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Albert Low is the Teacher and Director of the Montreal Zen Center. He and
his wife, Jean came to Montreal in 1979. At this time the Center was an affiliate
of the Rochester Zen Center. With Albert Low's arrival the Center experienced
many changes.
In 1986 Albert Low received full transmission which permitted him to become
a teacher. At this time, the final ties were cut with Rochester and Montreal had
its own Zen Center. Today, the Montreal Zen Center's schedule is a very busy one.
Mr. Low conducts two, three, four and seven day sesshins, intensive day sittings
on some Sundays, daily zazen, gives dokusan (or personal interviews) and
teishos (or talks) and runs Introductory Workshops and Beginners's courses.
He is also the author of many books on Zen, most of which are translated into
French.
Albert Low was born in England in 1928. He and his wife emigrated to South Africa
just after their marriage. He was a Personnel Executive for the Central News
Agency. He left South Africa because of the politics. Albert Low, his wife Jean
and their three children moved to Canada in 1963. He was a personnel executive
for the Union Gas Company in southwest Ontario up until 1976. During this time he lectured extensively on subjects relating to Management, Creativity and Organization Development to promote creativity. He developed a salary administration systems
for the personnel including senior management. He was also responsible for Organizational Development and developed new ways of thinking about
organization.
Albert Low was also involved in the practice of Zen at this time. He began Zen
practice in 1961 after a number of years of theoretical interest. He began his
formal training under Roshi Kapleau at the Rochester Zen Center in 1966. In
1976 Albert Low retired from business. He and his wife, Jean, sold their house
and belongings in order to be able to go to Rochester to devote full time to the
practice and dissemination of Zen. They were on the staff of the Rochester Zen
Center, at which time he was the Editor of the Centers magazine, from 1976-1979.
In 1979 Albert Low was asked by the Rochester Zen Center to be the director of the affiliate group in Montreal. He completed his formal training in 1986 and at that time received full transmission as a Zen teacher. Due to his background, Albert Low is uniquely suited to be the teacher and director of the Montreal Zen Center. This is because the Center's community is a lay community. He is able to understand and relate to the trials and tribulations that a lay person in the world experiences when practicing Zen. He, too, worked in the business world and had a family life while carrying on his Zen practice at the same time. He has many years experience as a counselor and is able to use his own life experience when counseling students
living a way of life with which he has close ties. He encourages his students to
bring their Zen practice into their daily life rather than to change their life to accomodate the practice.
On May 30, 2003 Albert Low received an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Three faculty members at Queen's are also members of the Montreal Zen Centre and they nominated Albert for an honorary degree based on his scholarship and extensive publications, and his teaching and community service. Many letters of support from people accomplished in the arts, medicine, social sciences, physical sciences, and business were included in the formal nomination. There was broad support from within and outside the university.
A university-wide committee considered many nominations and selected a relatively small group of individuals for recognition at the spring and fall 2003 convocations. This is a significant honor from a prominent Canadian university and it demonstrates an unusual openness on the part of the university in acknowledging, in this way, both Zen and Albert's many contributions.
Director and Founder of the Montreal Zen Center
• Educated at the University of South Africa and at Rochester Zen Centre where he received Full Transmission as a Teacher;
• Rare intellectual, scholar of Eastern thought and distinguished Zen Master; • And a prolific author on Zen; Who has added to his generous abundance of insights and words, his other unique contributions of scholarship, teaching and community service;
• Former business executive who applied principles from Zen to the practice of business and management in writing what has been called one of the best management books ever published;
• Known also as a compassionate teacher, blind to the backgrounds and idiosyncrasies of his students; Whose bilingual learning centre attracts priests, nuns, devout Jews, leaders in the United Church, separatists, laborers, proud Canadians, atheists, and students from all walks of life eager to find sanctuary and understanding in an increasingly divided world;
• A valued and precious human asset, who is revered by psychologists and psychiatrists in North America and Europe for the very special combination of talents and skills he generously provides them in offering meaningful access to the obscurities of Zen Buddhism;
• Whose humanitarian activities beyond all the sessions and workshops includes volunteer efforts in palliative care, work with prison inmates, and constant communication with a large number of people in all of life's circumstances;
• Also an engaging, inspiring and entertaining speaker whose lectures captivate and make difficult complex concepts accessible and instructive to fervent listeners;
• And a remarkable man who has been exceptionally productive outside the university community and whom we celebrate and honor today by bringing him inside the community of Queen's University.
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