Ejo McMullen
Buddha Eye Temple/Butsugenji
Eugene, OR
The causes and conditions leading to Ejō’s improbable trajectory as a Zen Buddhist priest begin most clearly in his adolescence. When Ejō was 13, a friend’s family invited him on a month-long trip to Japan. As Ejō began to observe Japanese culture more closely, he started to question his own way of doing things. “The biggest thing that happened during that period was that I began to ask deeper questions about life. What is life? Why are we here?” he said. The Tao Te Ching had a profound influence. “I’d been raised Catholic with no exposure to any Asian philosophy. First off, consistency is not as big a prize in Asian thought as it is in Western philosophy. What makes it so different is that it is not founded on a strict logical system because it distrusts logic. It has a kind of ‘playful spirit.’”
Ejō finished high school in 1988 and went on to the University of Oregon where he majored in Japanese language and Asian Studies. In high school, he had met and fallen in love with a young woman exchange student from Japan, Azusa Momma. She had returned to Japan after graduation. He moved to Japan and married Azusa in 1991. Not too long afterward, he picked up a book about Zen, reigniting his interest and leading him to search for a teacher. He discovered Shurinji temple at the bottom of the hill where he lived with his family in Sendai.
Ejō asked Keira-Rōshi for permission to become his formal student. Ejō was ordained on April 11, 1995. In the summer of 1996, Ejō visited San Francisco Zen Center. During a discussion with then-abbot Norman Fischer, he asked Ejō, “Why don’t you go start something new?” From this point, the resolution to establish a temple took firm hold of Ejō’s heart. He expressed this intention to his teacher upon his return to Japan, and Keira-Rōshi offered his full support.