A New York City Soto Zen Buddhist Temple
Sojun Mel Weitsman

Sojun Mel Weitsman is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest and a Dharma heir of Suzuki’s son Hoitsu Suzuki. Sojun Weitsman founded the Berkeley Zen Center in 1967 and has been the guiding teacher since then. Suzuki Roshi had asked Mel to open the zendo for his students in the Berkeley area. Mel began his Zen practice in 1964 at the San Francisco Zen Center and was ordained a priest by Suzuki in 1969. Mel also served as co-abbot of SFZC from 1988 to 1997. Sojun is an editor of the book Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness: Zen Talks on the Sandokai.