Toni Packer | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Packer (1978) | |
| Born | July 1927 |
| Died | 23 August 2013 aged 86 Mount Morris, New York, U.S. |
| Known for | Meditative inquiry |
| Spouse | Kyle Packer |
Toni Packer (April 1927 – August 23, 2013) was a teacher of “meditative inquiry”, and the founder ofSpringwater Center.[1] Packer was a former student in theSanbo Kyodan lineage of Zen Buddhism, and was previously in line to be the successor ofPhillip Kapleau at theRochester Zen Center.[2]
Toni Packer was born inBerlin, Germany in 1927. Her family wasLutheran in name only, as they endeavored not to divulge the fact that her mother was ofJewish descent.[citation needed] It was in her childhood, growing up amidst the turmoil ofNazi Germany, that Packer first developed mistrust for authority. The family eventually made a move toSwitzerland, where she married her husband Kyle Packer in 1950. The pair moved toNew York near theState University of New York at Buffalo, where Kyle came to earn a degree inpsychology. Toni began reading the pioneering works aboutZen Buddhism byAlan Watts,D. T. Suzuki andPhilip Kapleau. It was the last which had the greatest impact on her, and she soon joined the nearbyRochester Zen Center with her husband.
Throughout the 1970s she accepted minor teaching positions at Rochester, and in 1981 she ran the center for an extended period in Kapleau's absence. During this time she instituted many changes in the practice there; for example, she discontinued wearing the abbreviated Buddhist robe called arakusu, worn in some Japanese Zen circles to distinguish more advanced practitioners.
In 1980, Toni visited Roshi Kapleau in Mexico, where he was on a sabbatical while she ran the Zen Center. According to Roshi Kapleau's assistant, who was present at the meeting, Toni had “reached a point where she felt she could no longer practice in a Buddhist context.”[3] When Toni's decision to no longer practice at the Center was announced to the Zen membership (sangha), there was a period of dismay and even acrimony—more so among individual members than between Roshi Kapleau and Toni, However, several years after Toni left the Zen Center, Roshi Kapleau visited the Springwater Center that Toni and her group had established. About two decades later, Toni was invited to speak by phone with Roshi Kapleau as he was dying.
In 1981 she founded the Genesee Valley Zen Center, in Rochester, New York. In 1986 the center relocated and changed its name, dropping the word Zen to become theSpringwater Center for Meditative Inquiry and Retreats inSpringwater, New York.[4][5] The Springwater Center is incorporated under New York State law as a religious institution.
Packer has rejected labels for herself such as ateacher orauthority, though some of the individuals she has asked to carry on her work do not.[a]The word "Zen" was dropped from the Center's name as a result of Packer's move away from Japanese Zen Buddhist traditions.[6]
Her discussion of meditative inquiry is informed largely by her own vision, but also by the talks and writings ofJ. Krishnamurti.[7]
Up to sixteen retreats are held a year, giving a blend of ritual-less silent retreats andDavid Bohm style dialogues/group meetings.
Packer has been described as ". . . a Zen teacher minus the 'Zen' and minus the 'teacher,'"[4] emphasizing the importance of meditative inquiry without practicing Buddhism.[8] Though stripped of rituals, Packer still found the practice ofzazen to be useful.
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