Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Zen Center of Los Angeles
- Abstract:
- The Zen Center of Los Angeles (ZCLA) was founded in 1967 by Taizan Maezumi. Associated with the Soto Zen sect, it provides Buddhist teaching and training to both lay people and monks. This collection spans 1937-2012 and primarily consists of teaching materials, which are both written materials and audio recordings. The collection also includes book manuscripts, Maezumi Roshi's notebooks and personal files, and ZCLA administrative records.
- Extent:
- 64.2 Linear Feet (83 boxes, 5 cartons, 3 shoe boxes, 58 flat boxes, 2 oversize flat boxes, 1 phonograph box)
- Language:
- Material is predominantly in English and Japanese. There are also items in Chinese, Korean, French, German, and Spanish.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Zen Center of Los Angeles records (Collection 2299). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection spans 1937-2012, with the core of the collection consisting of teaching materials, which are in both written form and audio recordings. There are dozens of manuscripts for these presentations, or teishos, and approximately 2000 audio cassettes. There are also many book manuscripts in the form of drafts or galley proofs. These include both original works in English and Japanese and translations from Japanese and Chinese. Some of the translations appear to be unpublished. The collection also includes the personal notebooks of Maezumi Roshi. Mostly in Japanese, they appear to contain the notes he kept while preparing his teishos. There is also more personal material related to Maezumi Roshi, consisting of correspondence and many examples of his calligraphy. Also present are many of the Center's publications, as well as its administrative and financial records.
- Biographical / historical:
-
The Zen Center of Los Angeles (ZCLA) was founded in 1967 by Taizan Maezumi Roshi. Associated with the Soto Zen sect, ZCLA provides teaching and training to both lay people and monks. ZCLA provides classes, intensive meditation, Buddhist services, workshops, and opportunities for service. Maezumi Roshi was born in Japan on February 24, 191. His father was Soto priest and he was ordained as a novice monk in the Soto lineage at age eleven. He moved to the United States to serve as a priest at the Zenshuji in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. Maezumi Roshi also founded the White Plum Asanga and the Yokoji Zen Mountain Center. He died unexpectedly while on a trip to Japan in 1995. As of 2017, the Center is under the direction of Roshi Wendy Egyoku Nakao.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Zen Center of Los Angeles, 2012.
- Processing information:
-
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections.
- Arrangement:
-
This collection is arranged into the following series:
- Series 1. Teaching materials, 1970-2002
- Series 2. Book manuscripts, 1937-1992
- Series 3. Taizan Maezumi Roshi notebooks, 1973-1989
- Series 4. Taizan Maezumi Roshi personal files, 1969-1995
- Series 5. Publications and printed material, 1955-2012
- Series 6. Administrative files, 1969-2011
- Series 7. Financial records, 1974-1994
- Series 8. Audiovisual material, 1972-2006
- Series 9. Books and periodicals, 2005-2006
- Physical / technical requirements:
-
CONTAINS UNPROCESSED AUDIOVISUAL AND DIGITAL MATERIALS: Digital and audiovisual materials are not currently available for access and will require further processing and assessment. If you have questions about this material please email spec-coll@library.ucla.edu.
- Physical location:
- Portions of the collection stored off-site. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Portions of this collection are closed until the November 26, 2034 due to donor-imposed restrictions. Box 151 is unavailable for access.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Zen Center of Los Angeles records (Collection 2299). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
- Location of this collection:
-
A1713 Charles E. Young Research LibraryBox 951575Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
- Contact:
- (310) 825-4988