Great Heartland Sangha Guiding Teachers

Karen Do’on Weik Roshi

Karen Do’on Weik Roshi (b. 1960) is a Soto Zen priest and a founder of the Great Heartland Sangha, Buddhist Temple of Toledo. She began her study of Buddhism with Robert Thurman in Amherst, MA in 1978. After sitting with Richard Clark, a breakaway from Philip Kapleau, she met her husband, Rinsen, while practicing at Shobu Aikido of Boston in 1992 and began study with John Daido Loori, late-Abbott of Zen Mountain Monastery in the Catskills in 1994. In 2004 she began study with Bonnie Myotai Treace Sensei, Daido Roshi’s first dharma heir, at Hermitage Heart. In 2008 she began studying with Melissa Myozen Blacker Roshi and James Myoun Ford Roshi with ordination as a Zen Buddhist Priest of Boundless Way Sangha in 2010 and recognition as Shuso in 2012 with Rinsen Roshi.

After attending the Maha Sangha Teacher’s gathering at the Garrison Institute in 2011, Do’on met Gelek Rinpoche and studied Stages of the Path (Lamrim) and White Tara practices with him until his death in 2017.

Rev. Do'on received Denkai transmission as a fully ordained priest (Osho) in 2015, followed by Denbo as a teacher (Sensei) of Soto Zen in 2022, and finally Inka Shomei (Roshi) in 2024, all with Jay Rinsen Weik Roshi.

Do’on has a degree in Social Thought, Political Economy and Women’s Studies from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She has a 2nd Dan (Nidan) in Aikido and is a certified Kripalu yoga teacher. She and Rinsen were married in 1996 and reside on campus at the Buddhist Temple of Toledo Abbacy with their daughter Isabella (Ryuka, b. 2000).

Jay RInsen Weik Roshi, Abbot

Jay Rinsen Weik Roshi (b. 1969) first recalls encountering Zen as a child—reading Shunryu Suzuki’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind at age eight—and entered formal Zen training in 1987 with John Daido Loori Roshi at Zen Mountain Monastery at age eighteen.  He was recognized as Shuso by Bonnie Myotai Treace Sensei in 2007 and received novice ordination with Melissa Myozen Blacker Roshi as a priest of The Boundless Way Zen Sangha in 2010. He then received Denkai transmission as a fully ordained priest (Osho) in 2014, Denbo as a teacher (Sensei) of Soto Zen in 2015 and the “final seal” transmission, Inka Shomei (Roshi), in the Rinzai koan tradition in 2019, all from James Myoun Ford Roshi.

After attending the Maha Sangha Teacher’s gathering at the Garrison Institute in 2011, Rinsen became interested in inter-lineage study of the Dharma and in 2015 was empowered to teach the Stages of the Path (Lamrim) and the practice of White Tara of the Tibetan Gelugpa tradition, as adapted to the minds of his Zen students, by Gelek Rinpoche.

He is the Founding Abbot of the Great Heartland Sangha, Buddhist Temple of Toledo (est. 2001), where he now serves as a Guiding Teacher with Karen Do’on Weik Roshi, his successor. 

Rinsen has a Masters degree in Jazz Studies from the New England Conservatory and is a professor of music and guitar at the University of Toledo. His Dharma Talks are featured on the Buddhist Temple of Toledo podcast. He is 6th Dan (Rokudan) and Founder of Shobu Aikido of Ohio. He and Do’on were married in 1996 and live on campus at the Buddhist Temple of Toledo Abbacy with their daughter Isabella, their pug Dizzy, and their cat Karma.

Rinsen, Do’on and Ryuka

Teacher Affiliations

Rinsen and Do’on are both members of the GenX Buddhist Teachers Sangha and the American Zen Teachers Association.