The Four Marks of Existence
— Hozan Alan Senauke
I suffer because I want things
To be different from how they are.
I want to go to the gym
And I have to do sit-ups in my office.
I long for tacos and beans at Picante
And I settle for lukewarm takeout.
Impermanence is all I can count on.
The world we knew
Has turned around in a handful of days.
My god, will it always be like this?
Yes, and it always has been this way.
Blossoms fall and weeds grow.
The ache of social distancing
Is the suffering of no-self —
I am pulled away from all of you, who are myself:
The woman behind me on the checkout line;
The prisoner I visit in a narrow steel cage;
The fiddler whose tune is naked without accompaniment.
Take a breath and enjoy it.
Things change and we change too.
Universal truths flourish even in a pandemic.
Resisting truth is suffering.
Accepting truth is nirvana,
Which does and does not make life any easier.
The poem above, The Four Marks of Existence, written during the COVID-19 pandemic, renders core Buddhist teachings — suffering, impermanence, non-self, and liberation. He gently reminds us that resisting reality intensifies suffering, while accepting truth opens the possibility of liberation. Even in isolation, fear, and social rupture, universal truths continue to flourish. Accepting them, he taught, does not make life easier — but it makes it honest.
Early Life: Awakening Through Struggle
December 22 marks the first Memorial Day of Venerable Hozan Alan Senauke — a Zen teacher, poet, writer, peace activist, and Abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center (BZC), California. His life embodied the living spirit of the Buddha-Dharma in the modern world, where spiritual practice and social responsibility were never separate.
Born on December 13, 1947, in Brooklyn, New York, into a secular Jewish family, Alan was the eldest of five children. During his academic years at Columbia University, he was deeply influenced by music — particularly Bob Dylan — and by the moral vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. These formative influences shaped his lifelong engagement with justice, culture, and ethical responsibility.
The seeds of bodhicitta arose powerfully during the turbulent years of the 1960s. Witnessing the violence of American militarism and its devastating impact on public life and the people of Vietnam, he joined civil rights and anti-war protests. In 1968, he was arrested and beaten during demonstrations against the Vietnam War. He later recalled that moment, shared with over 700 other arrested students, as one that revealed “the power to turn poets into lifelong activists.”
During the occupation of the university president’s office, he was chosen as a representative of the Low Commune, a group of radical students. This period marked the arising of bodhicitta — the aspiration to awaken for the benefit of all beings — shaped by a conscious stand against violence and injustice.
His activism did not end with academia. Rather, it deepened into what may be called spiritual activism, rooted in the Soto Zen tradition at the Berkeley Zen Center. He followed the path laid down by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and Hakuryu Sojun Mel Weitsman, the founder of BZC.
After Sojun Mel Weitsman’s passing, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Alan guided the Berkeley Zen community through collaborative leadership, interfaith dialogue, and the nurturing of a new generation of teachers — especially women, young practitioners, and diverse voices, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) practitioners who took up responsibility for sustaining Zen practice.
As the Buddha teaches, “An action becomes skilful or unskilful based on the intention behind it — not merely the outward act” (Aṅguttara Nikāya 6.63). This principle shaped Hozan’s approach throughout his life.
Vision, Aspiration, and Moral Courage
Hozan Alan Senauke was more than a visionary. His aspirations were deeply rooted in zazen, ethical discipline, and fearless truth-telling. He was inclusive, non-sectarian, and socially responsive, firmly grounded in kindness, dialogue, and shared humanity.
He believed the Sangha must serve as a moral conscience in times of injustice, and that spiritual practice must naturally flower into compassionate action.
Socially Engaged Buddhism: Practice in the World
Venerable Hozan was a leading voice in Socially Engaged Buddhism, integrating meditation, ethical responsibility, and social action. As former Executive Director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF), he worked tirelessly against war, racism, economic injustice, mass imprisonment, and environmental destruction.
For him, Zen practice was not separate from society — it was a skilful response to suffering wherever it appeared.
As an advisory committee member of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB), Alan built deep friendships across the world. His compassion extended beyond conventional Buddhist spaces. He visited prisons, listened deeply to those behind bars, and facilitated meditation programs at the women’s federal prison in Dublin, California.
