Tribute to Ekyo Maezumi
Tribute to Ekyo Maezumi
Tribute to Ekyo Maezumi
Ekyo Martha Eunice Cornell was born on July 11th, 1947 to Anthony and Marion Cornell in New London, Connecticut. She died on April 10, 2022.
As a child raised in a Catholic family, she often said she wanted to grow up to be a nun. In her own circuitous way, Ekyo realized this dream through her Zen practice.
She and her older brother Leo Edward grew up in San Diego and both were avid surfers. Her love for the ocean and swimming was likely inherited from her father, a deep-sea diver who taught her to scuba dive when she was 11 years old. She spent many years teaching swimming, canoeing and art to children.
Ekyo earned a Masters Degree in Anthropology, with a concentration in Eastern Philosophy. She met her future husband, Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi Roshi at Cal State Northridge, while attending a lecture he was giving on Zen Buddhism. She was his student for several years at the Zen Center of Los Angeles before they were married in 1975.
Her dharma name, Ekyo, means Mirror of Wisdom, and this was the name she identified with.
Ekyo was a singularly talented painter, a true artist. Her expression, subtlety Great Compassion and Wry Wisdom is evidenced in all of her art. She practiced Sumi-e painting, the goal of which is to capture the essence, or spirit, of the subject matter. It is a very spontaneous and expressive art form. In her art there is beauty in each individual brush stroke. She was a perfectionist and her Art practice was her own meditative exploration and reflection. Her subject matter was often Bodhidharma, Jizo Bodhisattva, Kanzeon Bodhisattva and the Chinese animal Zodiac.
Ekyo will be remembered by all for her kindness and compassion, her example of forgiveness and quiet perseverance. Her beautiful smile and grace. Her great talent, wisdom and humility.
Ekyo Martha Eunice Cornell was born on July 11th, 1947 to Anthony and Marion Cornell in New London, Connecticut. She died on April 10, 2022.
As a child raised in a Catholic family, she often said she wanted to grow up to be a nun. In her own circuitous way, Ekyo realized this dream through her Zen practice.
She and her older brother Leo Edward grew up in San Diego and both were avid surfers. Her love for the ocean and swimming was likely inherited from her father, a deep-sea diver who taught her to scuba dive when she was 11 years old. She spent many years teaching swimming, canoeing and art to children.
Ekyo earned a Masters Degree in Anthropology, with a concentration in Eastern Philosophy. She met her future husband, Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi Roshi at Cal State Northridge, while attending a lecture he was giving on Zen Buddhism. She was his student for several years at the Zen Center of Los Angeles before they were married in 1975.
Her dharma name, Ekyo, means Mirror of Wisdom, and this was the name she identified with.
Ekyo was a singularly talented painter, a true artist. Her expression, subtlety Great Compassion and Wry Wisdom is evidenced in all of her art. She practiced Sumi-e painting, the goal of which is to capture the essence, or spirit, of the subject matter. It is a very spontaneous and expressive art form. In her art there is beauty in each individual brush stroke. She was a perfectionist and her Art practice was her own meditative exploration and reflection. Her subject matter was often Bodhidharma, Jizo Bodhisattva, Kanzeon Bodhisattva and the Chinese animal Zodiac.
Ekyo will be remembered by all for her kindness and compassion, her example of forgiveness and quiet perseverance. Her beautiful smile and grace. Her great talent, wisdom and humility.
– KYRIE MAEZUMI
A remembrance by Ekyo’s longtime firend, Merrinell Jinen Phillips:
My earliest memory of Ekyo is of a tall, slender beautiful woman, who seemed to glide effortlessly and silently through the zendo at ZCLA. She was full of grace and open-hearted. She offered her shy smile eagerly and told me she could really “feel my chin” against her clavicle the first time we hugged. I was taken aback by this comment and pulled away, looking into her eyes. I saw a deep sadness from the past, a sparkle of present joy and future hope. We both laughed. That moment began our friendship of almost 50-years.
Our first children, David Clifton and Michi Kirsten were born three days apart in September of 1978. Later came Yuri and Yoshimi. We shared many years together learning to be mothers with the ZCLA community and with our own mothers, both still living and giving their “help and suggestions” which we were sometimes pleased and sometimes disturbed by. The fun and support of each other through these years strengthened our bond which began through our shared Zen practice with Maezumi Roshi.
As they grew, our children guided us in travel around the world through their choices and experiences: marriages, accidents, performances, Eneko’s birth, and countless adventures.
For Ekyo, her beloved children Mimi, Yuri and Yoshimi were her greatest joy. No conversation or email was complete without an update on their adventures and the inspiration each of them gave her through their own unique explorations of life.
Her devotion to Zen practice was always a mainstay in her creative work as an artist and parent. I happily recall Ekyo’s excitement when she was able to move to practice full-time again with Genpo in Salt Lake City. I helped her move. Ekyo, in her car, and I driving a U-Haul truck filled with her treasures, including a tree!
Ekyo’s love of nature and the outdoors demanded that even with our loaded vehicles and fatigue “we must drive through one of the national parks in Utah” on the way to Kanzeon, since I had never seen it.
Later, I met Ekyo in Marin County with her new teacher and sangha, She was happy. Ekyo was a very private person. I treasure our years of practice and often playful companionship. I weep as I write this. I miss her.