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{{Infobox religious biography
|background = #FFD068 | color = black
|name = John Daido Loori
|image= Daido Portrait 1 RR.jpg
|birth name = 
|alias = 
|dharma name = Muge Daido
|birth_date = June 14, 1931
|birth_place = [[Jersey City, NJ]], [[United States]]
|death_date = October 9, 2009 (aged 78)
|death_place = [[Mount Tremper, NY]], United States
|nationality = [[United States|American]]
|religion = [[Zen Buddhism]]
|school = [[Rinzai]] and [[Sōtō]]
|lineage = [[Mountains and Rivers Order]] (part of [[White Plum Asanga]])
|title = [[Rōshi]], [[abbot]]
|location = 
|education = 
|occupation = 
|teacher = [[Taizan Maezumi]]
|reincarnation of = 
|predecessor = 
|successor = [[Bonnie Myotai Treace]], [[Geoffrey Shugen Arnold]], [[Konrad Ryushin Marchaj]]
|students = 
|spouse = 
|partner = 
|children = 
|website = [http://zmm.mro.org/ Zen Mountain Monastery]
}}
'''John Daido Loori''' (June 14, 1931 &ndash; October 9, 2009)<ref name=NYTObit>{{cite news|title=John D. Loori, 78, Zen Abbot and Photographer, Dies|first=Douglas|last=Martin|date=October 10, 2009|accessdate=October 11, 2009|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/nyregion/10loori.html}}</ref> was a [[Zen]] [[Buddhist]] [[rōshi]] who served as the abbot of [[Zen Mountain Monastery]] and was the founder of the [[Mountains and Rivers Order]] and [[CEO]] of Dharma Communications. Daido Loori received [[shiho]] ([[dharma transmission]]) from [[Taizan Maezumi]] in 1986 and also received a [[Dendo Kyoshi]] certificate formally from the [[Soto school]] of [[Japan]] in 1994. In 1997, he received dharma transmission in the [[Harada-Yasutani]] and Inzan lineages of [[Rinzai]] Zen as well.<ref name="Seager">Seager; p. 257-258</ref> In 1996 he gave dharma transmission to his student [[Bonnie Myotai Treace]], in 1997 to [[Geoffrey Shugen Arnold]], and in 2009 to [[Konrad Ryushin Marchaj]].<ref name="Seager"/> In addition to his role as a [[Zen Buddhist]] priest, Loori was an exhibited photographer and author of more than twenty books.

In October 2009, he stepped down as abbot citing health issues. Days later, Zen Mountain Monastery announced that his death was imminent.<ref>[http://www.mro.org/jdlsd.html Press Release, October 2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007002645/http://www.mro.org/jdlsd.html |date=2009-10-07 }}</ref> On October 9, 2009, at 7:30 a.m. he died of [[lung cancer]] in [[Mount Tremper, New York]].<ref name=NYTObit/>

==Biography==
John Daido Loori was born in [[Jersey City, New Jersey]] and raised [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic]].<ref name="Magida">Magida; p. 203</ref>  As a child Loori loved photographing things, once using his family's bathroom as a makeshift [[dark room]].<ref name="hicks">{{cite news | last = Hicks| first = Roberts| coauthors = | title = ARTS; Smile, Buddha| work = | pages = | language = | publisher = [[New York Times]]| date = December 5, 2004| url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E4DA1F3EF936A35751C1A9629C8B63| accessdate = 2009-01-03}}</ref> He served in the U.S. Navy from 1947 to 1952. Later, after studying at Rutgers, he worked as a [[chemist]] in the [[food industry]] <ref name="Prebish">Prebish; pp. 98-99</ref>  and led the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] in Orange and Sullivan Counties in New York.<ref name="Seager"/> As an adult he distanced himself from Catholicism and explored a variety of other religions.<ref name="Magida"/> Then, in 1971,<ref name="hicks"/> he attended a workshop given by the photographer [[Minor White]]. Loori came to study photography under White until his death and also learned meditation from him.<ref name="Prebish"/> In 1972 Daido Loori began his formal Zen practice, studying in [[New York (state)|New York]] under [[Soen Nakagawa]] and then in [[California]] under [[Taizan Maezumi]], Roshi.<ref name="Seager"/>

In 1980 Loori purchased {{convert|230|acre|km2}} in [[New York (state)|New York]] which today serves as the site for [[Zen Mountain Monastery]].<ref name="Prebish"/> In 1983 he was made a Zen priest by Maezumi and in 1986 was given [[shiho]] (or, [[dharma transmission]]) by him. In 1997, he received dharma transmission in the [[Harada-Yasutani]] and Inzan lineages of [[Rinzai]] Zen as well. According to author Richard Hughes, this made Loori "one of three Western dharma-holders in both the Soto and Rinzai schools."<ref name="Seager"/>
Loori was a professional [[nature photography|nature photographer]], having once exhibited his work at the [[American Museum of Natural History]] in [[Manhattan, New York]].<ref name="hicks"/> He has also held various other shows and workshops on photography, including positions at [[Naropa University]] starting in 1974 and the Synechia Arts Center located in [[Middletown, Orange County, New York|Middletown, New York]];<ref name="Prebish"/> his works have been published by [[Aperture (magazine)|Aperture]] and [[Time-Life]].<ref name="Seager"/> His book, ''Hearing with the Eye: Photographs from Point Lobos'', features Loori's abstract nature photography interwoven with commentary on ''Teachings of the Insentient'' by [[Eihei Dogen]].<ref name="hicks"/>

