Author: Charlotte Joko Beck
Alternate names: Beck Charlotte Joko
Born: 1917
Bio: Charlotte Joko Beck is a renowned Zen teacher, co-founder of the Ordinary Mind Zen School and former head of the San Diego Zen Center. In the 1960s, while living in San Diego, she began her Zen practice with Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi at the Zen Center of Los Angeles. Later she went on to train with Hakuun Yasutani Roshi and Soen Nakagawa Roshi. In 1983 she became the 3rd Dharma heir of Hakuyu Maezumi Roshi of the Zen Center of Los Angeles. She founded the Ordinary Mind School of Zen and opened the San Diego Zen Center in 1983. Joko was the head teacher at the San Diego Zen Center until July 2006, when she moved to Prescott, Arizona. Joko is semi-retired, and now teaches part-time.