Teacher

Charlotte Joko Beck



Charlotte Joko Beck (1917–2011) was an American Zen Buddhist teacher known for her innovations in Zen teaching, which included teaching students to work with their psychological states and allowing her students to interpret her teachings and determine their own path for practice. She herself separated her practice of American Zen from more traditional Japanese Zen by not shaving her head, wearing formal robes, or using Japanese titles. Beck was one of the first Western women teachers of Zen and founded the Ordinary Mind Zen School in 1995.

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Now Zen

Here is cut-to-the-chase Zen by the beloved, no-nonsense teacher whose Everyday Zen and Nothing Special have become underground classics, with more than 120,000 copies sold.

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Charlotte Joko Beck, Steve Smith
1995
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Buddha’s Daughters: Teachings from Women Who Are Shaping Buddhism in the West

Buddhism began to take root in the West at just the same time that women’s voices were arising to find expression here—after millennia of being relegated to the background.

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Andrea Miller
2014
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Ordinary Wonder: Zen Life and Practice

In this collection of never-before published teachings by Charlotte Joko Beck, one of the most influential Western-born Zen teachers, she explores our “core beliefs”—the hidden, negative convictions we hold about ourselves that direct our thoughts and behavior and prevent us from experiencing...

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Charlotte Joko Beck
2021
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Charlotte Joko Beck
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07:54

Joko Beck: Source & Summary of Her Teaching

Charlotte Joko Beck (1917-2011) established the "Ordinary Mind Zen" lineage in 1995. In Dharma talks she explicitly cited Hubert Benoit's book "The Supreme Doctrine" as the most important influence on her own practice and teaching. Benoit's book is technically very difficult.

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Charlotte Joko Beck
2017
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Meetings with Remarkable Women: Buddhist Teachers in America

This book celebrates the flowering of women in American Buddhism. Lenore Friedman set out to explore this phenomenon by interviewing some of the remarkable women who were teaching Buddhism in the United States.

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Lenore Friedman
2000
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Attention Means Attention

There’s an old Zen story: a student said to Master Ichu, “Please write for me something of great wisdom.” Master Ichu picked up his brush and wrote one word: “Attention.”

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Charlotte Joko Beck
1993
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Everyday Zen: Love and Work

Charlotte Joko Beck offers a warm, engaging, uniquely American approach to using Zen to deal with the problems of daily living—love, relationships, work, fear, ambition, and suffering. Everyday Zen shows us how to live each moment to the fullest.

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Charlotte J. Beck
2007
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Nothing Special

The best-selling author of 'Everyday Zen' shows how to awaken to daily life and discover the ideal in the everyday, finding riches in our feelings, relationships, and work.

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Charlotte J. Beck, Steve Smith
1993
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31:53

Joko Beck Dharma Talk (1): "Ordinary Mind" (Feb 1990)

Charlotte Joko Beck (1917-2011) established the Zen Center of San Diego in 1983 and the "Ordinary Mind Zen" lineage in 1995. This recording of a live Dharma talk offers one aspect of her perspective on Zen practice.

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Charlotte Joko Beck
2015
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