Loori founded Dharma Communications as a way to communicate the dharma of the Mountains and Rivers Order. Dharma Communications publishes a Buddhist [[quarterly]] titled the [[Mountain Record]], various [[audio-visual]] materials, and has also published several books by Daido Loori.<ref name="Seager"/> According to Charles S. Prebish, Dharma Communications is "one of the most efficient and successful publishers of Buddhist materials on the continent, and a place where practitioners can learn how to cultivate both mindfulness and compassion in front of a computer."<ref name="Prebish"/>

==Books==
*''The Way of Mountains and Rivers''
*''The Zen Art Box'' with [[Stephen Addiss]]
*''Hearing with the Eye: Teachings of the Insentient''
*''The Zen of Creativity : Cultivating Your Artistic Life''
*''The Eight Gates of Zen : A Program of Zen Training''
*''Sitting with Koans : Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Koan Study'' with Tom Kirshner. 
*''[[Shinji Shōbōgenzō|The True Dharma Eye : Zen Master Dogen's Three Hundred Koans]]'' with [[Kazuaki Tanahashi]] (Translator).
*''The Heart of Being: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism''
*''The Art of Just Sitting, Second Edition : Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikantaza''
*''Celebrating Everyday Life: Zen Home Liturgy''
*''Making Love with Light'', a book of nature photography. 
*''Riding the Ox Home : Stages on the Path of Enlightenment''
*''The Still Point: A Beginner's Guide to Zen Meditation''
*''Cave Of Tigers : Modern Zen Encounters''
*''Invoking Reality: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen''
*''Path of Enlightenment: Stages in a Spiritual Journey''
*''Two Arrows Meeting in Mid-Air: The Zen Koan''
*''Mountain Record of Zen Talks''
*''Teachings of the Insentient: Zen and the Environment''

==Translated Editions==
*''Das Zen der Kreativitat'' (German ed.) – 2006 Theseus Verlag, Berlin 3-89620-287-1
*''Célébrer la Vie au Quotidien'' (French ed.): 2003 BDLYS Ed. 2-914395-20-5
*''La Recontre de la Réalité'' (French ed.) by BDLYS Ed. 2-914395-21-3
*''El Punto de Quietud'' (Spanish ed.): 2001 Mandala Ed. 84-95052-69-5
*''Hat ein Hund Buddha-Natur?'' (German ed.): 1996 Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH 9-783596-130191

==Filmography==
*''The Still Point: Introduction to Zen Meditation''
*''Entering the Mountain Gate: Essentials of Zen''
*''Oryoki: Formal Monastery Meal''
*''The Heart of Being: Zen Buddhist Precepts''
*''Mountain Light Video Library: A Collection of 27 Dharma Discourses''
*''One Bright Pearl: Dharma Combat''
*''Enlarging the Universe: Creative Expression''
*''Fire Keeper: Student Mind''
*''The Art of Seeing'' 
*''The Great Earth's Edict: Zen and Environmentalism''

==Recent Photography Exhibitions==
*"The Tao of Water", Jan. 18 - Mar. 22, 2008    Gallery at 910, Denver, CO 
*"Jinzu", April 19 - June 6, 2007    Gallery at 910, Denver, CO
*"Jinzu", Sept. 8 - Dec. 31, 2006   Buffalo Big Print, Buffalo, New York

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image: Daido1.jpg
Image: Daido_picOct_08.jpg
Image: DaidoFPphd2.jpg

Image:Daido Roshi giving a mondo.jpeg
Image:Daido Roshi in the Buddha Hall.jpeg
Image:Daido Roshi in the cemetery.jpeg
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Buddhism in the United States]]
*[[List of Rinzai Buddhists]]
*[[Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{Citation| last = Magida| first = Arthur J.| author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = Opening the Doors of Wonder: Reflections on Religious Rites of Passage| place = | publisher = [[University of California Press]]| year =2006| volume = | edition = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0-520-24545-8}}
*{{Citation| last = Prebish| first = Charles S.| author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = Luminous Passage: The Practice and Study of Buddhism in America| place = | publisher = [[University of California Press]]| year =| volume = | edition = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0-520-21697-0}}
*{{Citation| last = Seager| first = Richard Hughes| author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = Buddhism In America| place = | publisher = [[Columbia University Press]]| year =2000| volume = | edition = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0-231-10869-9}}

==External links==
*[http://zmm.mro.org Mountains and Rivers Order of Zen Buddhism]
*[http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=18046 Author Spotlight] on Loori at [[Random House]], publisher of some of his books
*{{YouTube|E9b4FbGlVSE|The Still Point: Introduction to Zazen video}}
*[https://www.pbs.org/thecongregation/interviews/loori_abbot_john_daido.html Daido Roshi interview on PBS]
*[http://www.lionsroar.com/zens-radical-conservative-john-daido-loori-roshi/ Zen's Radical Conservative: John Daido Loori]


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[[Category:Buddhist writers]]


==Historical people list==

{{Historical people list}}

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===Page is sourced from===

[https://encyclopediaofbuddhism.org/wiki/John%20Daido%20Loori www.encyclopediaofbuddhism.org John Daido Loori]