He opposed capital punishment and publicly advocated for Jarvis Jay Masters, an innocent Buddhist practitioner and writer imprisoned at San Quentin. Like the Buddha’s encounter with Angulimala, Hozan believed transformation begins with the mind. Changing the mind through skilful means was central to his Bodhisattva practice.
In one of his essays in The Mountain Record, he wrote:
“Until we begin to let go of our self-centeredness and our desires, we can’t really listen or talk to others about peace. We will fail to understand that, in fact, there are no ‘others.’ People at risk or in poverty have a keen nose for hypocrisy or righteousness. We cannot ask poor and oppressed people to make sacrifices while they see us protecting our own lives of comfort and privilege… Giving up privilege — male privilege, white privilege, class privilege, national privilege — is the practice of renunciation in a socially engaged Buddhism.”
The Clear View Project and Global Solidarity
Hozan founded the Clear View Project, creating Buddhist-based resources for relief and social change. Through this initiative, his support reached communities in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar, Rohingya refugees, and Neo-Buddhist communities in India.
His close involvement with INEB strengthened international solidarity for democratic movements in Myanmar, education for marginalized communities in India, and support for younger generations. This work is documented in his book The Bodhisattva’s Embrace: Dispatches from Engaged Buddhism’s Front Lines.
He was profoundly influenced by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s vision and expressed strong solidarity with Buddhist movements in India. This engagement is documented in Heirs to Ambedkar: The Rebirth of Engaged Buddhism in India, reflecting his deep commitment to dignity, equality, and social liberation.
Zen Practice in an Unjust World
Remembering Alan Senauke is not merely an act of reverence — it is an ethical responsibility. His life posed a profound question: What does awakening mean in a world structured by injustice?
For him, Zen was never ideological. Zazen was not an escape from history or suffering, but a way of meeting reality clearly and without illusion. He emphasized that awakening must be manifest in conduct — through how we respond to war, poverty, racism, incarceration, and displacement.
He taught that silence in the face of suffering is not neutrality; it is often complicity. Yet his activism was never dogmatic. Rooted in precepts and disciplined self-examination, it carried moral depth — firm yet compassionate, critical yet never cruel.
Leadership Without Domination
As Abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center, Hozan modelled a form of leadership that was itself a teaching of the Dharma. He avoided charisma-driven authority and guru culture, emphasizing shared responsibility, transparency, and accountability.
In a Western Buddhist context often troubled by abuses of power, his leadership offered a clear alternative: collaboration and collective discernment rather than hierarchy.
He actively supported younger and BIPOC practitioners in leadership roles and fostered relationships with diverse faith communities across the Bay Area. In his Sangha, he welcomed people of all races, nationalities, classes, genders, sexual orientations, ages, and abilities — embodying the Buddha’s universal compassion.
Art, Music, and Everyday Dharma
Beyond his roles as teacher and activist, Hozan was also a poet, musician, and writer. His songs and writings carried the Dharma into everyday language, dissolving the false divide between sacred and secular.
His notable works include:
The Bodhisattva’s Embrace
Hearts of Fire
Turning Wheel
The White Robe
Heirs to Ambedkar
Turning Words
He also authored numerous essays and talks published through Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Tricycle, Lion’s Roar, and Zen journals.
A Legacy of Courage and Compassion
In an age marked by religious nationalism, authoritarianism, and deep inequality, Ven. Hozan Alan Senauke offers a vital orientation. He showed that it is possible to resist injustice without hatred, to remain compassionate without passivity, and to be spiritually grounded without withdrawing from the world.
On this Memorial Day, remembering him is not about nostalgia — it is about continuation. His legacy lives not in institutions alone, but in our ongoing effort to live with clarity, courage, and care amid suffering.
The most faithful tribute we can offer is not praise, but practice.
May we continue the vow he lived — zazen in one hand, justice in the other, and compassion at the heart of all action. May he continue to shine like the Pole Star, guiding us fearlessly on the path of wisdom and loving-kindness.
AJAYAN IDUKKI
South Indian Buddhist Council
Further Reading
Lion’s Roar interview
Berkeley Zen Center obituary
BuddhistDoor Global tribute
Mountain Record essay
Upaya Zen Center remembrance
