Genpo Roshi, born in 1944 as Dennis Paul Merzel, is an American Zen Buddhist Master and a prominent figure in the Zen community. In 1973 he was given the name Soten Genpo by his renowned Japanese Zen Master Taizan Maezumi Roshi. Genpo Roshi is known for his development of the Big Mind process, a method that combines Zen practice with Western psychological principles to facilitate personal transformation and insight.

Genpo has been one of the pioneers of Zen throughout the U.S. and Europe. His teachings and writings have contributed to the global spread of Zen Buddhism, helping to create a rich tapestry of practice that incorporates both traditional elements and contemporary insights, Zen and Western thought. His efforts have led to the formation of a supportive network of Zen practitioners across continents, promoting a deeper understanding of Zen in the modern world. 

His esteemed Master Maezumi Roshi along with Genpo’s elder Dharma brother, Bernie Glassman Roshi, and Genpo Roshi founded the White Plum Asanga in 1980, a lineage of Zen Buddhism. It was Bernie Glassman Roshi who bestowed Inka (final seal of approval as Zen Master) on Genpo in 1996, one year after receiving it from their teacher Taizan Maezumi Roshi, who had died suddenly in May of 1995. 

Beginning in 1982, he conducted retreats, Sesshins, Ango’s, workshops, and weekend intensives throughout Europe, fostering a growing interest in Zen practice among both Western and Eastern European’s, and the establishment of Zen Centers and Zen communities in England, Holland, Poland, France, Germany, Denmark, and Belgium as well as America, collectively known as the Kanzeon Sangha, which continue to thrive today.  

His approach has gone from very traditional Soto Zen to eventually including and integrating Western psychological processes, making Zen more accessible to a diverse audience. This integration was particularly evident in his development of the Big Mind process, which has attracted many practitioners throughout the world seeking personal transformation.  

Throughout his career, Genpo Roshi has published several books and articles, contributing to the dialogue between Zen and contemporary psychology. His work has attracted a diverse group of students, and he continues to be an influential voice in modern Zen practice. 

His career has not been without controversy. In 2011 he faced a major fall from grace when he confessed to sexual misconduct. After this admission he faced significant controversy and scrutiny particularly from the larger Zen community. This situation led to a public outcry and raised important questions about the challenges that can arise in spiritual communities, particularly regarding issues of accountability, power dynamics and the responsibility of leaders to maintain ethical conduct.

As a result of the controversy, Genpo Roshi stepped back from his teaching roles in order to self-reflect. He asked to resign from the White Plum Asanga that he had helped establish and had been the President of from 1996-2008. He then focused on his own shadow work and personal ethics. However he did not stop being a Lineage Holder in the Maezumi Roshi Lineage and head of Kanzeon Sangha.

He sought guidance from Hal and Sidra Stone, psychologists and psychotherapists known for developing the Voice Dialogue technique, a method that explores the multiple facets of the self. Their work is rooted in the idea that individuals possess various "selves" or sub-personalities, each representing different aspects of their personality, experiences, and emotions.  

Drawing on Jungian psychology and other therapeutic modalities they explore aspects of the self such as the "Inner Child," the "Inner Critic," and the "Shadow.” They have conducted workshops and training sessions worldwide, impacting many including Genpo Roshi. 

In the aftermath, he sought to address these issues working closely with Hal and Sidra on himself and the impact they had on the Buddhist community. He has continued to teach while working on his own disowned aspects of self-clinging that caused him to misuse the Zen Buddhist Precepts and in so doing causing harm to the Buddhist Sangha. 

In many ways the events of 2011 marked a significant turning point in his career and brought attention to the need for greater transparency and ethical behavior in the Zen and Buddhist world which he took to heart. He has spent the time since January 2011 reflecting and deepening his own practice and realization as well as his own ethical behavior, and teaching integrating personal ethics and complete liberation coming from what he terms the Apex —  behavior that transcends and includes appropriate action moment by moment, given one’s position, time and place. His behavior prior to 2011 and his acknowledging his misuse of the Zen Precepts have been the guiding light of his life ever since. 

He presently lives with his wife and partner Jigen Juul Roshi part time in Oregon, and mostly on the Big Island of Hawaii where he lives a hermit-like life as a Zen Monk and has students coming and working with him from all over the world in order to learn from his successes and failures, his rises and falls. He believes deeply in Zen and what this teaching can do for our world caught in such delusion, greed and hatred, and the profound awakening that can liberate each of us and the world as a whole. 

Genpo Roshi’s Dharma Successor Senseis and Inka Zen Masters 

Genpo Roshi has twenty-six Dharma heirs and has conferred the title of Zen Master Inka on twenty Zen teachers. He has given Jukai (receiving the Zen Buddhist Precepts and becoming a Buddhist) to more than 500 students and ordained more than 150 Priests.  His Dharma heirs are teaching throughout the world especially in Europe and the US. 

Publications

His publications include The Eye Never Sleeps, Beyond Sanity and Madness, 24/7 Dharma, and The Path of The Human Being, a novel entitled The Fool Who Thought He Was God, and many DVDs. His book Big Mind/Big Heart: Finding Your Way, has been published in fourteen other languages: Dutch Spanish, German, Russian, Polish, French, Italian, Hungarian, Croatian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Danish, Korean, and Chinese.  His latest book, Spitting Out the Bones, A Zen Master’s 45 Year Journey, was published in 2016.