Joko Beck

Charlotte Joko Beck ( born March 27, 1917 in New Jersey; † June 15, 2011 in Prescott, Arizona) was an American Zen teacher.

Life

Charlotte Joko Beck was born in New Jersey. She studied music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and worked as a pianist and piano teacher. She married and had four children. After separating from her husband worked as a teacher, secretary and assistant at the University of San Diego.

When she was in her 40s, she began practicing in Los Angeles with Zen Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi. Later, she also practiced with Roshi and Soen Roshi Yasutani. She received dharma transmission from Roshi Taizan Maezumi and opened in 1983, the San Diego Zen Center, which she ran until July 2006.

In 2006, Beck moved to Prescott ( Arizona), where she taught until her retirement in late 2010. In spring 2010, named C. J. Gary Beck Nafstad as their Dharma successor.

After a few years of the disease Beck was admitted in June 2011 in a hospice where he died on 15 June 2011.

• Everyday Zen: Love and Work (edited by Steve Smith; 1989) ISBN 0-06-060734-3.
• Nothing Special: Living Zen ( 1993) ISBN 0-06-251117-3.