Our Teachers
Temple Founder: Joshin Keira
Keira-Rōshi was born September 5, 1927, at Kōmyō Temple in Iwate Prefecture, Northern Japan, where his father was abbot. In 1930, when Keira was only 2 years old, the family moved to Taiwan. He grew up there and didn’t return to Japan until after the Second World War. In 1946, his family moved to Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture, Northern Japan so his father could take over the abbotship of Shurinji, “Excellent Forest Temple,” the temple where he had trained as a young monk. After his father died, Keira decided to succeed to Shurinji’s abbotship.
He became the student of a nearby abbot, Kenshō Gishu-Rōshi and trained at Sōjiji in Yokohama, one of two main Sōtō Zen training monasteries in Japan. Keira-Rōshi then received certification as a fully-empowered priest. In 1953, he formally succeeded to the abbotship of Shurinji as its 32nd abbot. Keira-Rōshi remained in this position for more than sixty years, retiring finally in 2015 just shy of his 90th birthday. “When you think you understand,” he says, reflecting on many years of zazen practice, “you are only half-way there. When you think you have understood, it doesn’t help you at all. Training is a life-long practice.”
Keira-roshi passed from this world on May 6, 2023. We are forever grateful for the wisdom and compassion he shared so freely.
Abbot: Ejo McMullen
Ejo Patrick McMullen is the current Abbot of Buddha Eye Zen Community Temple. Ejo was ordained as a Soto Zen priest in 1995 and completed his monastic training at Daijoji Monastery in Kanazawa prefecture, Japan. In 1998, he received Denpo (Dharma Transmission) from Joshin Kiera Roshi, the founder of Buddha Eye Temple and the previous Abbot of Shurinji temple in Sendai, Japan. Joshin Kiera Roshi passed away in May of 2023.
Committed to the flourishing of Soto Zen in North America, Ejo is currently the Assistant Director of the Soto Zen North American Office, a Full Member of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association, at which he served as Board Member from 2007 - 2013, and is a member of the American Zen Teachers Association. His teachings and writing have appeared in Lion’s Roar Magazine and Buddhadharma, leading periodicals of Buddhist news, thought, and research.
Ejo also holds a BA in Japanese and Social Science, and completed the Graduate Teaching Education program at Portland State University. He has taught extensively in public schools and Japanese immersion programs in the Pacific Northwest.
He currently lives in Eugene, Oregon with his wife Azusa.
Meet our teachers!
At Buddha Eye Temple, Dharma Teachers, Koji, and Sangha Elders are available to meet with the community on a one-on-one basis through Practice Discussion. Please click on the images below to learn more about our teachers, and to find out how to contact them in order to schedule a Practice Discussion.
