A momentous day was celebrated at the Buddhist Temple of Toledo in Ohio earlier this month, when Reverend Karen Do’on Weik was authorized as a roshi in the Rinzai Zen Buddhist tradition.
Rev. Karen leads the temple in partnership with her husband Rinsen Weik, who was authorized as a roshi in 2019 during the traditional Inka Shomei ceremony.
One hundred and fifty people attended the ceremony on 6 October in support of the husband-wife pair, who founded the Buddhist Temple of Toledo in the early 2000s.
The title of roshi is given to Buddhist practitioners who attain the same level of enlightenment that the historical Buddha attained some 2,600 years ago. Rev. Karen accomplished this feat after several decades of practicing the Dharma and teaching it to students.
An individual who has achieved this level of enlightenment is also known as a do’on, which Rev. Rinsen explained: “Do’on, in the tradition’s terms, is viewed as a fully human buddha. An awakened person walking around who’s willing to interface with you, as was my teacher, as am I.”
On receiving the Dharma transmission, Rev. Karen became the 88th Do’on in the Rinzai Buddhist lineage. Rev. Rinsen is the 87th Do’on as well as Rev. Karen’s husband and transmitting teacher.
Rev. Rinsen went on to discuss his wife’s achievement, stating: “Among those who achieve this level of acknowledgement, it’s rare enough to begin with, but then this is an example of women’s ascendancy. There are not very many women in the country that hold that rank within Zen. And there are certainly not many that are of her generation [Generation X].” (The Blade)
The Inka Shomei began with a regular Buddhist liturgy. Participants lit incense, changed sutras, and performed seated and walking meditation. Then the two Buddhist teachers performed three ritual bows to each other and one more bow side by side.
The first three bows were done as teacher and student. The fourth was completed by fellow roshis.
After the ceremony, visiting teachers from all over the country, along with sangha members of the Buddhist Temple of Toledo, formed a receiving line where they peppered Do’on Karen Weik with gifts, words of encouragement, and hand-written poems.
“I feel really grateful for all of my teachers, and I feel really grateful for the sangha, the community, because without a sangha and a community, there is no teacher,” the newly authorized roshi said of her achievement. “I feel really grateful to my husband and I feel grateful to my younger self that was so tenacious.” (The Blade)
“This is really for the community; this is really for the world,” Do’on Weik noted. “Just having this place where people can come and encounter the purity of their hearts and encounter each other and their buddha-nature and we can just live together and practice together and just be friends.” (The Blade)
One of the priests-in-training at the temple, Kelly Kensei Troyer, expressed excitement at the turn of events, saying: “For our practitioners to have access to two roshi, with one being a woman, is a tremendous blessing for folks engaging in Zen training. Two teachers of the same heart and mind and Dharma, but with two different personalities, experiences, and ways of communicating means students are offered depth and richness and opportunities to contact the Dharma in ways that are personally accessible.” (The Blade)
The Buddhist Temple of Toledo hosts a weekly podcast, Great Heartland Buddhist Temple of Toledo Podcast, with morning practice sessions at the temple from Tuesday to Saturday at 7 a.m.
See more
A life of practice: West Toledo teacher receives rare Buddhist rite (The Blade)
Buddhist Temple of Toledo
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